Australian Grand Prix 2017

Mercedes had dominated the sport for 3 years in a row, and though Ferrari showed promise in pre-season testing, few were willing to bet against the Silver Arrows. Would Ferrari be able to take this form into the opening race in Melbourne or would Lewis Hamilton just run through the calendar, completely unchallenged?

Qualifying saw Mercedes start the race in 1^st and 3^rd and Ferrari in 2^nd and 4^th. Four time World Champion Sebastian Vettel was lucky as Albert Park being a street circuit, didn’t have a lot of dust off the racing line and despite starting on the dirty side of the track, he manged to fend off a challenge from Mercedes new boy Valteri Bottas. Following that he successfully managed to keep within 1 second (within DRS zone) of Lewis Hamilton. The 2 broke away from the field and then Ferrari pulled off the undercut and Vettel pitted early, came out with fresher tyres and made up the gap by lapping faster than Lewis did on his older set of tyres and managed to squeak out ahead of Lewis once the 3 time champion pitted. The added bonus for Sebastian Vettel was the presence of 19 year old Max Verstappen’s Reb Bull in between his scarlet Ferrari and the Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag and Ferrari won their first Grand Prix since Singapore, 2015. The other natural racer Sebastian Vettel, had finally gotten a car with which he could compete. No Nico Rosberg (2016 World Champion who retired in the offseason), no problem.

Strategy had beaten Mercedes. Really? Strategy? Well, Vettel needed to be fast enough to execute the strategy. Also the winning margin was 9.9 seconds(he was fast enough)

The race saw homeboy Daniel Ricciardo start from the pit lane and enter the race 2 laps later for what would be an extended practice session, as getting back on the lead lap would take a miracle(in other words, a safety car period where lapped cars are allowed to overtake). 25 laps later, he ended up parked in the gravel.

The Pirelli Tyres seemed much more durable and we actually saw lap times drop as we neared the chequered flag. This encouraged the drivers to actually push the car and give it their all. In 2016 Pirelli had been told to deliberately provide faster degrading tyres so as to make racing more interesting, and that move was a disaster as the end of races saw drivers cruise along with no real intent as they were afraid of a puncture or a tyre blow-out ruining their entire race. Weird right? 2017 seems better, make races more exciting by allowing the racers to race.

The overtake of the day saw Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg, both go past double world Champion Fernando Alonso in a stunning 3 abreast move down the start-finish straight.

Does Ferrari finally at long last have a car that can challenge for the title, or was it just a flash in the pan? Will Mercedes, the established empire of Formula 1 strike back? Find out on 9^th April in Shanghai, China.