Australian Grand Prix: Formula One 2019 season opener – live!

Lap 4/58: Poor old Ricciardo. Looks like he was a bit unlucky with that early loss of his wing – he barely touched the grass and it flew off. In fact he did well to stay out of trouble. So far it’s Bottas’ story though. He’s looking good.

Lap 3/58: Despite that pit, Ricciardo is already on Kubica’s heels. Bottas with the fastest lap so far. Early days but it’s starting to settle. Bottas looking good.

Lap 2/58: An early pit for Ricciardo after that loss of his wing. Bottas still leading with Hamilton, Vettel a second behind.

Lap 1/58: Great start for Bottas who edges ahead of Hamilton at the start. A shocker for Ricciardo though. He’s lost his front wing after barely getting off the grid. Slumps to the back. Vettel in third, with Verstappen behind.

The drivers go around for a gentle lap of the track. They’re pulling into their positions now.

How will the fastest-lap bonus point affect races? It’ll be interesting to see as the championship evolves but it could lead to some late action on the tracks as contenders jostle for every point available instead of listening to team messages to slow down. I’m waffling now. You can tell the start is almost upon us.

So what about the rookies? Perhaps the biggest surprise from qualifying was the eighth place of Lando Norris. It’s an impressive start to F1 life for the 19-year-old, and there will be plenty of interest in how he handles the pressure of a grand prix. Considering his name and age, I’m thinking “the Millenial Falcon” would be a good nickname. Sure he can race around Albert Park in 1:22.304 but can he do the Kessel run in 12 parsecs?

“Real question for the season; at which race this season will Brundle get a clip round the ear for being such a meddlesome busybody on the grid? Will it be from a sheikh, a big Texan, or Bernie from nowhere? These are the real questions, I feel.”
–

Joe Bloggs
Guy Incognito

Funnily enough, I was just writing about this. The pre-race interviews are getting noticeably shorter as the clock ticks down. George Russell very polite but clearly in a rush. Mattia Binotto not saying much at all, which speaks volumes. It’s warm out there too.

A minute’s silence for Charlie Whiting and the atrocities in Christchurch. Advance Australia Fair follows. Not long now.

I watched the first episode of Drive to Survive on Netflix yesterday. I’d almost forgotten how much expectation there was around Daniel Ricciardo here in Australia at the start of the season. It’s fair to say the bar is considerably lower for his home grand prix this time, although 12^th in qualifying was still below par. Still, the always chipper Aussie is looking on the bright side.

“Normally, if I don’t do so well in qualifying, I seem to carry a chip on my shoulder for the race which helps me out, so I will use it as fuel for tomorrow,” he told Sky Sports. “I was more comfortable in the car today. I don’t think 12th is a representation of where we are, I feel we are better. The changes we made today have me more confident for tomorrow … I’m very optimistic for the race it’s just a matter of if we can pass and attack.”

“Please publish this anonymously, I’ve crept into my lounge at 4.30 to watch this on account of my neighbours being too noisy so I have to get out of the bedroom! They aren’t being that noisy. Looking forward to this season, love the first race in Melbourne!
Hope Lewis wins but hope all fans have a great season!”
– Joe Bloggs, email

Good work “Joe” – I know a few non-F1 fans in Melbourne who have been complaining about noisy neighbours this weekend.

It would be remiss of me not to mention race director Charlie Whiting, who passed away last week. The news seemed to touch pretty much everyone involved in Formula One. Genuinely beloved. “He has been our man, the drivers’ man” – Sebastian Vettel. Here’s the Guardian report. A nice gesture on the track today too…

The size of Mercedes’ advantage over Ferrari at qualifying yesterday came as a surprise to everyone – not least the drivers themselves. Ominous stuff.

Hamilton: “It’s a real shocker. We kept working away at our pace and balance through the weekend, since Barcelona [testing] we made some really big steps forward and we brought that here and it seemed to have worked. I was not expecting to see the performance difference that we have here. It’s difficult when you have a session like that to grasp exactly what happened.”

Vettel: “Certainly I am surprised, I think everybody is, probably even Mercedes. There is some homework for us to do, I still think we have a great car and we should be better than this. But Mercedes are the clear favourite with such a big gap and comfort through all the sessions.”

1. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MER)
2. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/MER)
3. Sebastian Vettel (GER/FER)
4. Max Verstappen (NED/RBR)
5. Charles Leclerc (MON/FER)
6. Romain Grosjean (FRA/HAA)
7. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/HAA)
8. Lando Norris (GBR/MCL)
9. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/ALF)
10. Sergio Perez (MEX/RAC)
11. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/REN)
12. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/REN)
13. Alexander Albon (THA/STR)
14. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/ALF)
15. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/STR)
16. Lance Stroll (CAN/RAC)
17. Pierre Gasly (FRA/RBR)
18. Carlos Sainz jr (SPA/MCL)
19. George Russell (GBR/WIL)
20. Robert Kubica (POL/WIL)

Hello everyone and welcome to the start of the Formula One 2019 championship, kicking off as usual with 58 laps around Albert Park. Lights out at 4.10pm local time (5.10am GMT). Despite all the pre-championship hype about Ferrari being faster than ever and hiding pace, there was an ominous sense of deja vu yesterday when Lewis Hamilton streaked to pole with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in second (I’ll put the full grid on shortly). But hey, guess what, one qualifying session does not a season make, and there’ll certainly be plenty of twists, turns and T-bones before the season’s done. And Hamilton, more than anyone, knows that starting at the front of the grid in Melbourne can be a fickle reward – just one of the past seven Australian GPs have been won from pole. Can Sebastian Vettel turn it around and get his championship off to a flyer like last year? Can Charles Leclerc challenge Vettel at Ferrari? Can Max Verstappen take that next step up? Which team will come out on top in a tight midfield tussle? Those, and a whole chunk of other questions, should become a little clearer over the next couple of hours. In fact the only thing I can say with any certainty at the moment is it’s going to be a long season for Williams – although I’ll be among the many cheering on Robert Kubica this year.