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2015 Australian Grand Prix

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25px Australia  2015 Australian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 19 in the 2015 Formula One season
Albert Lake Park Street Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.svg
Date March 15, 2015
Official name 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix
Location Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
5.303 km (3.295 mi)
Distance 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 mi)
Weather Clear with maximum ambient temperatures reaching 17.9°C (64.2°F) during the day. Winds south to southwesterly reaching a maximum of 19km/h (12 mph).[1]
Pole position
Driver 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time 1:26.327
Fastest lap
Driver 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time 1:30.945 on lap 50
Podium
First 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Second 25px Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes
Third 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

The 2015 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix)[2] was a Formula One motor race that was held on 15 March 2015 in Melbourne. The race was contested over fifty-eight laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and was the first round of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship.[3][4] The race marked the seventy-ninth race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix—which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928—and the twentieth time the event was held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was the defending race winner.[5] His team-mate, Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole, his fourth at the circuit and a record for the venue.[6] Hamilton led home Rosberg in a Mercedes 1–2 finish, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel completing the podium in his first start with the team.[7][8]

Report[]

Background[]

Driver changes[]

Two weeks prior to the race it was announced that McLaren's Fernando Alonso would miss the Grand Prix due to concussion injuries suffered during the pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Doctors advised Alonso to not race as it could cause further damage, and his place was taken by reserve driver Kevin Magnussen,[9] who achieved a second place finish at the event in 2014.

Following a tumultuous pre-season in which they went through a period of administration and were saved by late investment,[10] Manor Marussia arrived in Melbourne with a car that had passed its mandatory crash tests, but had completed no testing. Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi were announced as their drivers, with Merhi signed on a one-race deal.[11] However, the team did not participate in any practice sessions and subsequently failed to set a qualifying time, leaving the field at eighteen cars for the race.

Legal challenge against Sauber[]

Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde launched legal action against Sauber in the Supreme Court of Victoria, claiming that the team had reneged on a deal that would have seen him race for the team for the 2015 season in favour of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. His action is based on a previous ruling in his favour passed down by the Swiss court system, and the challenge in Australia specifically sought to have the court block Sauber from racing Ericsson or Nasr in Melbourne.[12] Van der Garde's challenge was successful, with the court ordering the team to allow him to drive, but Sauber publicly announced that they would not compromise the safety of the team or other drivers by putting van der Garde in the car, pointing out that the C34 chassis had been tailored to fit Ericsson and Nasr before filing an appeal against the verdict alongside lawyers representing Ericsson and Nasr.[13][14]

Sauber filed an appeal which was heard the next day, in which they argued that van der Garde's contract had been terminated by the team in February with the approval of the FIA's Contract Recognition Board and that van der Garde has violated the confidentiality clauses of the contract by discussing it with the media.[15] Lawyers representing Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr further argued that van der Garde had not followed the proper legal avenues as their clients had not been informed of the intended legal action until van der Garde filed his motion.[15] However, the appeal was dismissed and the court ordered that van der Garde be allowed to participate in the race,[16] with the hearing adjourned until the following day to hear contempt of court proceedings, in which van der Garde's lawyer argued that Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn should be fined or imprisoned.[17]

An entry list published by the FIA two hours after the court passed its initial judgement on the Thursday before the race listed Ericsson and Nasr as Sauber's drivers following pre-event scrutineering.[18] Neither driver took to the circuit during the first practice session,[19] but both went on to take part in the afternoon's running.[20] The dispute reached a temporary resolution on Saturday morning, with van der Garde surrendering his right to drive in the race, with a view to finding a more permanent solution in the future.[21]

Tyres[]

Pirelli announced they would be supplying teams with the white-banded medium compound tyre as the prime selection and the yellow-banded soft compound as the option selection for the event.[22]

Safety Car[]

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, which served as F1's Safety Car since 2010, was replaced by the newly launched Mercedes-AMG GT as part of this brand's marketing. The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) system, which is new for 2015, was not employed during the race.

Race[]

Lewis Hamilton scored his 39th pole position and 4th at Albert Park, qualifying half a second ahead of his teammate, Nico Rosberg. The Manor Marussia cars were unable to make their race debut, leaving 18 qualified cars. Before the race began, Valtteri Bottas was sidelined due to a back injury sustained in qualifying. Then Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull had transmission problems and was forced to miss the start, and Kevin Magnussen's McLaren suffered an engine failure on the formation lap. This left the grid with 15 starters - the lowest number for a season-opening race since 1963.

At the start, Hamilton assumed the lead while a three-car wide tussle at Turn 1, involving Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Nasr and Pastor Maldonado, resulted in the latter crashing out by Turn 2 and race officials deploying the safety car. The next lap, Romain Grosjean's car failed thus taking both Lotus cars out of the race.

Normal racing resumed on Lap 4, with Carlos Sainz Jr falling back from 5th to his starting position in 7th place after being passed by Felipe Nasr and Daniel Ricciardo. Nasr too lost position after being ordered by the team to relinquish his position for overtaking while still under safety car conditions.

Hamilton maintained in the lead until Lap 25, when he pitted for tires. He resumed the lead from Rosberg after he too had to pit for new tires. During this series of pitstops, Sebastian Vettel gained a position by passing Felipe Massa for third place.

On Lap 34, Max Verstappen retired while in a points=scoring position after his Toro Rosso was engulfed by smoke. On lap 42, Raikkonen also retired at Turn 4 after a botched pitstop caused his left rear tyre to come loose. This put the struggling Jenson Button briefly in the 10th and final points position but for Sergio Perez quickly passing the McLaren-Honda driver after a race long battle that begun at the start, for last position.

From there, the order remained relatively constant with Hamilton ending up to win his 44th win. He was followed by Rosberg, Vettel, Massa and Nasr. The other point scorers, in order, include Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Ericsson and Sainz Jr. (who both scored their first career points, Sainz Jr. also on his F1 debut) and Perez. In all, only 11 cars finished the race with Button's McLaren being the only car to finish outside the points and everyone from 6th position down lapped.[23]

Ericsson, Nasr and Sainz Jr all scored their first F1 career points, with the last two doing so on their F1 debut. In addition, Nasr achieved the highest placing for a Brazilian driver making their Grand Prix début.[24][25]

Post-race[]

Because Manor Marussia failed to notify the stewards of their inability to field a car, the team was summoned by the FIA to explain why they did not participate in qualifying.[26] However, the hearing provided sufficient evidence to the FIA's satisfaction that the team would have been unable to field their cars, even if they had violated curfew. Despite this, the FIA subsequently elected to have Manor cover their freight charges to and from Australia, costs normally covered by Formula One management.[27][28]

Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Pos. |No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
1 44 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.586 1:26.894 1:26.327 1
2 6 25px Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:28.906 1:27.097 1:26.921 2
3 19 25px Brazil Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:29.246 1:27.895 1:27.718 3
4 5 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:29.307 1:27.742 1:27.757 4
5 7 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:29.754 1:27.807 1:27.790 5
6 77 25px Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:29.641 1:27.796 1:28.087 6
7 3 25px Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1:29.788 1:28.679 1:28.329 7
8 55 25px Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 1:29.597 1:28.601 1:28.510 8
9 8 25px France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1:29.537 1:28.589 1:28.560 9
10 13 25px The flag of Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1:29.847 1:28.726 1:29.480 10
11 12 25px Brazil Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1:30.430 1:28.800 11
12 33 25px Netherlands Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1:29.248 1:28.868 12
13 26 25px The flag of the Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1:30.402 1:29.070 13
14 27 25px Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:29.651 1:29.208 14
15 11 25px Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:29.990 1:29.209 15
16 9 25px Sweden Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.376 16
17 22 25px Great Britain Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1:31.422 17
18 20 25px Flag of Denmark Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Honda 1:32.037 18
107% time: 1:34.787
DNP 28 25px Great Britain Will Stevens Marussia-Ferrari no time
DNP 98 25px Spain Roberto Merhi Marussia-Ferrari no time
Source:[6]

Race[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts.
1 44 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 58 1:31:54.067 1 25
2 6 25px Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 58 +1.360 2 18
3 5 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 58 +34.523 4 15
4 19 25px Brazil Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 58 +38.196 3 12
5 12 25px Brazil Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 58 +1:35.149 10 10
6 3 25px Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 57 +1 Lap 6 8
7 27 25px Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 13 6
8 9 25px Sweden Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 15 4
9 55 25px Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 57 +1 Lap 7 2
10 11 25px Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 14 1
11 22 25px Great Britain Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 56 +2 Laps 16
Ret 7 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 40 Wheel 5
Ret 33 25px Netherlands Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 32 Engine 11
Ret 8 25px France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1 Power loss 8
Ret 13 25px The flag of Venezuela Pastor Maldonado        Lotus-Mercedes 0 Collision 9
DNS 26 25px The flag of the Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 0 Gearbox —1
DNS 20 25px Flag of Denmark Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Honda 0 Engine —1
DNS 77 25px Finland Valtteri Bottas        Williams-Mercedes 0 Injury —2
Source:[7]

Notes:

  • # – Both Kvyat's and Magnussen's cars failed on the way from the pitlane to the starting grid.[29]
  • # – As Valtteri Bottas was unable to start the race due to a back injury suffered during qualifying and spending the night at the hospital without being cleared to race by the FIA,[30] all cars behind him moved up one place to close the gap.

Standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos. Driver Pts.
1 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton 25
2 25px Germany Nico Rosberg 18
3 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel 15
4 25px Brazil Felipe Massa 12
5 25px Brazil Felipe Nasr 10
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos. Constructor Pts.
1 25px Germany Mercedes 43
2 25px Italy Ferrari 15
3 25px Switzerland Sauber-Ferrari 14
4 25px Great Britain Williams-Mercedes 12
5 25px Austria Red Bull-Renault 8
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[]

  1. ↑ "Weather information". Bom.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Meterology. 15 March 2015. http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDV60901/IDV60901.95936.shtml. Retrieved 15 March 2015. 
  2. ↑ "2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/australia_936/circuit_diagram.html. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
  3. ↑ "World Motor Sport Council 2014 – Beijing". FIA.com (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). 12 September 2014. http://www.fia.com/news/world-motor-sport-council-2014-beijing. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
  4. ↑ "World Motor Sport Council 2014 – Doha". FIA.com (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). 3 December 2014. http://www.fia.com/node/9172. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
  5. ↑ "2014 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix — Results". FORIX (Autosport). 16 March 2014. http://forix.autosport.com/gp.php?l=0&r=20140001&c=2. Retrieved 13 March 2015. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "2015 Australia Grand Prix – Qualifying results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 14 March 2014. http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/championship/results/2015-race-results/2015-australia-results/qualifying.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Barretto, Lawrence (15 March 2015). "Lewis Hamilton beats Nico Rosberg to win". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118069. Retrieved 15 March 2015. 
  8. ↑ Woolcock, Adam (15 March 2015). "Australian GP: F1 2015 – as it happened". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). http://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2015/mar/15/australian-gp-f1-2015-live. Retrieved 16 March 2015. 
  9. ↑ "Alonso to miss Australian race on medical advice". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 3 March 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/3/16854.html. Retrieved 3 March 2015. 
  10. ↑ Benson, Andrew (4 February 2015). "Marussia team could make Formula 1 return this season". BBC Sport. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31127165. Retrieved 4 February 2015. 
  11. ↑ Freeman, Glenn (9 March 2015). "Roberto Merhi to race for Manor F1 team in Australian Grand Prix". Autosport.com. Haymarket Media Group. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117975. Retrieved 9 March 2015. 
  12. ↑ "Giedo van der Garde: Ex-Sauber test driver takes legal action". BBC Sport (BBC). 5 March 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31752616. Retrieved 5 March 2015. 
  13. ↑ Collantine, Keith (10 March 2015). "Sauber will not risk safety after van der Garde ruling". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/11/sauber-will-not-risk-safety-after-van-der-garde-ruling/. Retrieved 10 March 2015. 
  14. ↑ Cooper, Adam (11 March 2015). "Van der Garde case drags into Thursday as Sauber appeal continues". Adam Cooper's F1 Blog (WordPress). http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/03/11/van-der-garde-case-drags-into-thursday-as-sauber-appeal-continues/. Retrieved 11 March 2015. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Howard, Tom (12 March 2015). "Court to decide van der Garde fate this afternoon". Speedcafe.com. http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/03/12/court-to-decide-van-der-garde-fate-this-afternoon/. Retrieved 12 March 2015. 
  16. ↑ Collantine, Keith (12 March 2015). "Sauber loses appeal against van der Garde judgement". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/12/sauber-loses-appeal-against-van-der-garde-judgement/. Retrieved 12 March 2015. 
  17. ↑ Cooper, Adam (13 March 2015). "Sauber case continues but agreement could be close". Adam Cooper's F1 Blog (WordPress). http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/03/13/sauber-case-continues-but-agreement-could-be-close/. Retrieved 13 March 2015. 
  18. ↑ "2015 Australian Grand Prix - Entry List" (PDF). FIA.com (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). 12 March 2015. http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/championship/documents/20150312/Formula%20One%20Australian%20Grand%20Prix%202015%20Document%20-%205_0.pdf. Retrieved 12 March 2015. 
  19. ↑ Rose, Gary (13 March 2015). "Australian Grand Prix first practice". British Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.bbc.com/sport/live/formula1/31748403. Retrieved 13 March 2015. 
  20. ↑ Collantine, Keith (13 March 2015). "Mercedes leads Ferrari in second practice". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/13/mercedes-leads-ferrari-in-second-practice/. Retrieved 13 March 2015. 
  21. ↑ Cooper, Adam (14 March 2015). "Van der Garde and Sauber reach agreement but story not over yet". Adam Cooper's F1 Blog (WordPress). http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/03/13/van-der-garde-and-sauber-reach-agreement-but-story-inot-over-yet/. Retrieved 14 March 2015. 
  22. ↑ "Pirelli reveal tyre choices for first four races". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 4 March 2015. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/3/16856.html. Retrieved 8 March 2015. 
  23. ↑ "Australian Grand Prix 2015: as it happened". The Telegraph. 15 March 2015. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/11473092/Australian-Grand-Prix-2015-live.html. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 
  24. ↑ Barretto, Lawrence (15 March 2015). "Lewis Hamilton beats Nico Rosberg to win". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118069. Retrieved 16 March 2015. 
  25. ↑ "Melbourne stats - Nasr ends Sauber's pointless streak in style". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 15 March 2015. https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/features/2015/melbourne-stats---nasr-ends-sauber-s-pointless-streak-on-dream-d.html. Retrieved 16 March 2015. 
  26. ↑ Elizalde, Pablo (14 March 2015). "FIA summons Manor after missing qualifying". Motorsport.com (Motorsport.com, Inc.). http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fia-summons-manor-after-missing-qualifying/. Retrieved 16 March 2015. 
  27. ↑ "FIA clears Manor over qualifying absence". GP Update (GP Update). 15 March 2015. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/323231/fia-clears-manor-over-qualifying-absence/. Retrieved 16 March 2015. 
  28. ↑ "Manor to pay Australian GP freight costs". GP Update (GP Update). 16 March 2015. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/323295/manor-to-pay-for-australia-freight-costs/. Retrieved 18 March 2015. 
  29. ↑ Benson, Andrew (15 March 2015). "How the Australian GP unfolded". BBC sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.bbc.com/sport/live/formula1/31580364. 
  30. ↑ "Bottas declared unfit to race in Australian GP". Williams Grand Prix Engineering (Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited). 15 March 2015. http://www.williamsf1.com/racing/news/bottas-declared-unfit-to-race-in-australian-gp. Retrieved 16 March 2015. 

External links[]


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2016 Australian Grand Prix
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