Australian F1 Grand Prix 2013: Sunday's Race Report - Struggling start of season for Jenson and Checo

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JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-28A-05
- Started: 10th
- Finished: 9th
- Fastest lap: 1m30.198s (+0.924s, 7th)
- Pitstops: Three - laps 4 (3.31s), 20 (4.39s) and 37 (2.39s) [Opt-Pri-Pri-Pri]
- Points: 2 (9th)

“Having won the Australian Grand Prix three times so far in my career – in 2009, 2010 and 2012 – you’d have to say that today’s ninth place isn’t really much to write home about.

“Having said that, I think we should be pretty satisfied with what we achieved here in Melbourne today. It was a tricky race, and our car isn’t yet quick enough, so I think the team did a great job to achieve even as much as we did.

“As a result, I scored two World Championship points today, which makes 1001 in my career I’m reliably informed, and to be honest I don’t think I could have scored any more than that. But, although that’s a nice stat, it doesn’t ease the pain caused by the knowledge that our car still needs a lot of work done before it’s properly competitive.

“Looking forward to Malaysia next weekend, I think we’ve got a tough few days ahead of us, but hopefully we can now do some number-crunching in an effort to understand our car a bit better and extract a bit more performance out of it there.”

SERGIO PEREZ
- MP4-28A-06
- Started: 15th
- Finished: 11th
- Fastest lap: 1m29.926s (+0.652s, 6th)
- Pitstops: Three - laps 16 (4.44s), 23 (+2.67s), and 41 (2.46s) [Pri-Opt-Pri-Pri]
- Points: 0 (11th)

“That was a very, very tough race.

“I got a good start, which is always a bonus, but, after that, even though the team did a great job with the strategy, we just didn’t have enough pace to make significant further progress.

“Having said that, I nearly managed to score a point, but in the end I couldn’t quite get up to 10th place at the end. To finish 11th is never really satisfying, but I think Jenson and I both drove pretty good races today. In fact I want to say ‘well done’ to Jenson, who maximised the performance of his car really well to finish ninth.

“Our engineers are aware that our car isn’t yet as quick as it needs to be, but I know I’m now part of the best team in Formula 1 so I’m certain they’ll improve it fast.

“Going back to this afternoon’s race, I don’t think the Albert Park circuit suited our car very well – it accentuated its problems in fact – so I’m hoping we’ll be able to put up a better showing in Sepang next weekend.

“Last but not least, today will always be a very special day for me, because it was the day I made my McLaren debut, which is something that every driver always dreams of. As I say, it would have been even better if I could have scored points, but that’ll come soon.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH - Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Jenson and Checo both drove very hard and very well today, in difficult conditions, making no errors, so I want to say ‘bravo’ to both of them.

“As always, Jenson managed the very challenging tyre degradation issues he faced quite brilliantly, his ninth-place finish pushing his career total of world championship points past the thousand mark: a truly remarkable personal milestone.

“Checo made a storming start from 15th place on the grid, surviving a very busy first few corners with an impressive mixture of forcefulness and diligence, and only very narrowly missed out on scoring a point on his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes debut. Believe me, very few 11th-place finishes have been harder earned or better deserved than Checo’s was today.

“Having said all that, a ninth-place finish and an 11th-place finish don’t constitute much of a result by our sky-high standards, and ultimately the 2013 Australian Grand Prix weekend must therefore go down as a disappointing one for all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Our car simply hasn’t been quick enough here, but undoubtedly our drivers and engineers got the maximum out of it this afternoon and you can’t ask for more than that.

“Now the task that faces us is simple, if not easy: we’ll work incredibly hard to bring more pace to the MP4-28’s performance envelope. Our engineers are the best in the business, so I’m confident that they’ll do just that.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~

Copyright © 2013, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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Australian F1 Grand Prix 2013: Sunday's Race Report - Lewis Hamilton 5th

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Lewis Hamilton finished his first race for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS in fifth place today whilst team-mate Nico Rosberg had to retire his car following an electrical problem midway through the race.

- Starting from third on the grid, Lewis finished in fifth position after converting to a three-stop strategy mid-race

- He stopped on laps 13, 31 and 42, using supersoft tyres for the first stint and the medium compound thereafter

- Nico was forced to retire from third position on lap 27 following an electrical problem

Drivers ++ Car No. ++ Chassis No. ++ Race Result / Fastest Lap
Lewis Hamilton ++ 10 ++ F1 W04 / 04 ++ P5 / 1:29.759
Nico Rosberg ++ 9 ++ F1 W04 / 03 ++ DNF

Weather - Dry and cool
Temperatures - Air: 17-18°C / Track: 19-24°C

Lewis Hamilton
“I’m happy with our result today and it’s much better than we expected for the first race of the season. The car felt really good out there; I had a strong first stint and was able to make the supersofts last longer than most of the others. We’d planned for two stops but converted to a three-stop strategy during the race. I don’t quite know where we lost the ground to the cars ahead so we’ll have a look at the race again now and figure it out. The important thing is that we have a car that we can really work with and the team have done a fantastic job to get us to this position. Thanks to everyone here and back at base for their support over my first race weekend with Mercedes. Now we’ll look forward to Malaysia next weekend and hopefully build on this positive start with an improved performance.”

Nico Rosberg
“An electric problem finished my race which was a shame as I was on a two-stop strategy and in a good position to score a decent result. There are lots of positives that we can take from the weekend however. The team have developed a solid car over the winter, I had a good qualifying pace and the car also ran well in the wet. It looks like we have started to close the gap to the front runners and we can build on that.”

Ross Brawn
“We had a very good opening stint of the race, making the supersoft tyre last until lap 13 for Lewis and lap 14 for Nico. That convinced us that a two-stop strategy was feasible this afternoon. However, the balance on the medium tyre was not what we needed. Having committed to two stops, and adjusted our pace accordingly to preserve the tyres, the decision to convert to a three-stop strategy compromised Lewis relative to those cars who had gone for three from the start. The behaviour of the tyres is something we will have to think about and understand over the next days. Nico was running strongly when he was forced to retire. We saw a drop in voltage from the battery and that stopped the car. Overall, we have made a good step with the car and learned a lot this afternoon. If we can put the pieces of the puzzle together, we have the ingredients to race well.”

Toto Wolff
“We learned a lot this afternoon. We had to switch our strategy from two to three stops, which of course compromised Lewis in terms of his pace and also the final result. As for Nico, we need to work hard to ensure that technical failures do not cost us the chance of strong finishes. We can see that we have a solid basis to work from, now we need to keep our heads down and work hard to improve further.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

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Australian F1 Grand Prix 2013: Qualifying Report - Lewis Hamilton 3rd, Nico Rosberg 6th

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Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg qualified in third and sixth places during the delayed Qualifying session for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park this morning.

- Nico topped both Q1 on Saturday afternoon and Q2 this morning, with both fastest times set on intermediate tyres

- In Q3, the drivers completed a ‘banker’ lap on intermediates before switching the super soft compound

- Lewis and Nico both set their fastest times on their second timed laps in Q3 on the drying circuit

Drivers ++ Car No. ++ Chassis No. ++ Practice ++ Qualifying 1 ++ Qualifying 2 ++ Qualifying 3
Lewis Hamilton ++ 10 ++ F1 W04 / 04 ++ P22 ++ P10, 1:45.456 ++ P3, 1:36.625 ++ P3, 1:28.087
Nico Rosberg ++ 9 ++ F1 W04 / 03 ++ P11 ++ P1, 1:43.380 ++ P1, 1:36.194 ++ P6, 1:28.523

Weather - Drying track
Temperatures - Air: 17-18°C / Track: 15-17°C

Lewis Hamilton
“The conditions were very tricky out there today and the team did a great job to get us out at the right times. I haven’t had the best of weekends so far so I’m happy to have finally put a good lap together today. I’ve done a lap more than Sebastian on my tyres so I might struggle to go as long on the first stint but I’ll give it everything I can in the race this afternoon. The team have worked incredibly hard, both here and at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth, and they deserve a good result. We’ve got a good baseline to work from with this car but only time will tell where we can go from here.”

Nico Rosberg
“That’s a good team result this morning if you compare to where we were at the end of last year, so we have made some good progress over the winter, which is down to the fantastic work of the team back at the factories. However, we can also see that there is still a gap to the quickest team. I was very quick in the wet but later it didn’t work out as well on the slicks. The race will be a different story and I expect to have good race pace which will help me gain positions this afternoon.”

Ross Brawn
“The first objective in a qualifying session like that is to be on the right tyre at the right time and the team ran the session as we would hope to. Lewis and Nico both did an excellent job and didn’t miss any of the opportunities that came their way. The car seems to be handling well and we will have to see how that develops in the race. Overall, a reasonable start with a busy few hours ahead of us to prepare for the race.”

Toto Wolff
“Drying conditions provide more opportunities to do things wrong than right, so we have to compliment the team on the pit wall and in the garage that our session ran so smoothly this morning. To be starting the opening race from third and sixth positions is a first indication that the team has made a step from last year. But the race will provide us with a fuller picture of where we stand right now.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

Copyright © 2013, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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