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Rosberg wins opener as Alonso survives crash
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NICO Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton in yet another Mercedes 1-2 finish at the Australian Grand Prix yesterday, but the predictable result disguised what was an exciting Formula One season opener, punctuated by a frightening accident that suspended the race.
The red flags came out after a high-speed collision between McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez of Haas about a third of the way through the race. While in the pits awaiting a restart, Mercedes made a call that proved decisive — the team switched to the hardest available tire, enabling the silver cars to run to the finish, while early leader Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari was fitted with the soft rubber, and he had to pit again, dropping him to third.
“It’s the perfect start,” Rosberg said. “The strategy was crucial today. It was the tire choice after the red flag. I was glad to see they (Ferrari) were on the super-soft (compound) and happy that I could keep up on the medium.”
Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was fourth, falling just short in his bid to become the first Australian on the podium at his home race in Melbourne.
Williams driver Felipe Massa was fifth and Romain Grosjean sixth to give American team Haas an impressive points finish in its first race. An emotional Grosjean told the team over the radio that “this is a win, unbelievable”.
The crash between Alonso and Gutierrez occurred when the Spaniard’s McLaren clipped the rear left tire of Gutierrez, who was breaking to make the corner at Turn 3. The McLaren was launched into the concrete barrier and flipped over twice.
The car was a crumpled wreck but Alonso was able to climb out, and though clearly sore as he limped away, he shook hands with Gutierrez, who had walked over quickly to see if he was injured. The race was stopped for 22 minutes before resuming.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh and Valtteri Bottas of Williams was eighth. The Toro Rosso pair of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen finished ninth and 10th after the frustrated Dutchman collided with his teammate with four laps to go in a misjudged attempt to overtake him.
Rosberg’s 15th F1 victory was also his fourth straight after the German won the final three races of last season.
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