2015 Australian Grand Prix

 2015 Australian Grand Prix

Racing data
1st of 19 races in the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix
Date:	March 15, 2015
Place:	Melbourne
Course:	Albert Park Circuit
Length:	307.574 km in 58 laps of 5.303 km
Pole position
Driver:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time:	1: 26.327 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time:	1: 30.945 min (lap 50)
Podium
First:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Third:	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari

The Australian Grand Prix 2015 (officially 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix ) took place on 15 March at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne instead and was the first race of the Formula 1 World Championship in 2015 .

report

background

At the Australian Grand Prix, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Medium (white) and P Zero Soft (yellow), as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

The two DRS zones were in the same places as in 2014, the first zone on the start-finish straight exactly 762 meters before the first corner, the Jones . After the Brabham , the second zone began, which is 510 meters long. There was only one measuring point for both DRS zones, where the distance to the vehicle in front is determined; he was eight feet from the Stewart . In the event of a successful overtaking maneuver on the start-finish straight, the driver in front was allowed to use the DRS again in the second zone.

Two minor changes were made to the route compared to the previous year: the curbs at the exit of the Brabham were lengthened, and the boundary behind the White ford on the right-hand side was moved a little closer to the route.

Roberto Merhi ( Marussia ), Felipe Nasr ( Sauber ), Carlos Sainz jr. and Max Verstappen (both Toro Rosso ) made their Formula 1 debut at this Grand Prix. Ericsson (Sauber), Daniil Kwjat ( Red Bull ), Will Stevens (Marussia) and Sebastian Vettel ( Ferrari ) started for their new teams for the first time.

Fernando Alonso was originally supposed to start for McLaren for the first time in this race . However, due to a concussion in an accident during the test drives before the start of the season, he canceled his participation in advance. McLaren reported Kevin Magnussen instead .

According to Giedo van der Garde , he had a valid contract with Sauber as a driver for the 2015 season. However, Sauber reported the Ericsson / Nasr driver duo for the season. At the beginning of March, Van der Garde obtained a ruling from an arbitration tribunal in Switzerland, according to which the team ... must refrain from any action which has the effect that Mr. van der Garde cannot assert his claim in the Formula 1 season To be able to participate in 2015 as one of the two racing drivers named by Sauber . Van der Garde filed an urgent motion, decided by the Supreme Court of the Australian state of Victoria the week before the Grand Prix, to get a racing cockpit for the Australian Grand Prix. The first instance trial took place on March 9, 2015, the Monday before the race. Sauber was represented by the lawyer Rodney Garratt, van der Garde by Tom Clarke. Sauber's attorney Garrett argued that a van der Garde mission would "result in an irresponsible risk, including bodily harm and even death." On March 11, 2015, the court ruled that the contract between van der Garde and Sauber was effective and van the guard is entitled to the cockpit. This applies to the entire season and not just to the race in Australia. Sauber appealed the verdict, which was rejected on March 12, 2015. On March 13, a seat for van der Garde was adjusted, but the necessary super license was missing , which the team has to apply for. The court set a new date for a hearing on Saturday morning. Before the third free practice session, Van der Garde announced that he would temporarily waive his legal right to a cockpit at Sauber for this Grand Prix.

Marcus Ericsson , Pastor Maldonado (five each), Magnussen (four), Valtteri Bottas , Romain Grosjean and Sergio Pérez (two each) went into the race weekend with penalty points.

With Jenson Button (three times), Kimi Raikkonen (twice), Lewis Hamilton , Vettel and Nico Rosberg (once each), five former winners competed in this Grand Prix.

Steve Chopping (AUS), Gerd Ennser (GER), Tom Kristensen (DEN) and Vincenzo Spano (VEN) acted as race stewards.

training

In the first free practice, Rosberg set the fastest time in 1: 29.557 minutes, 29 thousandths of a second ahead of Hamilton. Bottas was third, around a second behind. Sauber did not play the first free practice session due to legal reasons in the van der Garde matter. Marussia didn't drive because of technical problems as the cars weren't ready. McLaren broke off the training early with technical difficulties.

In the second free practice, Rosberg stayed ahead of Hamilton with a lap time of 1: 27.697 minutes. Vettel was third. Daniel Ricciardo , whose engine had to be changed, and Felipe Massa , who had to remove the engine due to a water leak, as well as both Marussia drivers did not achieve a time. Magnussen interrupted his training when he hit the lane after a driving error in the marina . The left front suspension was destroyed, and Magnussen's training was over. Ericsson's left rear suspension broke at the beginning of the start-finish straight, but he was able to drive the vehicle slowly back to the pits. Button and Verstappen had to stop the training a few minutes before the end, with Button a severe loss of performance was the cause, with Verstappen the battery.

In the third free practice session, Hamilton set the fastest lap time ahead of Vettel and Rosberg.

Qualifying

The qualifying consisted of three parts with a net running time of 45 minutes. In the first qualifying segment (Q1), the drivers had 18 minutes to qualify for the race. All drivers who achieved a time in the first section that was a maximum of 107 percent of the fastest lap time qualified for the Grand Prix. The best 15 drivers reached the next part. Hamilton was the fastest. The Marussia pilots did not set any time because their vehicles were still not ready for use and thus failed to qualify. The McLaren drivers and Ericsson were eliminated.

The second section (Q2) lasted 15 minutes. The ten fastest pilots qualified for the third part of qualifying. Hamilton was again fastest. The Force India pilots, Kwjat, Verstappen and Nasr didn't make it into the last part of the timed practice.

The final section (Q3) lasted twelve minutes, during which the first ten starting positions were awarded. Hamilton set the fastest time ahead of Rosberg and Massa.

Bottas complained of severe back pain during qualifying and was then examined by the FIA ​​doctors. He was admitted to a hospital where a tear in a spinal disc was diagnosed and he was sent to Sunday night. Around an hour before the start, Bottas was refused permission to take off.

run

Magnussen and Kwjat suffered a technical defect on the way to the starting grid and had to park their vehicles on the track, neither did they start the race. There were only 15 vehicles at the start. There was a similarly small field alongside the 2005 USA Grand Prix , in which all vehicles with Michelin tires pitted after the introductory lap and only the six vehicles with Bridgestone tires competed, most recently at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1982 .

At the start, Hamilton stayed ahead of Rosberg and Massa. Raikkonen started better than Vettel and passed him briefly, but Vettel was on the inside of the track, so Raikkonen had to slow down in the Jones and Vettel passed. Sainz also overtook Raikkonen, and the vehicles came into contact and Raikkonen briefly left the track. Nasr and Maldonado also wanted to overtake Raikkonen, who drove back to the track, initially there was contact between Raikkonen and Nasr, who then met Maldonado. Maldonado lost control of his vehicle, spun and backed into the lane. He retired, the safety car was sent out to rescue his car . Although yellow flags had already been waved, Pérez passed Ericsson, who pitted at the end of the lap to change tires.

Grosjean, who had already complained about the loss of power in his engine on the warm-up lap and had dropped to last place at the start, gave up the race at the end of the first lap.

At the end of the third lap, the race was released again. Nasr passed Sainz at the restart and when the White ford braked , Verstappen overtook Raikkonen. Pérez was informed by his team that he would have to let Ericsson, who was now driving at the bottom of the field, past again, otherwise he could face a drive-through penalty. After falling behind Ericsson, he got stuck several laps behind Button and collided with him while attempting to overtake the White Ford . Pérez spun, but both drivers were able to continue.

Hamilton was in the lead about three seconds before Rosberg, both Mercedes drivers clearly set themselves apart from Massa and Vettel.

Räikkönen was held up by Ricciardo for several laps but couldn't get past. So he decided to switch from a one-stop strategy to a two-stop strategy. At the end of lap 16 he switched to another set of soft tires, but there were problems with the rear left wheel nut and the pit stop lasted more than five seconds longer than usual.

Massa made his only pit stop at the end of lap 21. He came back onto the track just behind Ricciardo and couldn't get past Ricciardo until he pitted at the end of lap 23 to change his tires. Vettel pitted on lap 24 and was in fourth place after his pit stop in front of Massa, immediately behind Nasr, who also pitted at the end of the lap to change tires. There was a problem with an impact wrench during the Sainz pit stop, Sainz lost around half a minute and fell back to the bottom of the field.

Hamilton changed his tires on lap 25, so Rosberg took the lead for one lap before he also pitted. Halfway through the race, Hamilton was ahead of Rosberg, Vettel, Massa, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Nasr, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg and Ericsson.

Hamilton controlled the race and kept the lead over Rosberg constant. Verstappen had to park his car on lap 34 with an engine failure. Raikkonen made his second pit stop on lap 40 and stayed in fifth place. During the pit stop there were again problems with the wheel nut at the rear left, the wheel could not be attached correctly. However, the team had sent Raikkonen back on the track, but when the responsible persons realized the problem a few seconds later, they informed Raikkonen to park the vehicle immediately for safety reasons. Due to this instruction, the race stewards refrained from issuing a penalty for Raikkonen for Unsafe Release .

Hamilton won ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. Since he also drove the fastest race lap, he managed a hat trick . The top 10 were completed by Massa, Nasr, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg, Ericsson, Sainz and Pérez. Nasr and Sainz scored points for the first time in their first race, and Ericsson also scored points for the first time. Button crossed the finish line two laps behind in eleventh and last place after the car had never been able to cover nearly a racing distance in a row during the tests before the season.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	06th	Nico Rosberg
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	03	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull RB11	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	26th	Daniil Kvyat
Williams Martini Racing	19th	Felipe Massa	Williams FW37	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	77	Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Ferrari	05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF15-T	Ferrari 059/4	P
	07th	Kimi Raikkonen
McLaren Honda	20th	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren MP4-30	Honda RA615H	P
	22nd	Jenson Button
Sahara Force India F1 Team	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India VJM08	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	11	Sergio Perez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso STR10	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lotus F1 Team	08th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus E23 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	13	Pastor Maldonado
Manor Marussia F1 Team	28	Will Stevens	Marussia MR03	Ferrari 059/3	P
	98	Roberto Merhi
Sauber F1 Team	09	Marcus Ericsson	Clean C34	Ferrari 059/4	P
	12	Felipe Nasr

1. ↑ ^{a b} Sauber reported Ericsson and Nasr, although an Australian court had awarded Giedo van der Garde a cockpit of the Sauber team the week before the race. Van der Garde did without his cockpit as the weekend progressed.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1: 28.586	1: 26.894	1: 26.327	01
02	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 28.906	1: 27.097	1: 26.921	02
03	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1: 29.246	1: 27.895	1: 27.718	03
04th	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1: 29.307	1: 27.742	1: 27.757	04th
05	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1: 29.754	1: 27.807	1: 27.790	05
06th	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1: 29.641	1: 27.796	1: 28.087	-
07th	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1: 29.788	1: 28.679	1: 28.329	06th
08th	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 29.597	1: 28.601	1: 28.510	07th
09	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	1: 29.537	1: 28.589	1: 28.560	08th
10	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	1: 29.847	1: 28.726	1: 29.480	09
11	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	1: 30.430	1: 28,800	-	10
12	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 29.248	1: 28.868	-	11
13	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1: 30.402	1: 29.070	-	12
14th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 29.651	1: 29.208	-	13
15th	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1: 29.990	1: 29.209	-	14th
16	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	1: 31.376	-	-	15th
17th	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	1: 31.422	-	-	16
18th	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Honda	1: 32.037	-	-	17th
107 percent time : 1: 34.787 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 28.586 min)
DNQ	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	no time	-	-	-
DNQ	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Ferrari	no time	-	-	-

Remarks

1. ↑ Bottas was withdrawn due to a back injury.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	58	1	1: 31: 54.067	01	1: 30.945 (50th)
02	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	58	1	+ 1.360	02	1: 31.092 (47th)
03	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	58	1	+ 34.523	04th	1: 31,457 (52nd)
04th	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	58	1	+ 38.196	03	1: 31.719 (50.)
05	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	58	1	+1: 35.149	10	1: 32.612 (46.)
06th	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	57	1	+ 1 lap	06th	1: 32.797 (46.)
07th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	57	1	+ 1 lap	13	1: 31.970 (48th)
08th	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	57	2	+ 1 lap	15th	1: 31,560 (51.)
09	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	57	1	+ 1 lap	07th	1: 32.872 (49.)
10	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	57	1	+ 1 lap	14th	1: 31,959 (46.)
11	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	56	1	+ 2 rounds	16	1: 33.338 (56.)
-	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	40	2	DNF	05	1: 31.426 (36th)
-	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	32	1	DNF	11	1: 34.295 (30.)
-	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	00	0	DNF	08th	-
-	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	00	0	DNF	09	-
-	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	00	0	DNS	12	-
-	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Honda	00	0	DNS	17th	-

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 25th 02  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 18th 03  Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 15th 04th  Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 12 05  Felipe Nasr Clean Ferrari 10 06th  Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 8th 07th  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 6th 08th  Marcus Ericsson Clean Ferrari 4th 09  Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 2 10  Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1

Item driver constructor Points 11  Jenson Button McLaren Honda 0 -  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 0 -  Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 0 -  Romain Grosjean Lotus Mercedes 0 -  Pastor Maldonado Lotus Mercedes 0 -  Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 0 -  Kevin Magnussen McLaren Honda 0 -  Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 0 -  Roberto Merhi Marussia Ferrari 0 -  Will Stevens Marussia Ferrari 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 1  Mercedes 43 2  Ferrari 15th 3  Clean Ferrari 14th 4th  Williams-Mercedes 12 5  Red Bull-Renault 8th

Item constructor Points 06th  Force India-Mercedes 7th 07th  Toro Rosso-Renault 2 08th  McLaren Honda 0 -  Lotus Mercedes 0 -  Marussia Ferrari 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: Pirelli's tire choice will remain conservative until Bahrain. Motorsport-Total.com, March 4, 2015, accessed March 4, 2015 . 
2. ↑ 2015 Australian Grand Prix - Event Note. (PDF, 685 kB) fia.com, March 12, 2015, accessed on March 18, 2015 (English). 
3. ↑ Sven Haidinger: McLaren officially confirms: Fernando Alonso is missing in Australia. Motorsport-Total.com, March 3, 2015, accessed March 3, 2015 . 
4. ^ ^{A b} Roman Wittemeier: Fight in court: does van der Garde complain to the Sauber? Motorsport-Total.com, March 5, 2015, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: Van der Garde judgment on Wednesday: Is it a "fatal risk"? Motorsport-Total.com, March 9, 2015, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Markus Lüttgens: Court awards van der Garde Sauber-Cockpit. Motorsport-Total.com, March 11, 2015, accessed on March 11, 2015 . 
7. ^ Mathias Brunner: Sauber - Giedo van der Garde: Formal error in the judgment? speedweek.com, March 12, 2015, accessed March 13, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Markus Lüttgens: Sauber and van der Garde: No result on Friday. Motorsport-Total.com, March 13, 2015, accessed on March 13, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: Clean breathes: Van der Garde renounces (temporarily). Motorsport-Total.com, March 14, 2015, accessed on March 14, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: Formula 1 in Melbourne 2015: Mercedes dominates the start. Motorsport-Total.com, March 13, 2015, accessed on March 13, 2015 . 
11. ^ GP Australia in Melbourne / 1st free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, March 13, 2015, accessed on March 13, 2015 . 
12. ^ Fabian Hust, Christian Nimmervoll: Formula 1 in Melbourne 2015: Mercedes before Ferrari. Motorsport-Total.com, March 13, 2015, accessed on March 13, 2015 . 
13. ^ GP Australia in Melbourne / 2nd free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, March 13, 2015, accessed on March 13, 2015 . 
14. ^ Fabian Hust: Formula 1 start in Melbourne: Lewis Hamilton on pole. Motorsport-Total.com, March 14, 2015, accessed on March 14, 2015 . 
15. ↑ Stefan Ziegler: No starting permit: injured Valtteri Bottas does not drive. Motorsport-Total.com, March 15, 2015, accessed March 15, 2015 . 
16. ↑ Dieter Rencken, Norman Fischer: A Formula 1 with 15 cars: "Boring" and "Not beautiful" hrsg = Motorsport-Total.com. March 15, 2015, accessed March 16, 2015 . 
17. ↑ Ryk Fechner: Lotus: Strong start unrewarded. Motorsport-Total.com, March 15, 2015, accessed March 16, 2015 . 
18. ↑ Dieter Rencken, Dominik Sharaf: Unlucky Raikkonen: twice innocent, twice suffering. Motorsport-Total.com, March 15, 2015, accessed March 16, 2015 . 
19. ↑ Dieter Rencken, Markus Lüttgens: Despite series of bankruptcies: McLaren-Honda makes first race distance. Motorsport-Total.com, March 15, 2015, accessed on March 17, 2015 . 

Web links

• Official website of the Australian Grand Prix