Contents

2018 Australian Grand Prix

2018 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship
Layout of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
Race details
Date	25 March 2018 (2018-03-25)
Official name	Formula 1 2018 Rolex Australian Grand Prix
Location	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia
Course	Temporary street circuit
Course length	5.303 km (3.295 miles)
Distance	58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:21.164
Fastest lap
Driver	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Time	1:25.945 on lap 54
Podium
First	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Second	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Third	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2018 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 2018 Rolex Australian Grand Prix)^[1] was a Formula One motor race held on 25 March 2018 in Melbourne, Victoria. The race was contested over fifty-eight laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and was the first round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship.^[2] The race marked the eighty-second race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix—which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928—and the twenty-third time the event was held at the Albert Park circuit.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel was the defending race winner.^[3] Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole—his seventh pole position in Australia,^[4] a record for the event—while Vettel successfully defended his race win, the forty-eighth of his career.^[3]

Report

Background

The race marked the competitive début of the "halo" cockpit protection device after eighteen months of rigorous testing.^[5]

Tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli provided teams with the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft compounds.^[6]

Drag reduction system

In the week before the Grand Prix, race officials confirmed the inclusion of a third drag reduction system (DRS) zone.^[7] The detection point for the third zone was positioned on the approach to the Turn 11-12 chicane with the activation point on the exit to Turn 12. The existing DRS zones were unchanged from previous years, with one positioned on the main straight and the second on the straight between Turns 2 and 3.^[8]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	Car no.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:22.824	1:22.051	1:21.164	1
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:23.096	1:22.507	1:21.828	2
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:23.348	1:21.944	1:21.838	3
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:23.483	1:22.416	1:21.879	4
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:23.494	1:22.897	1:22.152	81
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:23.909	1:23.300	1:23.187	5
7	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:23.671	1:23.468	1:23.339	6
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:23.782	1:23.544	1:23.532	7
9	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Renault	1:23.529	1:23.061	1:23.577	9
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:23.686	1:22.089	no time	152
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	1:23.597	1:23.692		10
12	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	1:24.073	1:23.853		11
13	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:24.344	1:24.005		12
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1:24.464	1:24.230		13
15	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	1:24.503	1:24.786		14
16	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1:24.532			16
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:24.556			17
18	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	1:24.636			18
19	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	1:24.922			19
20	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1:25.295			20
107% time: 1:28.621
Source:[4]

Notes

• ^1  – Daniel Ricciardo received a three-place grid penalty for failing to adequately slow down for a red flag during free practice.^[9]
• ^2  – Valtteri Bottas received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	58	1:29:33.283	3	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	58	+5.036	1	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	58	+6.309	2	15
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	58	+7.069	8	12
5	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	58	+27.886	10	10
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	58	+28.945	4	8
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	58	+32.671	7	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	58	+34.339	15	4
9	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	58	+34.921	11	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Renault	58	+45.722	9	1
11	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	58	+46.817	12
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	58	+1:00.278	14
13	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	58	+1:15.759	18
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	58	+1:18.288	13
15	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	57	+1 lap	16
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	24	Wheel	6
Ret	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	22	Wheel	5
Ret	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	13	Engine	20
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	5	Hydraulics	17
Ret	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	4	Brakes	19
Source:[10]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Sebastian Vettel 25 2 Lewis Hamilton 18 3 Kimi Räikkönen 15 4 Daniel Ricciardo 12 5 Fernando Alonso 10

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 40 2 Mercedes 22 3 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 20 4 McLaren-Renault 12 5 Renault 7

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2018 Melbourne 400

References

External links

• Official website