Event Recap: 2018 Formula 1 World Championship from Australian Grand Prix (March 25, 2018)

Event statistics following the first race of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, the Rolex Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.

Sebastien Vettel won the race for the second consecutive season and third time in his career. Polesitter Lewis Hamilton finished second and Kimi Raikkonen was third.

Race Statistics

Rolex Australian Grand Prix

Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

- Winner (starting position): Sebastian Vettel (3rd)

- Podium: Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen

- Full Results: Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Stoffel Vandoorne, Carlos Sainz Jr., Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, Brendon Hartley, Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, Marcus Ericsson, Sergey Sirotkin

- Laps Completed: 58

- Race Leaders: 2

- Laps Led: Sebastian Vettel (40), Lewis Hamilton (18)

- Pole Position: Lewis Hamilton (1 minute, 21.164 seconds)

- Hard Charger: Valtteri Bottas (+7; 15th to 8th)

- Fastest Lap: Daniel Ricciardo (1 minute, 25.945 seconds, Lap 54)

- Margin of Victory: 5.036 seconds

- Car Count: 20

- Cars Entered: 20

- Cars Running at Finish: 15 (of 20; or 75 percent of the field)

- Drivers to Finish on Lead Lap: 14

- Average Speed: 206.069 kph/128.045 mph

- Lead Changes: 1

- Race Time: 1:29:33.283

- Weather at Start of the Race: 75 degrees Fahrenheit, mostly cloudy, winds SE 2 mph

- Weather at End of the Race: 78 degrees Fahrenheit, mostly cloudy, winds E 4 mph

Notes of Interest – Race/Weekend Recap

- This is Sebastian Vettel’s first Formula 1 victory of the season and the 48th of his career. Vettel is fourth all-time in victories, three behind fellow four-time champion Alain Prost, who has 51 wins.

- Vettel’s 48th win comes in his 199th race and his 200th entry. He has won nearly a quarter of the grand prix in which he has competed.

- This is the ninth season in which Vettel has won at least one race. He also won one race in 2008. He has only had three winless seasons in his career: 2007, 2014 and 2016.

- This is Vettel’s third Australian Grand Prix victory and second in succession. Vettel also won the Australian Grand Prix in 2011 and 2017. He is now one of three drivers to win the Australian Grand Prix three times or more in Formula 1 competition, joining four-time winner Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button.

- Vettel became the first driver since Button to win the Australian Grand Prix in successive seasons. Button won the race in 2009 and 2010.

- This marked Vettel’s 100th career podium finish, therefore giving him a podium finish in exactly 50 percent of his 200 entries (50.2 percent of his 199 races).

- Vettel’s 100 podiums ranks him fourth all-time, and six behind Prost.

- This was Vettel’s seventh podium in the Australian Grand Prix – all in the last eight races. He has been on the podium in each of the last four races at Albert Park.

- Vettel led a race-high 40 laps. The last time he led the most laps in a race came in the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix, when he led 57 of 71 laps.

- Vettel has now led each of the last three Australian Grand Prix, the only driver to do so.

- Vettel won from the third starting position. It marked the fifth time he’s won from the third starting position and first since the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix. All 48 of Vettel’s victories have come from the top three starting positions.

- This is Vettel’s ninth victory for Ferrari, tying him with current teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

- Vettel led his 3,000th career lap, joining only Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton to accomplish that feat.

- German drivers have now won the Australian Grand Prix nine times, including the last three, four of the last five and five of the last eight.

- This was Ferrari’s 230th victory, and its 12th in the Australian Grand Prix, tying McLaren. Three of Ferrari’s 12 Australian Grand Prix wins came prior to the inclusion of the race on the F1 calendar. It was the 251st win for an Italian constructor.

- Lewis Hamilton finished second in the Australian Grand Prix, his third consecutive runner-up position in the race – all after securing the pole position.

- It marked Hamilton’s 118th career podium and eighth in the Australian Grand Prix, a race record.

- Hamilton secured the pole position for the race, his fifth in succession and seventh overall. That ranks tied for third all-time for most poles at a single grand prix. Ayrton Senna earned eight poles in the San Marino Grand Prix and Michael Schumacher had eight poles in the Japanese Grand Prix. Schumacher also has seven poles in the Spanish and Hungarian Grand Prix.

- Kimi Raikkonen was third, earning his 92nd career podium and sixth podium in the Australian Grand Prix. He has finished on the podium in four of the last five Formula 1 races.

- Raikkonen has finished on the podium in at least one race in 14 of his 16 Formula 1 seasons (exceptions were 2001 and 2014). That’s second all-time to Michael Schumacher, who earned at least one podium in 16 of 19 seasons.

- This is Ferrari’s first double podium since the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix, and the third consecutive race a constructor has earned a double podium. The last time three constructors were represented on the podium was the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix (Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari).

- Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, the highest an Australian has finished in the Australian Grand Prix since he finished fourth in 2016. It also marked Red Bull’s highest finish.

- Fernando Alonso finished fifth, his first top-five finish since the 2016 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, and his third consecutive top 10, dating back to last year. He has now finished four consecutive races.

- Alonso’s fifth-place finish was his highest in the Australian Grand Prix since finishing fourth in the 2014 race. He now has 12 top-five finishes in 16 races in the race.

- Max Verstappen finished sixth.

- Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh for the third time in the last four Australian Grand Prix.

- Valtteri Bottas was the race’s hard charger, advancing a race-high seven positions to finish eighth after starting 15th.

- Stoffel Vandoorne finished ninth, his first points finish since the 2017 Malaysia Grand Prix. It marked McLaren’s first race with two cars in the points since the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, and the team’s 12 points were the most they’ve achieved with Honda.

- Vandoorne’s ninth-place effort was also his best finish in two Australian Grand Prix.

- Carlos Sainz Jr. finished 10th. He has secured points in all four of his Australian Grand Prix starts, with a best finish of eighth in 2017. Sainz also ensured both Spanish drivers finished in the points, the first time two Spaniards finished in the points since the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.

- Charles Leclerc finished 13th in his Formula 1 debut, driving for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team.

- Lance Stroll was the final driver on the lead lap; he finished 14th.

- Brendon Hartley was the final driver to complete the race; he finished 15th.

- Five drivers retired from the race: Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, Marcus Ericsson and Sergey Sirotkin, who was making his F1 debut. Sirotkin was the first retirement, making it the first time a Williams car was the first retirement in the Australian Grand Prix since 2011 (Pastor Maldonado).

- This marked the first time since 2015 the Australian Grand Prix went the full 58-lap distance. The 2016 and 2017 races were each 57 laps, both due to aborted starts.

- A total of nine drivers that finished the race improved on their starting position.

- The second round of the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship is the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on April 8 at Bahrain International Circuit.