Vettel Grabs Victory in 2021 Season Opener

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Diff.
1	47	Lando Norris		1:26.091	1:25.705
2	64	Dave Cassidy		1:26.053	1:25.946	+0.241
3	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:25.947	1:26.064	+0.242
4	39	Sho Tsuboi		1:26.201	1:26.021	+0.316
5	6	Artem Markelov		1:26.142	1:26.052	+0.347
6	31	Esteban Ocon		1:26.337	1:26.177	+0.472
7	23	Alexander Albon		1:26.367	1:26.256	+0.551
8	29	Roger Ibe		1:26.541	1:26.297	+0.592
9	33	Max Verstappen		1:26.487	1:26.350	+0.645
10	57	Dean Stoneman		1:26.351	1:26.679	+0.646
11	7	Charles Leclerc		1:26.499	1:26.464	+0.759
12	26	Robert Shwartzman		1:27.144	1:26.666	+0.961
13	94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:27.199	1:26.749	+1.044
14	70	Sérgio Sette Câmara		1:26.788	1:26.776	+1.071
15	37	Kazuki Nakajima		1:27.117	1:27.321	+1.412
16	13	Pastor Maldonado		No Time	1:27.320	+1.615
17	77	Valtteri Bottas		1:27.504	1:27.360	+1.655
18	84	Jack Aitken		1:27.472	1:27.675	+1.767
19	23	Jules Bianchi		1:28.515	1:28.302	+2.597
20	73	Daniel Melrose		1:28.732	1:28.514	+2.809
21	99	Antonio Giovinazzi		1:28.697	1:28.649	+2.944
22	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		1:28.859	1:29.036	+3.154
23	4	Robin Frijns		1:29.288	1:29.013	+3.308
24	98	Bradley Dagnall		1:29.826	1:29.525	+3.820

Report:

91 long days are finally over, Formula One has returned: the Australian Grand Prix drew thousands of fans to the track and millions to the screen. Everyone was happy to have the greatest sport on the world back, with a number of new rules in play.

One thing had not changed in the 366 days since the last season opener: Lando Norris was on pole position, even with the new qualifying system. Unfortunately, technical issues prevented him to win back-to-back Australian GPs as a transmission failure forced him to park the new CT08.

Sebastian Vettel took advantage of the misfortunate of his stablemate and Dave Cassidy’s driver error and lapping troubles to steal his latest career victory. In third place, Artem Markelov had a good run for BR Mansell, proving their pace.

Two men drawing positive attention were Sho Tsuboi and Roger Ibe, who performed admirably and provided great entertainment. Both were caught out with technical issues, which combined with crashes to reduce the field to 14 finishers, which enabled Jack Aitken to score points in his first race.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	18	Sebastian Vettel		54:24.105	15
2	64	Dave Cassidy		+0.741	12
3	6	Artem Markelov		+3.146	10
4	57	Dean Stoneman		+6.243	8
5	33	Max Verstappen		+11.232	6
6	26	Robert Shwartzman		+14.658	5
7	70	Sérgio Sette Câmara		+20.870	4
8	94	Pascal Wehrlein		+30.864	3
9	85	Jack Aitken		+43.533	2
10	29	Roger Ibe		+46.467	1
11	37	Kazuki Nakajima		+56.595	0
12	23	Jules Bianchi		+75.254	0
13	73	Daniel Melrose		+88.818	0
14	19	Robin Frijns		1 Lap	0
DNF	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		Accident	0
DNF	39	Sho Tsuboi		Transmission	0
DNF	47	Lando Norris		Transmission	0
DNF	14	Esteban Ocon		Accident	0
DNF	13	Pastor Maldonado		Transmission	0
DNF	7	Charles Leclerc		Puncture	0
DNF	98	Bradley Dagnall		Accident	0
DNF	23	Alexander Albon		Accident	0
DNF	77	Valtteri Bottas		Accident	0
DNF	99	Antonio Giovinazzi		Collision	0

Fastest Lap:

Roger Ibe – 1:30.604

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Sho Tsuboi – impressive debut removes doubt about his suitability for a good F1 team.

Reject Of The Race:

Ferrari – a number of failures of the Ferrari-designed transmission and Albon’s and Cassidy’s amateur mistakes do not help the team.