Ferrari filled with confidence after victory
Mercedes to re-examine their tactics for China
FERRARI’S victory in Melbourne sees the Italian team filled with confidence, after 18 months without a grand prix win. Mercedes say they plan to re-examine their tactics ahead of the season’s next race in Shanghai.
As the Formula One show rumbled out of Melbourne late Sunday, songs from Michael Jackson boomed out on loudspeakers at the back of the Ferrari garage, while the Italian team packed up their mountains of gear.
It’s pretty obvious that Ferrari’s first win in 18 months has filled the team with some much-needed confidence.
Post race, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel couldn’t wipe the smile off his face either.
“Hopefully this is the beginning of a big love affair,” Vettel said, when asked if he was happy with Ferrari’s new 2017 car, which he has nicknamed “Gina.”
The 29-year-old German described his second win in Melbourne as “very exceptional,” especially after last year’s winless run.
While Vettel has been confident since testing earlier this month that Ferrari’s SF70H car is quick enough to challenge Mercedes, he admitted in the post-race press conference that he got lucky with pit stop tactics on Sunday, and Lewis Hamilton got the raw end of the deal.
“I was able to keep up the pressure on Lewis - and he pitted first with the risk of getting into traffic, and that is what happened. Of course, that played into our hands.”
The Brit, for his part, said he was forced into the early pit stop after he noticed problems with his tyres.
“(After the start) I was struggling with the grip from the get-go, and Sebastian was able to always answer in terms of lap time,” he said.
“The gap was closing up and I was sliding around, so it was my call, because otherwise he probably would have come by anyways.”
Hamilton’s change on to soft tyres took under 22 seconds but when he returned to the track, he was wedged behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and couldn’t overtake.
“Obviously, I got stuck in some traffic, which was unfortunate, but that’s motor racing.”
Mercedes’ head of motorsport, Toto Wolff, admitted the decision on when to make the pit stop was tricky.
“With all the clear risks of coming out in traffic, we took the decision to come in. We were between a rock and a hard place, really, and we went for it. But Ferrari played it very well.”
“Now, the job for us is to learn the lessons from this race, understand why we didn’t perform to our maximum.”
Both Mercedes drivers also said they found it difficult to overtake in Sunday’s race, with Lewis Hamilton even suggesting it could be an ongoing problem for the rest of the season.
“Unfortunately, it’s harder than ever to get closer to cars. It’s a shame that we can’t have an even closer battle, but who knows, maybe in the future we will,” the three-time world champion said.
Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who finished the race third right on Hamilton’s heels, said he believes this season’s wider cars, with newly-designed front wings are to blame.
“The cars are wider, so there is more turbulent air ... In the corners, it is more difficult to follow. Obviously, you have a bigger slipstream in the straight, but if you can’t follow in the corners it’s tricky to get a slipstream.”
While the issues on overtaking won’t be resolved by the time the next grand prix begins in Shanghai on April 9, Mercedes will be hoping to tighten up their act and finish ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari, at least.
Then, post-race, they may even be able to turn up the Michael Jackson, too.
- DPA