The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vettel holds off rival Hamilton for win
It was the 48th race win of Sebastian Vettel’s career.
Believing his Ferrari still lacks the race pace to fully challenge Mercedes in Formula One, Sebastian Vettel will take a little luck when he can get it.
On Sunday at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, his Ferrari team benefited not only from a smart pit-stop strategy, but also the fortuitous emergence of a safety car midway through the race that helped Vettel take the lead from rival Lewis Hamilton and hold on for victory at Melbourne, Australia.
“We got a bit lucky, but we’ll take it,” Vettel said.
It was the 48th race win of Vettel’s career and his 100th podium finish, coming in his 200th F1 race. The German becomes the fourth driver to claim 100 podium finishes, joining Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost.
Vettel finished the race a full five seconds ahead of Hamilton, who started from the pole and had made several late attempts to catch the Ferrari but couldn’t manage to pass on the narrow Albert Park circuit. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished third, denying Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo a chance to become the first Australian driver to secure a podium place at the Australian GP.
Fernando Alonso of McLaren made a bold run to finish in fifth place, holding off a spirited challenge by Sebastian Vettel finished the race a full five seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who recovered after losing control of his car and doing a 360-degree spin early in the race to take sixth.
Hamilton looked comfortable up front for the first 20 laps before deciding to pit, giving up the lead to Vettel. The race then took a dramatic turn when Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean suffered calamitous back-to-back pit stops midway through the race. Both drivers had been running strongly in fourth and fifth places, respectively, but were forced to stop after coming out of pit lane with loose wheels. The virtual safety car emerged as race marshals removed Grosjean’s car from the circuit and Vettel took advantage of the slowdown to pit and change tires. He came out of the pit lane just ahead of a confused Hamilton, who got on the radio to ask his team what had just happened. “Why did you not tell me Vettel was in the pits?” Hamilton asked.
“We thought we were safe, but there’s obviously something wrong,” his team
responded.
When racing resumed, Hamilton stayed close to Vettel’s Ferrari, trailing by less than a second for more than 10 laps, but was unable to find space to pass the German. With victory looking increasingly out of reach, Hamilton then eased up toward the end to conserve his engine for future races.
NASCAR postpones race: The NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway was postponed until today because of inclement weather. Rain and light snow started falling Saturday afternoon and continued into the night, creating dangerous driving conditions on nearby roads and leaving little chance of getting the track cleared and dry enough to race Sunday.
There was no qualifying session for the Cup Series because of a wintry mix that moved through the Virginia area and halted the Truck Series race after just 23 laps Saturday. The Truck Series race will resume today, followed by the Cup Series race at 2 p.m. Sunday’s Games
■ Cavaliers 121, (at) Nets 114: LeBron James had 37 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Cavaliers won their fifth straight game. James was14 for 19 from the floor and reached 2,000 points in a season for the 10th time.
■ (At) Milwaukee 106, San Antonio 103: Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from an ankle injury to score 25 points and Milwaukee held off San Antonio’s late push to end the Spurs’ six-game winning streak. The Spurs trailed by 15 points with 8 minutes left before rallying to get within three with 35 seconds left on Pau Gasol’s putback.
■(At) Pacers 113, Heat 107 (OT): Victor Oladipo had 23 points and five assists to help the Pacers clinch a playoff berth. The Heat were without coach Erik Spoelstra, who was with his wife for the birth of their son. The Heat lost for the 11th time in their last 12 road games.
■ Clippers 117, (at) Raptors 106: Lou Williams scored 26 points against his former team and Tobias Harris had 20 as the Clippers overcame an 18-point first-quarter deficit.
■ Celtics 104, (at) Kings 93: Terry Rozier scored a seasonhigh 33 points and nearly matched the Celtics’ franchise record for 3-pointers while Jaylen Brown made consecutive buckets to break open a close game in the fourth quarter. Rozier’s eight 3-pointers were one short of the club mark. Rozier is starting for the injured Kyrie Irving.
■ (At) Knicks 101, Wizards 97: Trey Burke scored 19 points in his first start in exactly three years and the Knicks handed the Wizards their third straight loss.
■ Trail Blazers 108, (at) Thunder 105: C.J. McCollum scored 34 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers, who swept all four games with the Thunder this season. Damian Lillard scored 24 points, and Jusuf Nurkic added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
■ Hawks 99, (at) Rockets 118: James Harden had a tripledouble with 18 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in three quarters and the Houston Rockets rolled to their 60th victory.
■ Jazz at Warriors: Late
Today’s Games