Valtteri Bottas surprised everyone with a dominant victory on Sunday’s 2019 Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) completed the podium in the first 2019 F1 calendar.

Right behind them came both Ferrari of Vettel and Leclerc after a disappointing performance. Carlos Sainz had to abandon due to engine failure. 

Thank you, Charlie

Before the start of the race, a heartfelt tribute was paid to Charlie Whiting, Race Director of Formula 1 since 1997, who passed away last Wednesday after suffering a pulmonary embolism. His absence will be sorely felt in the F1 world, where he has been working since the 70s.

He was one of a few great figures which brought the Formula 1 up to what it is today. After four decades of tireless work, one of the pillars of the speciality has left us. May he rest in peace.

Bottas is off to a lightning start

Valtteri Bottas was off to a lightning start, overtaking his super-star teammate on the first few meters. But the flying Finn, who had already warned during the preseason that he came to Australia with a renewed mentality, was not satisfied with merely overtaking the Briton.

He wanted to impose a relentless rhythm and escape alone, and so he did. Behind him, a thousand battles took place. 

Charles Leclerc, after a bad classifying position, attempted unsuccessfully to pass his German ‘superior’, who was then third, in the first opportunity.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen also defended his fourth position from Leclerc. Immediately after that and before half a lap had been completed, the yellow flag was waving over a few stretches of track.

Ricciardo’s Renault had lost its front wing when he crossed through the grass after being cornered by a Racing Point before the first bend. Another race ruined for the Australian driver in front of his fans, and a sad debut with Renault. He got to boxes and mounted medium hard tires to try and finish the race but the damage was too much.

An impressive Carlos Sainz recovered four positions in the blink of an eye after the traffic light. It seemed as if we were going to witness a great performance from the Spaniard in Australia. 

After five laps, Valtteri Bottas was 1.3 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Vettel was third at 3.3 seconds from the leader, while Verstappen was another second behind in the fourth position. Leclerc, unable to keep up with those above, remained in no man’s land, 6.6 seconds away.

Haas was at this point showing its true claws. Its eclectic pair of drivers, Kevin Magnussen, in the sixth position, and Romain Grosjean, in seventh, led the middle zone.

Only one second behind them was a rejuvenated Kimi Raikkonen. The veteran Finn from Alfa Romeo had managed to eat up Lando Norris’ McLaren at the start. At the end of the pack was a disappointing Pierre Gasly on board his Red Bull.

The boxes´s dance

Raikkonen was the first one to pit on lap 13, in the hope of gaining the positions of the two Hass. He not only didn’t manage to do so but lost a position to the RS19 of Nico Hülkenberg. 

Then it was Magnussen‘s turn, who managed, in a rather unorthodox manner, to maintain his position against Hülkenberg. His teammate Romain Grosjean, on the other hand, was passed by Hülkenberg, Raikkonen and Norris after his unfortunate passage through the garage.

Vettel visited the garage on lap 15 in a classic undercutting manoeuvre directed to Hamilton. The boys from Mercedes, however, saw it coming and reacted in time, pitting Hamilton on the following lap. 

Meanwhile, at the top, Valtteri Bottas, Verstappen and Leclerc were flying away undisturbed. The Scandinavian driver stretched his stint until lap 22. He mounted the soft tires and resumed with a 6-second advantage over Verstappen and 11 whole seconds ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc entered boxes on the 29th lap and rejoined in fifth position.

Valtteri Bottas dominates with an iron fist

By the half-way mark, Valtteri Bottas had accrued a whopping 16.2-second advantage over his partner. Vettel, in the third position and at 18.6 seconds from the top was preoccupied with a blue-coloured trouble.

Verstappen was only six-tenths of a second behind him, and he was out to get him. And, what about Leclerc? He was still lost in no man’s land at 35 seconds from the top.

The inevitable happened on lap 31 when ‘Mad’ Max devoured the Ferrari of his German rival. The Dutchman performed an outstanding overtake on the outside.

Vettel’s weakness in close combat was evidenced once again. On the final stages of the race, those at the top engaged in the fight to get the bonus point for the fastest lap. In the end, this went to Valtteri Bottas thanks to a sensational time of 1: 25.580.

Outcome: More than just a victory for Bottas

Positions would no longer move at the top. A sensational Valtteri Bottas had opened too big a gap on Hamilton. The five-time champion, more than 30 seconds away from his teammate, admitted defeat and compromised on second place.

Verstappen obtained a remarkable third place on the podium. By the way, a big thumbs up for the reliability and performance of the debutant Honda engine of the RB15.

Behind the podium holders came the ‘red turtles‘. Vettel, frustrated by his car’s inability to pick up the pace, was asking on the radio why his car was so slow, to which the engineer simply answered: “We do not know”.

Under those bleak circumstances, Vettel could only manage a fourth position and Leclerc, who had visibly slowed down on the last laps so as not to attack his senior, entered just after him.

Images: F1.com. Ferrari, Mercedes & Alfa Romeo