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Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel won the season opener
in Australia by almost 10 seconds from Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes
team-mate Valtteri Bottas. This was Ferrari’s first win since Singapore 2015
and their first win at Albert Park since Kimi Raikkonen’s 2007 victory.
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At the beginning of the weekend there was lot of talk about Ferrari’s
pre-season pace and whether it was genuine. Their pace on Sunday stood
testimony to the fact that Ferrari are indeed looking good this year. Vettel took his
43rd victory with the help of a smart strategy. Hamilton’s early
pitstop put him behind the RedBull of Max Verstappen which allowed Vettel to stay out and open a decent gap , allowing him to re-join
in front of Verstappen after his pitstop. The other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen
finished fourth ahead of Vertsappen and Felipe Massa.
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Home-boy Daniel Ricciardo who hoped to finish on the podium
almost didn’t start the race as he got stuck in 6th gear on the way
to grid. Unfortunately, his engine failed on Lap 29 shattering hopes of numerous
Australian fans.
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The new regulations has reset Formula 1 in a way that there are
finally two teams fighting one and another for the championship. The question is whether this
battle will continue throughout the season. We all know how
quick Redbull can turn things around and maybe Redbull too will join this
battle later on.
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Liberty Media already have already relaxed the social media rules and provided an extraordinary festival at Melbourne. Australia, in many ways, provides the template for
Chase Carey’s vision to turn the F1 circus into “20 Super Bowls”. A mammoth task lies with Chasey Carey and his team
to continue this momentum. Formula 1 is looking healthier than ever.
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