Scuderia Ferrari
Ten years on from Kimi Raikkonen’s victory at Albert Park, Scuderia Ferrari has returned to winning ways in Melbourne, in the first race of the season.
Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line in first place after 57 laps, in a race whose key moment came on lap 23, when a perfectly executed pit stop for fresh tyres saw him rejoin the track ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. This is Scuderia Ferrari’s 225th Formula 1 victory.
“A good result today that could have been a great one if we’d managed to get Kimi on the podium too," says Maurizio Arrivabene.
"When we launched the SF70H we referred to it as “Our Ferrari” and indeed today’s win reflects all the effort and hard work put in over the past few months, both in Maranello and at the track. As for Sebastian, he did a great job, as did the whole team in fact. It’s a shame that Kimi struggled in the early stages to get into the right rhythm."
"Our car went very well on track: it was well balanced and consistent performance from the tyres meant we were able to adopt an aggressive strategy. This is only the first race of the championship: there are still 19 to go and we must maintain a high level of concentration at every Grand Prix, avoiding distractions and, already as from today, we are looking ahead to the next Grand Prix in China.”
Thanks to his fourth place finish, Kimi Raikkonen brought a further 12 points to the team, so that Scuderia Ferrari now has a total of 37 points in the Constructors’ Championship.
