Grand Prix of Australia: opening of the season of Formula 1 2019 – live! | sport

Lap 32/58: Congratulations to everyone who chose Bottas for this one. Or rather, congratulations to anyone who thinks it would be faster than Hamilton today. He is cruising. Ricciardo is gone now too. This weekend was shocking for the Australian.

Lap 31/58: Ha, you must love Verstappen. He managed to pbad Vettel and to take third place. It seemed inevitable. Hamilton turns a little further. Grosjean retires. This is the third consecutive year in Australia for him. Oh dear.

Lap 30/58: So it's the solo show of Bottas that leads comfortably, followed by Hamilton, who is not very comfortable. Vettel desperately tries to keep Verstappen in the battle for third place.

Lap 29/58: Leclerc ends up deflating and opts for the hard tire. It's now Bottas leading Hamilton to the top, with the champion struggling to reach the pace of his teammate. Vettel is third … for the moment – Verstappen is on his back.

Lap 28/58: Giovanazzi in the pit. Finally. He has a long way to go but he will return. Bottas remains the man to beat.

Lap 27/58: Giovanzzi slipping in the rankings, Grosjean now exceeds him. It looks like he is fighting to get caught. He refuses to go out for any reason.

Lap 26/58: Bottas in a vacuum at the front – but that could be turning into a tasty fight for other positions, especially with Hamilton not looking his best. Norris finally manages to overtake Giovanazzi. Took about five rounds.

Lap 25/58: Nice little battle between Giovanazzi and Norris, the Briton looking for an opening. They are currently 12th and 13th respectively.

Lap 24/58: It is therefore Verstappen de Bottas, then Leclerc. Hamilton is fourth, Vettel fifth. Hamilton seems a little uncomfortable compared to his teammate.

Lap 23/58: Verstappen in the lead as Bottas Pits. But above all, the Mercedes goes out in front of Leclerc. Not really mentioned Verstappen (which is unusual in itself) but he's fine.

Tower 22/58: Bottas sails by the minute, although it is thoroughly. He will have to appear before Leclerc.

Lap 21/58: Verstappen and Leclerc are still waiting, they currently occupy the podium behind the man of the moment Bottas. Hamilton and Vettel wait to jump behind them.

Lap 20/58: Unless an unforeseen disaster, Bottas has this race in his hands. Verstappen still second to Leclerc then Hamilton. Vettel fifth.

Tower 19/58: Magnussen took an unusual line to make Giovanzzi lose his game and double it. Good driving Bottas always the man, especially with Hamilton not as strong as his gulf. Not sure what's wrong with the champion at the minute, let's hope nothing serious.

Lap 18/58: Ricciardo has just been beaten by Bottas. No return in force for the Australian, who always pays for this beginning. Hamilton struggles to ride on medium tires – Bottas early.

Tower 17/58: The various pit stops have therefore somewhat shaken the field, making it difficult to read the race, but Bottas is definitely the man to beat by the minute. He is currently 11 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton stung.

Lap 16/58: Grosjean makes a very long pit stop. Too long. Back in force on Haas last year when the wheels fell almost literally after a pit stop in Melbourne.

Lap 15/58: Hulkenberg attacks Magnussen as he comes out of the pit … but he just manages to keep his position, cutting it at the turn. Stop everywhere at the minute. Bottas realizes another fast lap.

Lap 14/58: Despite Sainz's misfortunes, his McLaren teammate Norris is still in eighth place. Well done this young man. He will fight soon. In fact, Ferrari is about to do it.

Lap 13/58: Thus, Bottas, Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen and Leclerc rank in the top five, followed by the two Haas pilots. Sainz is the first driver of the season to retire.

Tower 12/58: Elsewhere, Hamilton overtook Bottas on a lap for the first time. This could make things interesting if the Brit has found his marks. A few more and it will animate him.

Tower 11/58: Sainz's hopes literally exploded in smoke – his McLaren ignites. Great disappointment for the driver and the team that stops in a safe place.

Lap 10/58: To be fair to Bottas, few people talked about him before the start of the championship. There was talk only of Verstappen and the recruits, and Vettel v Hamilton. But he grabs him today through the skin of his neck.

Lap 9/58: Leclerc loses a few seconds after having decided to cut some grbad. Little inexperience possible. Bottas everywhere in this race so far.

Lap 8/58: A small gap now opens at the top for Mercedes. They are moving away from Ferrari.

Lap 7/58: Haas cars hold their 6th and 7th places, with Magnussen leading at Grosjean. Just like you were at the top, with Mercedes in front and Verstappen (4th) cracking the Ferrari.

Lap 6/58: It turns out that Kubica also lost her wing at the start. Looks like I'm not the only one who missed that. No wonder Ricciardo was on him so fast – he's also trained. It's always like at the top: Bottas, Hamilton and Vettel.

Lap 5/58: So the two Mercedes follow, followed by Vettel and Verstappen. Bottas about a second and a half in front of Hamilton. Model waiting for the moment. Watch this place.

Lap 4/58: Poor old Ricciardo. It seems like he was a bit unlucky with this early loss of his wing – he barely touched the grbad and flew away. In fact, he did well to avoid trouble. So far, this is the story of Bottas. He looks good.

Lap 3/58: Despite this chasm, Ricciardo is already on the heels of Kubica. Bottas with the fastest ride to date. The first days but it starts to settle. Bottas good looks.

Lap 2/58: A start of the match for Ricciardo after the loss of his wing. Bottas still leading with Hamilton, Vettel a second behind.

Lap 1/58: Excellent start for Bottas ahead of Hamilton at the start. A shock for Ricciardo though. He lost his front wing after leaving the grid barely. Fall to the back. Vettel in third position, followed by Verstappen.

The pilots go around the track smoothly. They are putting themselves in position now.

How will the bonus point of the fastest lap affect the races? It will be interesting to see that the championship evolves, but this could lead to late action on the tracks because the contenders are scrambling for each available point instead of listening to the messages of the team to slow down. I'm blundering now. You can say that the beginning is almost upon us.

So what about beginners? The biggest surprise of the qualifications was perhaps the eighth place of Lando Norris. The start of life in F1 is impressive for the 19-year-old rider, and his pressure on the big prizes will spark keen interest. Given his name and his age, I think that "the hawk of the millennium" would be a good nickname. Of course, he can run around Albert Park in 1: 22.304. but can he make the course of Kessel in 12 parsecs?

"Real question for the season; In which race will this Brundle season have a clip around the ear for being so busy playing on the grid? Will it be from a sheikh, a great Texan, or Bernie from nowhere? These are the real questions, I think.
–

Joe Bloggs
Guy Incognito

Curiously, I just write about it. Pre-race interviews are getting shorter and shorter as time pbades. George Russell very polite but clearly in a hurry. Mattia Binotto does not say much, which says a lot. It's hot too.

A minute of silence for Charlie Whiting and the atrocities of Christchurch. Advance Australia Fair follows. Not long now.

I watched the first episode of Drive to Survive on Netflix yesterday. I had almost forgotten how much Daniel Ricciardo was expected in Australia at the start of the season. It's fair to say that the bar is a lot lower for its big price at home this time, although 12^th in qualifying was still below par. Nevertheless, the Australian, always very active, is rather optimistic.

"Normally, if I do not succeed as well in qualifying, I seem to carry a chip on the shoulder for the race, which helps me, so I'll use it as fuel for tomorrow" he told Sky Sports. "I was more comfortable in the car today. I do not think 12 is a representation of where we are, I think we are better. The changes we've made today make me more confident for tomorrow … I'm very optimistic about the race, it's just a question of whether we can pbad and attack. "

"Publish this anonymously, I slipped into my living room at 4:30 pm to watch it because my neighbors were too noisy and I have to get out of the bedroom! They are not so noisy. While waiting for this season, adore the first race in Melbourne!
Hope Lewis wins but hopes all fans will have a great season! "
– Joe Bloggs, email

Good job "Joe" – I know some non-F1 fans in Melbourne who complained about noisy neighbors this weekend.

It would be remiss of me not to mention Race Director Charlie Whiting, who pbaded away last week. The news seemed to affect just about everyone involved in Formula One. Truly loved. "He was our man, the driver" – Sebastian Vettel. Here is the keeper's report. A nice gesture on the track today too …

The importance of Mercedes' advantage on Ferrari yesterday during the qualifying session surprised everyone, the drivers themselves. Sinister things.

Hamilton: "It's a real shock. We continued to work at our pace and balance throughout the weekend, from Barcelona. [testing] we made very great progress and we brought that here and it seemed to have worked. I did not expect to see the difference in performance we have here. It is difficult in such a session to understand exactly what happened. "

Vettel: "I'm certainly surprised, I think everyone is, probably even Mercedes. We have homework to do, I always think we have a great car and we should be better than that. But Mercedes is the big favorite with such a gap and such comfort during all sessions. "

1. Lewis Hamilton (ENG / MER)
2 Valtteri Bottas (END / MER)
3 Sebastian Vettel (GER / FER)
4 Max Verstappen (NED / RBR)
5 Charles Leclerc (MY / IRON)
6 Romain Grosjean (FRA / HAA)
7. Kevin Magnussen (DEN / HAA)
8 Lando Norris (GBR / MCL)
9 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN / ALF)
ten. Sergio Perez (MEX / RAC)
11 Nico Hulkenberg (GER / REN)
12 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS / REN)
13 Alexander Albon (THA / STR)
14 Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA / ALF)
15 Daniil Kvyat (RUS / STR)
16 Lance Stroll (CAN / RAC)
17 Pierre Gasly (FRA / RBR)
18 Carlos Sainz Jr. (SPA / MCL)
19 George Russell (GBR / WIL)
20 Robert Kubica (POL / WIL)

Hello everyone and welcome to the start of the 2019 Formula 1 Championship, with the usual 58 laps around Albert Park. Turned off at 4:10 p.m. local time (05h10 GMT). Despite all the hype prior to the championship that Ferrari was faster than ever and whose pace was concealed, there was a sense of déjà-vu-yesterday when Lewis Hamilton sailed pole with his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, in second position (I will shortly put the complete grid). But hey, guess what, a qualifying session is not a season, and there will certainly be a lot of twists, turns and socks before the end of the season. And Hamilton, more than anyone, knows that starting at the top of the grid in Melbourne can be an inconstant reward: only one of the last seven Australian GPs has been won since the pole. Can Sebastian Vettel reverse the situation and get his title of world champion like last year? Can Charles Leclerc challenge Vettel at Ferrari? Can Max Verstappen move up a gear? Which team will win the match in a tight midfield match? These, as well as many other questions, should be a little clearer in the next few hours. In fact, the only thing I can say for sure at the moment is a long season for Williams – although I'll be one of many to cheer for Robert Kubica this year.