FORMULA 1 - 2016

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ALONSO: FIA SAFETY STANDARDS IS ONLY REASON I’M STILL ALIVE

Fernando Alonso escaped with little more than a sore knee after a terrifying crash during the Australian grand prix.

“I’m fine,” he told Spanish reporters after checking out of the medical centre at Albert Park.

The McLaren-Honda had rolled and flipped after striking the rear of Esteban Gutierrez’s Haas at full speed in the braking zone for turn 3.

“As I was so close I lost the braking point,” he said. “Considering everything I’m disappointed about not finishing the race and scoring points, and also for the destruction of the car and probably losing the power unit.”

As for any injuries, Alonso got the green light from the medical staff to not even bother with further checks in hospital.

“I feel fine physically but everything hurts a little because you move around so much at those speeds. The knee is what bothers me most as it hit the steering column but I feel very lucky.

“It was a scary moment and I’m happy that I can stand here. I am very grateful and would like to express my gratitude to the FIA for the safety standards. It’s the only reason I’m still alive,” Alonso added.

He said he does not blame Gutierrez, the Mexican who made his return to F1 racing on Sunday after a year as Ferrari tester.

“No, I do not see him to blame as we were fighting on the track. I tried to take advantage of the slipstream as well as possible, swerving out at the last moment,” said Alonso. “It may be that I was too late.”

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VETTEL: MAYBE WE COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING ELSE

Speaking in the aftermath of a dramatic the season opening Australian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel dmitted that Ferrari’s aggressive strategy on tyres probably went against him as he relinquished the lead to eventual race winner Nico Rosberg.

The four-time world champion, who was leading at the time, elected to stay on supersoft tyres after the race was stopped on the 18th lap following Fernando Alonso’s horror shunt.

During the stoppage, Mercedes rival Rosberg switched to medium tyres while Ferrari decided to keep Vettel on the supersofts.

The move meant Vettel had to come into the pits again while Rosberg made it to the finish with his set of tyres to complete an eight-second victory over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

“We went for the aggressive route,” said Vettel after finishing in third. “Maybe with hindsight we could have done something else, but I don’t want to blame anyone. It’s a shame the other car (Kimi Raikkonen) didn’t make it but it is positive.”

“The team is in good shape, we know we can up our game and put pressure on these guys. You can argue the red flag didn’t help us, but once it plays into our favour and then catches you out.”

Vettel said Ferrari was much closer to Mercedes this year after finishing a distant second last season.

“Definitely we were a lot closer than last year,” he said. “This was one of our worse tracks. We expected to be stronger in qualifying, that wasn’t the case as we had a bit of a rough session.

“Today was a lot better for us. We are on the right track and things are coming together. All in all we are a lot closer so plenty of positives.”

Raikkonen retired from the race with an engine problem and his Ferrari had flames coming out of the air box of his car when he came into the pits.

The Finn appeared unflustered while a marshal extinguished the fire above his head as he exited the cockpit to retire.

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GOOD RIDDANCE AS NEW F1 QUALIFYING FORMAT SCRAPPED

Formula 1’s disastrous new qualifying format lasted just one race after it was ditched by red-faced team bosses.

Despite getting the tick of approval last month, the sport will now revert back to last year’s system following a meeting of team principals and race director Charlie Whiting at Melbourne’s Albert Park paddock on Sunday.

Their decision was unanimous, and the change, which still needs to be ratified by the World Motor Sport Council, will come into place for the next race in Bahrain in a fortnight’s time.

Saturday’s new elimination-style qualifying session, which sees a driver knocked out every 90 seconds, was mired in farce.

With six minutes of the final of three timed sessions remaining, Ferrari decided to save their tyres for the race, and after seeing their rivals remain in their garage, Mercedes decided to follow suit.

Hamilton and Rosberg were called back into the pits, and with four minutes left of qualifying, millions of furious fans across the world were left staring at an empty track.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “It is pretty embarrassing. We are a global sport, millions o f spectators, and we have changed the rules in an erratic way, which we shouldn’t have done.”

It is not the first time the sport has changed qualifying midway through the season – in 2005, an unpopular format based on aggregate laps was given the boot after just six races – but for a rule to last essentially one hour is somewhat of a rarity, even in the peculiar world of Formula One.

GrandPrix247 readers were unanimous in their dislike for the format with 98% agreeing it was flop.

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HAAS: THERE’S A NEW F1 TEAM ON THE BLOCK

Haas F1 Team made history before and after the 32nd Australian Grand Prix Sunday in Melbourne.

The organization’s debut in Round 1 of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship marked the first time an American team had competed in Formula One since 1986. And after ending a 30-year drought for an American squad in Formula One, Haas F1 Team ended another drought for an organization’s maiden F1 race.

After starting 19th , Haas F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean finished an impressive sixth, earning the team eight points in the constructor standings. The last time a Formula One team scored points in its debut race was in the 2002 Australian Grand Prix when Mika Salo finished sixth for Toyota.

The fortunate outcome was due in part by the misfortune of Grosjean’s teammate, Esteban Gutiérrez, who was taken out of the race in a spectacular accident involving McLaren driver Fernando Alonso. On lap 17 while entering turn three of the 5.303-kilometer (3.295-mile), 16-turn circuit, Alonso moved to the outside of Gutiérrez in an attempt to overtake.

Alonso’s right-front wheel touched Gutiérrez’s left-rear wheel. The impact launched Alonso into the air and sent Gutiérrez spinning into the graveltrap. Alonso clipped the outside retaining wall and then sailed over the gravel trap. His splintered car ended up on its side against another wall, whereupon Alonso climbed out. Gutiérrez quickly came to check on his fellow driver, and the two walked away unscathed from the harrowing accident.

With debris littering the track, officials displayed the red flag. The field came to pit lane where the cars were stopped, and the only work teams could do to their cars was change tires. Opportunity knocked and Haas F1 Team answered.

After starting the race on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow softs, the team took advantage of the red flag and changed Grosjean’s tires to the Pirelli P Zero White mediums. While the mediums did not have nearly as much grip as the softs, they also did not wear out as fast. When the race went back to green, Grosjean was good to go the distance without pitting. His strategy was to outlast and outrun as many of his counterparts as possible. He succeeded, with only five drivers finishing ahead of him, all of whom belonged to race teams with decades of experience. The sixth-place finish was worth eight points, placing Haas F1 Team fifth in the constructor standings.

F1 is back, and America is back in F1 in a big way.

Gene Haas, Founder and Chairman, Haas F1 Team: “A lot of people have contributed to this, so we have to thank all the people, starting with Guenther Steiner (team principal) who put all this together and kept pushing me to go out and try this. The Ferrari people have been excellent. They’ve helped us a lot. Dallara helped us build the chassis. We’ve got a great sponsor in Haas Automation. It’s all great.

“There’s a new F1 team on the block and it’s an American F1 team, so we’re real proud of that. But these other teams are pretty dang good at what they do. I wouldn’t sit here and say we’re going to be in front of them all the time, but today was a good day.

“Obviously, the chassis, aero, engine – they all work. That’s what’s really important. That’s why we took the extra year to work on that. The car is a very stable platform. We’ve kind of known that since (testing in) Barcelona. There’s been a lot of little gremlins and technical issues, but I think the fundamental chassis will be awesome for us.

“Grosjean had a heck of a challenge there. They made the decision to go on the mediums for 39 laps, so that was really pushing it. He basically didn’t chew up his tires initially, so he was able to get 39 laps out of them. I think near the end he was starting to pick up time on the person behind him. Tire strategy, saving your tires, those are the kinds of things that make a driver a legend. “Grosjean just drove his heart out and did everything he could to keep it up there and it worked out. When (Nico) Hulkenberg was behind him I thought he might catch him, but he held him off and we actually started to make some time. He was saving fuel near the end, so I think once we got to the last few laps and we started to push a little harder, the car really responded.

“This is racing. It’s what we do for a living and, you know, it’s cool. But I’ll tell you, there’ll be some bad days too, so we’ll enjoy this one.”

Romain Grosjean: “A very good day at the office. This feels like a win. For all the guys who worked so hard over the last few weeks, this is unbelievable. We were unlucky yesterday, but got a bit lucky today with the red flag. Still, we were able to hold off the Williams (Valtteri Bottas) and the Force India (Hulkenberg). We didn’t have much set-up (time) on the car. It was a case of, off you go and see what happens. This is an unbelievable feeling. The guys did an amazing job and I told them, this is like a win for all ofus. First race and here we are, P6. A happy day.”

Esteban Gutiérrez: “It’s not the race I was hoping for. However, the most important thing is that Fernando and I are both OK. The car was handling well and the results show we can be very competitive. Romain did a great job for the team. To achieve points in our first race is fantastic. I’m now looking ahead and focusing on Bahrain. I can’t wait to get back out racing.”

Guenther Steiner: “First, the good thing is that Esteban and Fernando were not injured. It was unfortunate for our results, but I think a sixth-place finish makes up for it, and I’m sure Esteban will come back strong in Bahrain. Romain and the team did a great job and a big thanks goes to everyone for working so hard in the months leading up to our first race. Yesterday I said I was looking forward to the race, but to finish it in the points is a dream come true. Now we move forward and on to Bahrain.”

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VERSTAPPEN: I WANTED TO PIT FIRST FOR F*CK SAKE!”

A frustrated Max Verstappen unleashed an expletive-laden tirade on the team radio at the Toro Rosso garage as the teenager’s hopes of a maiden podium drifted away at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Dutchman started fifth on the grid but finished 10th and was irked to be beaten by ninth-placed teammate Carlos Sainz.

Having held his position after a frenetic start, Verstappen’s race began to unravel when he caught his crew napping on an early pit-stop.

The botched tyre-change cost him precious momentum and he made his displeasure clear.

“I was telling you I had a problem with the tyres, I wanted to pit first,” he said on the team radio before muttering a number of expletives.

He was later incensed when blocked by Sainz and demanded his team order the Spaniard to slow and be overtaken.

Sainz was allowed to race and Verstappen ended up taking a spin after brushing the rear of his teammate’s car. Verstappen angrily told his team their strategy was a “joke”.

“Quite a frustrating afternoon,” Verstappen said later in a more measured team press release. “After the red flag we had a bit of a miscommunication for the second stop and it got very difficult.”

“We have a fantastic car and to finish P10 here is not where we should be. I’m very disappointed as this was a great opportunity for us to get a very good result. Now we just need to focus on the next race and try and score more points than today.”

Sainz, who started seventh on the grid, was scarcely happier with the day, “I did my race and I think we put on a good show. I enjoyed it out there but I think we deserved to end up higher up instead of going backwards.”

Team chief Franz Tost also did not mince his words at the end of the day, “This result is very disappointing for us, as we had the speed to finish in a much better position. The only positive aspect is the knowledge that the STR11 is very competitive.”

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MERCEDES: ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC TO GET A 1-2 AT THE FIRST RACE

Mercedes team report from the Australian Grand Prix, Round 1 of the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship, at Albert Park in Melbourne.

• Nico and Lewis clinch memorable 1-2 after a thrilling race in Melbourne
• Nico took his 15th career victory today – his second at the Melbourne Grand Prix Cicuit
• Lewis claimed his 88th Formula One podium to complete a Silver Arrows 1-2
• After a poor start dropped them from the front row to P3 (Nico) and P7 (Lewis), strong drives and good strategy calls saw both recover to cling on from a hard-charging Vettel
• Nico (25) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 7 points from Lewis (18) in P2
• Mercedes AMG Petronas (43) lead Ferrari (15) by 28 points in the Constructors’ Championship

Nico Rosberg: “That was a perfect race for me. The start was tricky, as I was on the dirty side of the grid and Vettel managed to be ahead. He did a really good job at the start – but we chose the perfect strategy by going onto the medium tyre after the red flag. A big thanks to the team on the pit wall for that, to everyone back at the factories for this fantastic car and to everyone back in Europe who woke up so early to tune in for the race. I hope it was a good show for you! We can enjoy this moment for sure – but we know now just how strong those red cars will be this season, so we cannot afford to relax. I’m really looking forward to the next races and hopefully some more exciting battles. Finally, I also have to say it was a big relief to see Fernando walk away from his shunt. It shows how incredible the safety of these cars is now, which is great to see.”

Lewis Hamilton: “I’d had a perfect weekend in every way up until the lights went out and felt confident heading into the race. I got a bit of wheelspin off the line then got pushed wide at the first corner, so from there it was just about recovering. But these things happen and I’m grateful for the way I was able to fight back through. P2 isn’t bad in terms of damage limitation after a start like that. I spent a long time stuck behind one of the Toro Rossos and there wasn’t a lot I could do about it as he was on a quicker tyre. I could just see the others pulling away, so the safety car definitely helped by bunching us all up again. I was already on a one-stop strategy and, to be honest, I don’t know why everyone else didn’t do the same on the medium. I’m happy they didn’t, as I probably would have finished a lot further back. In any case, the team did a great job to help us pull it back and there’s still 20 races to go, so I’m feeling pretty chilled. I’ve had far worse starts to the season, so I’ll take that today and head into the next one looking up.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “First of all, a big relief to see Fernando walk away from that shunt. The race itself was extremely tense throughout – a real cliffhanger and a great way to show what Formula One is really about. We didn’t get it right at the start. The drivers were slow away from the line then touched at the first corner, so we were forced into recovery mode. Our plan from there had been to put Nico on a two stop and Lewis a one stop strategy before the red flag came out. We did the maths and opted to go with one set of mediums to the end, with the drivers on the knife edge of endurance and performance. Managing tyres and temperatures became a big challenge, with debris causing an overheating brake caliper that almost forced us to retire Nico at one stage. Thankfully that was not the case and he led Lewis home for a hard-fought 1-2. A perfect result to start the year, a great job from the drivers to manage and recover the race, fantastic work on the pit wall to give them the right strategy to do so and an incredible team effort from everybody at the factories to get us here. We must now sort our starts and look to carry out momentum into Bahrain.”

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): “What can you say after a race like that? Absolutely fantastic to get a 1-2 at the first race of the season – particularly after we made life very difficult for ourselves with a pair of poor starts. After the red flag we opted to run the medium tyre to the end and expected others to do the same – which would have made the win a very big ask, let alone a 1-2. Of course, we can look back and enjoy it now – but it was quite stressful at the time! It made for a great spectacle, so I hope the fans enjoyed it. Overall, we can be extremely happy today. Congratulations to everyone back at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart. Together, they’ve produced a car which has given us the perfect start to the season in very exciting circumstances.”

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MANOR: IT’S CLEAR WE’VE MADE A GOOD STEP FORWARD

Mixed feelings for Manor Racing at the end of a thrilling curtain-raiser to the 2016 season. Pascal Wehrlein brought his MRT05 home in 16th position, but a driveline problem put paid to an equally promising debut for his teammate Rio Haryanto.

Pascal Wehrlein: “First of all it’s great to finish my first race and thanks to the team for that. I got a fantastic start and I was very happy to find myself in 15th place at the end of the opening lap. That first half of the race was really strong and I was pushing hard on the Supersoft and then the Soft. It was great to be as high as 13th at one point and to be racing with Sauber. Things turned for me after my first stop, which happened just before the red flag. Our plan was to have a short stint on the Supersoft which meant we pitted for the Soft not long before the crash, so that was a major setback because many of the other cars still hadn’t stopped. After that, everyone ahead started to pull away from me and because we were struggling with tyre degradation I couldn’t do anything about it. Towards the end I had a braking issue, so I just had to focus on getting to the flag. We’ve all learned a lot this weekend and everyone is working well together, so we’ve made a good start and now we have to push hard to improve.”

Rio Haryanto: “My race was short but really positive. I made a good start, the pace was strong and I was happy with the way I was managing the gap to the cars around me. Obviously I’m disappointed not to finish my first Grand Prix but I know the team are disappointed this happened. Everyone is really starting to work well together so I’m sure we’ll be on top of things for Bahrain. It’s been a mixed weekend; some positives, some things we need to learn from. Problems aside, my debut weekend was really special and the support I’ve had from the crowd here and everyone back in Indonesia has been incredible. I hope for a better reward for us in Bahrain.”

Dave Ryan, Racing Director: “On one hand, we can take some real positives from our first race of the season. It’s clear we’ve made a good step forward from last year and the pace in the early part of the race showed the potential in the package. At the same time, we’ve learned a lot about where we need to improve. Pascal did a great job and was flying in the first half of the race. Rio also got a good start and was managing the cars around him really well. After the red flag things took a turn for the worse, starting with the problem that led to Rio’s retirement. We let him down today so reliability will be our highest priority ahead of Bahrain and at the same time, we have to look at where we’ve lost out in performance terms. We’ve struggled with the tyres and that was a big factor for Pascal in the second half of his race. Operationally there’s also work to be done. Credit to the drivers, who can be pretty proud of the job they’ve done here with a lot of pressure on young shoulders. There’s a good opportunity to improve now ahead of Bahrain and we’ll leave no stone unturned when we’re back at the factory.”

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RENAULT: A VERY CREDIBLE FIRST RACE FROM THE TEAM

Renault Sport Formula One Team began its Formula 1 journey with a solid debut at Albert Park, as Jolyon Palmer led Kevin Magnussen across the line to finish just shy of the points.

Jolyon drove a mature race despite it being his personal Grand Prix debut, withstanding late-race pressure to finish eleventh. Kevin was unlucky with a first lap puncture, but fought back and showed particularly strong race pace on his final stint, finishing twelfth.

Kevin started the race in P14 on new Pirelli super soft tyres, changing to a set of fresh soft tyres after his first lap puncture, then new medium tyres on lap 16, just before the red flag period.

Jolyon started the race in P13 on new super soft tyres, changing to fresh soft tyres on lap 12 then new medium tyres during the red flag period on lap 18.

Kevin Magnussen: “We have a really good car; the pace is strong, as is the baseline set-up. It’s something we can continue to work from and evolve to gain more performance. Today was pretty tough at the start as I was really gutted about the puncture. I don’t think I had any contact so it was really unfortunate. You never want to see a red flag incident, and it’s a positive statement that Fernando could walk away from that dramatic crash, but the restart did benefit us. Our pace after the restart was very promising so I’m excited for the next races.”

Jolyon Palmer: “I think the team has done an incredible job this weekend to qualify in Q2 and then finishing the race in eleventh and twelfth; it’s the maximum we could expect to achieve. It’s a good start, we were so close to scoring points, and we can move forward from here. The race itself was busy but good fun; I absolutely loved being wheel to wheel again after a year out of racing. It was great to be back in the fray and it all went pretty smoothly for me. Happy days.”

Fred Vasseur, Racing Director: “Today was very encouraging for the team as we showed good race pace and a good base to build on. We need to take a look at our qualifying pace to get us further up the grid and hopefully start to get some good results as it would have been much better to score points today! Both Kevin and Jolyon did a very good job, it was a shame to have Kevin suffer from a puncture but the rest of the afternoon went well, especially for a first race.”

Bob Bell, Chief Technical Officer: “It was a very credible first race from the team with everyone gelling and performing at a high standard. We had a trouble-free weekend, made the most out of the new qualifying format then the race was managed well with the only upset being Kevin’s puncture. Both drivers drove well and the car even looked a little racier than expected. We didn’t score points today but we weren’t far off. That’s definitely the next target.”

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MCLAREN: ENCOURAGED BY THE PROGRESS WE’VE MADE

Today’s race was overshadowed by Fernando’s accident with Esteban Gutierrez at Turn Three on lap 16.

Despite the violence of the crash, Fernando was able to extricate himself from the car unaided, and was then taken to the circuit medical centre for routine checks, before being declared okay by the doctors.

His car fared less well – both the chassis and the power unit were heavily damaged, and the resulting debris was scattered so extensively that it prompted a red-flag stoppage to clear up the mess.

After the restart Jenson adopted a different strategy to the majority of runners, but failed to capitalise on it, finishing 14th.

Nonetheless, there were positives to take from the weekend – our competitive package looks healthy, and both drivers ran strongly on the fringes of the top 10 before the red flag.

We will head to Bahrain optimistic of maintaining that strong momentum.

Fernando Alonso: “I’m thankful I’m alive and that nothing serious happened – it was a big shunt.

“A combination of factors caused Esteban [Gutierrez] and me to end up crashing. I was in the car flying and bouncing around – I could see the sky, then the ground, then the sky again. Then, when the car landed, I saw a little gap and I got out quickly to make sure that my mum, who was watching the race on TV at home, could see that I was okay!

“It was a racing incident – I’m very happy we’re both fine, which is the most important thing.

“But, soon afterwards, my thoughts switched to frustration and disappointment, because we missed an opportunity to get some points in the first race of the season, and we probably lost a power unit too because the car is more or less completely destroyed.

“We risk our lives every time we get in a Formula 1 car: these things happen, but I’m extremely happy to be okay. The reason I’m still alive is probably thanks to all the fantastic work the FIA has done over the past 10 or 15 years to improve safety, work they continue to do. And I’m also grateful to everyone at McLaren, who built me such a strong and safe car.”

Jenson Button: “I’m really glad Fernando was able to walk away from that accident – I’m sure he’ll remember that one for a few weeks.

“It’s amazing how far these cars can be catapulted when they touch tyres; under braking, it can all happen very quickly when it goes wrong. But the fact that his car survived shows how far the sport has come in terms of safety.

“My car wasn’t too bad, but I think we made some imperfect strategic calls this afternoon. Also, the red flag hurt us because we’d already made our first stop. Then, after the restart, we ran the Supersoft – which lasted about 10 laps – and then fitted the Back-Up, which everyone else had been on since the restart. Around here, you can catch up but you can’t easily overtake, so we ended up at the back of the queue after making our stop.”

Eric Boullier, McLaren-Honda Racing Director: “Before I say anything else, I want to praise two things: the structural integrity of modern-day Formula 1 cars, and the safety features of modern-day racetracks. Fernando’s shunt was a big one, and the fact that he was able to walk out of his car after such a heavy impact is impressive indeed.

“He visited the FIA medical centre immediately after the accident, and was formally okayed by the doctors there.

“He’d been driving extremely well at the time, and we believe he may well have scored points had his race run its normal course.

“Moving on to Jenson, ironically, it was the Safety Car and then the red flag triggered by Fernando’s accident that compromised his race strategy, preventing him from being able to drive for a points-scoring finish himself. Tyre degradation was also a problem for him this afternoon.

“However, all in all, despite the fact that we scored no points here in Melbourne today, we’re quietly encouraged by the progress we’ve made over the winter, and we firmly believe that, given a less confused qualifying session and an incident-free race, we’ll be in a position to score points in grands prix to come.”

Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: “First of all, I am relieved that both Fernando and Esteban walked away uninjured from their accident.

“Our overall pace during the race was solid, but unfortunately Jenson lost out to the red flag caused by the crash. As the majority of drivers switched tyres during the track clean-up, sadly Jenson had already pitted four laps before. Unfortunately he struggled with his tyres throughout the race, and was unable to regain any of the positions.

“I am pleased that throughout this weekend’s practice sessions and qualifying, we were able to see the improvement of the whole package. However, it was a disappointing to not be able to prove our progress through race results.”

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FORCE INDIA: OUR STRATEGY WAS UNDONE BY THE RED FLAG

Sahara Force India scored six points in today’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix with Nico Hulkenberg coming home in seventh place ahead of Sergio Perez in P13.

Nico Hulkenberg: “To get some points in the bag at the first race is a positive way to start the year. It was not an easy day and it’s difficult to know what would have happened without the race being stopped and restarted. I think the red flag made things a lot more difficult for our planned one-stop strategy because it gave everybody around us the chance to reset and change their tyres. So that was a shame and it meant I was out of position and got stuck behind the Haas for most of the race. It was not easy to get close to Romain [Grosjean] and I had a lot of cars behind me, which meant I was always under pressure and having to defend as well as chase. So, given all the circumstances, seventh place feels quite satisfying.”

Sergio Perez: “It’s a real shame to finish outside of the points. My problems began at the start: I lost a couple of places off the line and that put me in a very difficult position. I spent my first stint behind Alonso, who was on a faster compound, and being stuck in the dirty air destroyed my tyres. Unfortunately there was a very similar situation after the restart because I was passed by Jenson (Button), who was on supersoft tyres, and that cost me a lot of time. Sadly the Safety Car and the red flag ruined our strategy, which was to stop only once. When the race restarted we had our work cut out: I had pressure from behind and the Renaults and Williams ahead were very difficult to catch – I got close but couldn’t really attack. In the end I had an issue with overheating brakes, probably because I spent most of the race in traffic, but we still managed to finish the race. It’s not an ideal start of the season for me, especially after the good work we had done in qualifying yesterday, but we have to keep looking ahead and continue working hard.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “The first race is always a bit of a step into the unknown, so getting some points on the board is a positive conclusion to a challenging weekend. Our strategy was shaping up very nicely with the plan to stop both cars only once, but the red flag reset the strategies of everyone around us and made our task much more difficult. Making our pit stops just prior to the safety car also cost us track position. Getting Nico back up to seventh place was a good recovery and he did an excellent job of containing Bottas and the Toro Rosso pair for most of the afternoon. Sergio’s strategy was also undone by the red flag, even more so than Nico’s because he dropped to the back of the midfield traffic jam and suffered with high tyre degradation. So a day of mixed fortunes for us, but at least we’ve got some points on the board and we are looking forward to Bahrain.”

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SAUBER: WE STRUGGLED WITH OUR PACE

It was a disappointing season opener for the Sauber F1 Team ahead of the 2016 FIA Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne.

Felipe Nasr finished the race at the Albert Park in P15, Marcus Ericsson had to retire in lap 39 as vibrations appeared on the left rear tyre of his Sauber C35-Ferrari. The car is still under investigation.

There was a massive crash in lap 17 which left everyone breathless for a moment. Luckily, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez were uninjured. After the race was red-flagged, Marcus Ericsson got a drive through penalty following the re-start. The infringement was for work continuing on Marcus’ car at the 15 seconds signal in the pit lane.

Marcus Ericsson: “It was not a good day. When the race was interrupted, I had an issue with one tyre warmer on the pit lane. It could not be removed as quickly as usual, so I got a drive through penalty for that. After the race resumed, I felt that something was wrong with the left rear tyre, so I went back to the garage. Sometimes these things can happen. We will look into it to be in a better shape for the next race weekend in Bahrain.”

Felipe Nasr: “Overall it was a difficult race for us. We struggled with our pace compared to our competitors. It was clear during the race that I could not keep up with the cars in front of me. It was good that we could gain important data from the C35, and we need to analyse every detail to find performance in the car. We have to improve the C35 in different areas. I think we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

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WILLIAMS: AUSTRALIA IS ALWAYS A STRANGE RACE

Williams team report from the Australian Grand Prix, Round 1 of the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship, at Albert Park in Melbourne.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: “Australia is always a strange race. You come here and there are lots of unknowns with pace, in both qualifying and the race. You just want to make sure you get through it with a decent haul of points, and we have done that. We can hold our heads reasonably high after that race. We made the right call in the pit lane under the red flag, fitting the medium tyres and going to the end. That’s got us third in the championship now. Today has probably been the calmest day of the weekend, with all the various regulation and rule changes. Today we just got our heads down and did the job. Now we look forward to developing the car as we have some good upgrades coming. We need to look at every little bit of performance we can get out of the car and get ourselves into a slightly better position. The guys did a brilliant job in the pits today. We’ve redesigned the wheel nuts and axles, and the crew themselves did an amazing job. We got both stops close to two seconds, so I’m very happy with that.”

Felipe Massa: “It was a good race. To finish fifth, scoring some good points, is definitely a good start to the season. The red flag in the middle helped us to keep our strategy to one-stop and, thanks to that, we managed to overtake both Toro Rossos who had decided to go for different tyres. That’s why I am happy with the result – and for Valtteri as well, he started P16 and finished P8, so it was a great drive for him.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It has obviously been a very difficult week. The struggles we had with qualifying and then the grid penalty compromised the race. It wasn’t the nice clean race we were hoping for, but we still have points from both of our cars. We are definitely aiming for better positions, and myself personally, so I am looking forward to Bahrain because I am sure we can do better than this weekend.”

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RED BULL: ENCOURAGING TO SEE THE PACE OF THE CAR IN RACE TRIM

Red Bull team report from the Australian Grand Prix, Round 1 of the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship, at Albert Park in Melbourne.

Daniel Ricciardo, Finish Position: 4th, Start Position: 8th

“Today was fun for me, it was so good to be back racing. I came on the radio more than once expressing my joy to just being out there competing. That joy was emphasized by having a good car underneath me. At the start we were able to pick cars off. We had good pace with high fuel on the Option and it was fun to be able to pass cars, I was enjoying that as always. I was sitting in a podium spot towards the end and I was hoping the tyres would last but I knew they weren’t going to hold and I would have to pit again. But fourth is still a good result and I’m happy we’re not that far off Mercedes and Ferrari. It was also good to see that Fernando and Esteban are okay. I haven’t watched the replay yet but I saw the car upside down so I knew it wasn’t a small accident.”

Daniil Kvyat, Finish Position: DNS Start Position: 18th

“I’m glad Fernando is OK, it looked like a very bad accident and it’s a relief to know that he is alright. In terms of my day, it looks like an electronic issue put us out of the race before it started. I think Australia doesn’t seem to be the luckiest place for me so far. The car just shut itself off – I guess it didn’t want to do the race today, but we’ll be back in Bahrain and we’ll start again from there! Last year it was very hard to take, not starting the race, but this year I’m a stronger person so I’ll be OK, these things happen, that’s life and that’s racing.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “A great drive from Daniel at his home race, he drove a competitive race from start to finish. It was always a long shot for a podium but he did everything possible today. It’s encouraging to see the pace of the car in race trim. It’s a shame that Dany wasn’t able to start the race today, he seems to be cursed here in Melbourne. He unfortunately had a CU-H failure on the power unit, but he’ll be back in Bahrain. The biggest result today was seeing Fernando emerge unscathed from what looked like a very nasty accident. It’s a testament to the safety of the cars and the circuits that he was able to walk away from that.”

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RED BULL RELEASE IMAGES OF COCKPIT PROTECTION CONCEPT

Red Bull have released artist renditions depicting their proposal for cockpit head protection which is a hot topic in Formula 1 right now.

The FIA is investigating a halo-style cockpit protection system which was tried by Ferrari in Barcelona during pre-season testing with a view of making the concept mandatory as from 2017.

Red Bull have proposed a design, which features two side support pillars as used in speedboats as opposed to the central pillar device.

The cockpit protection device is already penned into the 2017 regulations, which are on the verge of being finalised.

Despite Lewis Hamilton’s disdain for the concept, it appears that most drivers are in favour of adopting increased head protection for 2017 in the wake of recent fatalities in open cockpit race cars.

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Mercedes almost retired Nico Rosberg due to brake problem

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has admitted the team almost retired Australian Grand Prix race winner Nico Rosberg due to an overheating brake caliper.

The issue, caused by debris, meant the team considered retiring Rosberg. However, Mercedes resolved the problem and the German driver went on to claim victory at the first round of 2016.

Rosberg led home team-mate Lewis Hamilton for a Mercedes one-two, with the latter bouncing back from a poor start that saw him drop to sixth place on lap one.

"The race was extremely tense throughout - a real cliffhanger and a great way to show what Formula 1 is really about," Wolff said.

"We didn't get it right at the start. The drivers were slow away from the line then touched at the first corner, so we were forced into recovery mode. Our plan from there had been to put Nico on a two stop and Lewis a one stop strategy before the red flag came out.

"We did the maths and opted to go with one set of mediums to the end, with the drivers on the knife edge of endurance and performance.

"Managing tyres and temperatures became a big challenge, with debris causing an overheating brake caliper that almost forced us to retire Nico at one stage. Thankfully that was not the case and he led Lewis home for a hard-fought 1-2.

"A perfect result to start the year, a great job from the drivers to manage and recover the race, fantastic work on the pit wall to give them the right strategy to do so and an incredible team effort from everybody at the factories to get us here."

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Ricciardo encouraged by strong pace from Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo has expressed encouragement after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, in which Red Bull showed strong pace in comparison to rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.

The Australian racer ended his home race in fourth position, after sitting as high as second during the middle part of the race.

Despite his strong pace, Ricciardo required a late pit-stop after resuming the race after the red flag period on the soft tyre compound.

But after receiving a set of the super-soft tyre compound during his final stop, Ricciardo managed to quickly catch and overtake Felipe Massa whilst producing the fastest lap in the process.

“Today was fun for me,” enthused Ricciardo, who started eighth on the grid.

“At the start we were able to pick cars off. We had good pace with high fuel on the option and it was fun to be able to pass cars.

“I was sitting in a podium spot towards the end and I was hoping the tyres would last but I knew they weren’t going to hold and I would have to pit again.

“But fourth is still a good result and I’m happy we’re not that far off Mercedes and Ferrari.”

Whilst Ricciardo came home an impressive and competitive fourth, team-mate Daniil Kvyat suffered yet another mechanical issued and failed to start the Australian Grand Prix for the second year in a row.

The Russian racer ground to a halt on the grid after the formation lap, causing the field to complete a second formation lap to allow the marshals to retrieve his stricken Red Bull.

“It looks like an electronic issue put us out of the race before it started,” confirmed a disheartened Kvyat.

“The car just shut itself off – I guess it didn’t want to do the race today, but we’ll be back in Bahrain and we’ll start again from there!”

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FIA eases Formula 1 radio limits to allow strategy messages

The FIA has agreed to relax the tough restrictions on Formula 1's radio communications between driver and team with immediate effect.

During a meeting to discuss ditching the new qualifying format, team bosses also raised concerns over the new radio limits rule which restricts what can be communicated to the driver during the race.

Of particular concern was being able to discuss strategy, with claims it would result in a driver simply following a pre-agreed strategy decided before the race, rather than being able to offer suggestions to the team and vice-versa mid-race.

The FIA's Charlie Whiting has now issued a revised list of permitted commands, lifting the ban on several strategy related messages.

A note to the teams said they could now discuss "the driver's own race pitstop strategy as well as those of his competitors, this is limited to the timing of pitstops and which tyres will be (or have been) used."

However the ban on more detailed communication such as that related to engine settings would continue to be restricted.

"For the avoidance of doubt, no car or power unit set up may be included in any such strategy discussion," added Whiting.

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Force India blames red flag for ruining one-stop strategy

Force India rued the untimely red flag that destroyed its one-stop strategy in Australian Grand Prix.

The Silvertsone-based outfit had called in both Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez just a lap before the stoppage, which proved to be a decisive factor in the grand prix's outcome.

Hulkenberg was running seventh after making up three places, but dropped to 10th after the stop, having to recover from then on in the race.

The German, for the major part of the race was stuck behind Haas' Romain Grosjean, who benefitted from changing tyres during the red flag.

"It was not an easy day and it’s difficult to know what would have happened without the race being stopped and restarted," said Hulkenberg after the race.

"I think the red flag made things a lot more difficult for our planned one-stop strategy because it gave everybody around us the chance to reset and change their tyres.

"So that was a shame and it meant I was out of position and got stuck behind the Haas for most of the race."

Eventually, Hulkenberg couldn't get past the Haas driver, the American team scoring points on its debut, leaving the Force India driver seventh.

"It was not easy to get close to Romain [Grosjean] and I had a lot of cars behind me [Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen], which meant I was always under pressure and having to defend as well as chase.

"So, given all the circumstances, seventh place feels quite satisfying," he added.

Deputy team principal, Robert Fernley felt the red flag benefited the teams around it, making Force India's life all the more difficult.

"Our strategy was shaping up very nicely with the plan to stop both cars only once," he said.

"But the red flag reset the strategies of everyone around us and made our task much more difficult.

"Making our pit stops just prior to the safety car also cost us track position."

Perez disappointed

Perez, who qualified ahead of Hulkenberg in ninth, lost a couple of positions at the start but bounced back into the points before hitting trouble with tyre degradation and brake issues.

"It's a real shame to finish outside of the points," he said. "I spent my first stint behind [Fernando] Alonso, who was on a faster compound, and being stuck in the dirty air destroyed my tyres.

"Unfortunately there was a very similar situation after the restart because I was passed by Jenson [button], who was on supersoft tyres, and that cost me a lot of time," he added.

Towards the end, the Mexicand dropped out of the points, running 12th behind Renault's Jolyon Palmer.

He then lost a position to Kevin Magnussen, eventually finishing 13th, after the team advised him to take care of his overheating brakes.

"I had an issue with overheating brakes, probably because I spent most of the race in traffic, but [thankfully] we still managed to finish the race."

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Palmer: Return to wheel-to-wheel action no problem

Renault's Jolyon Palmer says he had no problems returning to wheel-to-wheel battle, despite having spent 2015 without a race seat.

Palmer, who was on the sidelines as a test and reserve driver for 2015 after winning the 2014 GP2 title, enjoyed an action-packed return to racing in Melbourne on his way to a credible 11th place.

That included a first-lap tussle with Fernando Alonso, and trying to keep the squabbling Toro Rossos behind him.

But despite not having done much racing over the last 12 months, Palmer said he didn't feel his race craft was at all rusty.

"I wasn't worried about it. I was just enjoying it, going wheel-to-wheel," he told Motorsport.com.

"I would like to do a bit more attacking, there was a lot of defending, but it came back completely naturally. Being right on the edge, but not touches and a bit of racing room.

"I really enjoyed being back at it, really. I loved all the wheel-to-wheel stuff. First lap, I was up against Alonso for half a lap, side-by-side. And he's good.

"He didn't give me any excess space, put it that way. But it's a good challenge."

Pleased to make STR lives difficult

Palmer added that he particularly enjoyed scrapping with the two Toro Rosso drivers Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, a battle that resulted in the team-mates touching as part of what was a heated exchange.

"I didn't know they were having loads of arguments with each other," he said.

"They have a really quick car. When I saw Sainz coming behind me I thought this will be tough, but I was in the points and I wanted to try and hold him off.

"When I started to hold them off for a bit, I thought I'd chance my arm and hopefully they would come together, or at least drop back a little bit. The problem was they were so quick that it was every corner that I had to be watching them.

"It was inevitable [they would get past] in the end. I'm pleased, anyway, at least I made their lives difficult."

Elimination qualifying's only fan

Palmer also said that he enjoyed the short-lived elimination qualifying system, particularly after just scraping through to Q2 with an exceptional late Q1 lap.

"I really enjoyed it. I think I was on my own in enjoying it to be honest," he said.

"For me Q1 was really fun. I also didn't know the track that well, I'd only had FP3 [in the dry], so I was finding my feet. It was always trying to improve and keep my head above the water.

"So the last lap it was pressure and trying to deliver.

"I don't really mind what happens with qualifying, either way I think you're trying to do the fastest lap and the order won't be massively different."

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Maurizio Arrivabene defends Ferrari's 'aggressive' strategy

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene believes Sebastian Vettel would have won the Australian Grand Prix had it not been for the red flag caused by Fernando Alonso's accident on lap 18 and has defended the decision not to attempt the same strategy as race winner Nico Rosberg at the restart.

Vettel was leading the race when Alonso collided with Esteban Gutierrez and wrecked his car in the run off at Turn 3. The resulting clean-up job resulted in the race being stopped, which in turn gave Mercedes the opportunity to bolt on medium tyres at the restart and run until the end of the race. Ferrari opted to keep Vettel on super-softs at the restart and make a later switch to softs, but it resulted in him losing track position to Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Asked if he was confident of victory ahead of the red flag, Arrivabene said: "I mean, on the pit wall we were confident in all honesty. We were looking at the race and looking at the gap we were gaining and at that time our radio was to go with our strategy and keep going.

"I don't want to make any excuses, it's part of the race and you have to accept it and that's it."

Asked if Ferrari made the wrong choice on tyres under the red flag, Arrivabene defended the choice to go aggressive.

"The choice of tyres, I mean, at that stage of the race you have to be more aggressive," he added. "It could be right, it could be wrong, I think Sebastian was talking about that. At the end we were pushing like hell and Sebastian had a chance to be able to overtake Hamilton, it was in our strategy.

"If you want to look at the glass not half empty, we were better and this is the news. Of course you can't be happy after this, but this is racing."

Arrivabene also defended Ferrari's decision not to fit mediums ahead of the restart.

"No, I can't say. We need to look at the data in the garage because every car has different consumption and degradation. To be certain if we were right or to be certain if we were wrong makes no sense now. We need to look at the data from the car."

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Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel pleased with Ferrari gains

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is convinced his team has closed the gap to world champions Mercedes after a competitive, yet unlucky outing at the season-opening race in Australia.

Raikkonen and his team-mate Sebastian Vettel held a commanding position early in the grand prix after both jumping the slow starting Mercedes cars off the line. However, the 2007 world champion was brought to a halt on lap 22 with an engine fire that led to his retirement. But having now seen the pace of the Silver Arrows, Raikkonen believes his team has made significant gains.

"People become crazy because of the lap time difference in qualifying. We had very odd circumstances and conditions, so today was more or less what we expected. We knew we would be okay after testing," Raikkonen said.

"I didn't think the time difference you saw yesterday was real. Mercedes did an extra run compared to us and the conditions were pretty cold, so we struggled a bit with tyre warm-up."

Vettel, who finished third behind the Mercedes pair, echoed Raikkonen's comments and said the Finn was unlucky to have had a problem as he'd shown great pace through the weekend.

"I think we were a lot closer," Vettel said following the race. "Last year this was one of our worst tracks so there's plenty of positives. The team is in good shape."

"You could see in the first stint that there wasn't much between Kimi and myself. We were very close this weekend and ideally we would have fought for the same place on track, it's a shame that he didn't see the chequered flag."

Raikkonen has now retired in three of the last five races.

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Niki Lauda: Nico Rosberg needed to start 2016 with win over Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda says it was crucial for Nico Rosberg to beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the first round of the season in Australia.

Rosberg won an enthralling Australian Grand Prix after Mercedes made good strategy calls around a red flag caused by Fernando Alonso's big accident. The victory extends Rosberg's winning streak to four races after his three wins at the end of 2015 and Lauda believes it was crucial for getting his title campaign off to a good start.

"You need this to have a good start to the season because it gives him confidence," Lauda said. "If it would have been the other way around and Lewis would have won he would have suffered because he always suffers when Lewis is there.

"For him this race was important to mentally stay strong and have a good baseline for the next one. It's good for him and for us, because the more they fight each other the better it is for me! "

Lauda is also wary of the threat from Ferrari after Sebastian Vettel led the race early on and pushed Hamilton hard at the finish.

"I'm afraid we will see more of this because Ferrari is quick, no question about it. It's going to be exciting and I'm looking forward to the next one.

"I have never seen anything like this in the last three years and I have to say, to be fair to the sport, the race was half decided at the start because Ferrari did an incredible start with both cars. We screwed up and we have to find out why, but then the race took its way. I think it was the best start ever in Formula One, and what a race we have showed to everybody."

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F1 stewards take no action after Alonso/Gutierrez Australian GP crash

The Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 stewards have concluded that no blame should be apportioned in Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez's enormous crash.

Alonso's McLaren rolled through the Turn 3 gravel trap in Melbourne after clipping the rear of the Haas under braking. Both drivers were unhurt.

The stewards announced that the incident would be investigated after the race, but after talking to both drivers and teams and examining video evidence decided no penalties were necessary.

A statement said: "The stewards examined the evidence and conclude that no driver was wholly or predominately to blame."

Both drivers had described the crash as a racing incident and said their primary concern was for each other's wellbeing afterwards.

Alonso dismissed suggestions that Gutierrez triggered it by changing line unexpectedly or braking early.

"If he did, it's because he tried to brake for his own racing line and I need to anticipate that as well," Alonso said.

"But you are so focused on the slipstream, you only see a rear wing. You don't have any more vision of the track.

"I took the slipstream in quite an extreme way and tried to overtake at the last moment.

"Probably I braked a little bit too late. It's a combination of things.

"We are both OK, that's the most important thing."

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RICCIARDO: WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

Daniel Ricciardo missed out on a fairytale podium at his home Australian Grand Prix but felt Red Bull should be ready to challenge for one by the Montreal race in June as they exceeded expectations at the season opener.

After starting eighth on the grid, Ricciardo completed a fine race to finish fourth behind Mercedes’ winner Nico Rosberg, with the German’s teammate Lewis Hamilton runner-up and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third.

Reliability issues with the Renault engine blighted Ricciardo and Red Bull last year but Sunday’s performance left the 26-year-old flashing his usual toothy grin.

“I’m really happy, towards the end we were sitting in the top three and I had the fairytale in my mind of being on the podium here but I’m happy,” he told Sky Sports. “Fourth is great but I’m probably more happy with the pace we had.”

“Not far off Mercedes and Ferrari and we finished a fair step ahead of Williams and the rest of our competitors. To come out here in the first race and exceed expectations, you’ve got to be happy with that.”

It was a forgettable day for his teammate Daniil Kvyat, however, with the Russian unable to race after his car came to a halt with a power unit problem at the end of the formation lap.

Team principal Christian Horner was nonetheless encouraged by Red Bull’s pace, while Ricciardo said they had definitely found “a little bit more” from the power unit.

He said the team were expecting an upgrade to the Renault package by the Canadian Grand Prix in June, which could offer a further lift in performance, “And we know there’s a good step to come in a few races.”

“We can definitely aim for more top fives before the (engine) update … We’re hoping it’s going to come sooner rather than later but perhaps Montreal is where we expect it, and from that point, yeah, I want to spray some champagne.”

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CAPITO: I THINK F1 HAS A LOT TO LEARN

Jost Capito, who is set to return to Formula 1 from his current post at Volkswagen as rally boss, warned ahead of his appointment that F1 has to be less arrogant and more accessible to fans.

He has accepted an offer to be the new CEO at McLaren, but admitted to Bild am Sonntag that he will miss rallying, “I think F1 has a lot to learn.”

“Last year I was in Malaysia for the grand prix and on the return flight I walked past two drivers and briefly congratulated them, but they did not accept it. That sort of arrogance would never happen with rally drivers,” he insisted.

Capito says he will start work at McLaren once his successor is appointed by VW. He will then begin working with Fernando Alonso, who according to some is perhaps the most difficult driver on the grid to manage.

“I worked for a year at Sauber with Jean Alesi,” Capito smiles. “If you can survive that, you can survive anything!”

Capito says VW’s rally programme has also survived the carmaker’s emissions scandal, so refuses to rule out a F1 foray for the Wolfsburg giant in the future.

“It depends on the timing,” he said. “Currently there are several reasons why it makes no sense, but that could change.

“F1 needs a long-term stable business structure and especially long-term technical regulations. If you want to be in formula one you need a huge investment, so you have to have security with your planning. And that is not currently there for a newcomer,” said Capito.

As for the ongoing question mark regarding VW Group and a foray into F1 he revealed, “For a company like Volkswagen, formula one is always a topic.”