2019 Australian Grand Prix – Race

Melbourne, March 17, 2019 – Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas commandingly won the Australian Grand Prix, with a one-stop strategy that was in line with our prediction: going from the soft tyre to the medium on lap 23. This same basic idea was used by the top four, however the timing of the pit stops varied, with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) both stopping much earlier than their team mates in a strategic battle.

KEY POINTS

• The first major player to make a pit stop was Vettel, trying an undercut. This prompted Mercedes to cover him by pitting Hamilton a lap later.

• Bottas then stayed out longer, stretching his lead over his team mate.

• The final driver of the top four to make a stop was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on lap 26: a strategy that helped him to a podium from fourth on the grid.

• The first driver to claim an extra point for fastest lap was Valtteri Bottas, who went fastest with the medium on the penultimate lap, also beating last year’s fastest lap.

• All the drivers made just one stop apart from Williams: George Russell made two and Robert Kubica made three.

Categories: Formula One (F1), Pirelli , 2019 Australian Grand Prix