The first grand prix of 2017 revealed F1’s new cars have gained even more performance in race trim than they have over a single lap.
While this year’s pole position time was 1.7 seconds faster than it was 12 months ago, the fastest lap of the race was 2.6 seconds quicker than we saw in 2016. However Kimi Raikkonen’s time of 1’26.538, set on the race’s penultimate lap, remains 2.4s off the race lap record set in 2004.
Nonetheless it is clear the regulations overhaul for 2017 has had a greater effect on races than it has on single-lap pace. Pirelli’s wider and harder tyres are giving the drivers more grip for longer.
Last year early race leader Nico Rosberg saw his lap times slow by 0.6 seconds between lap two and lap 11, at which point he pitted. But today Lewis Hamilton got quicker as his first stint went on, reducing his lap time by 1.5 seconds between lap two and lap 13.
And Hamilton didn’t have the best tyre life at the start of the race. Sebastian Vettel, who took over the lead when Hamilton pitted, stayed out until lap 22 at which point he was 1.2 seconds quicker than he had been 20 laps earlier.
This indicates Pirelli has met the objective it was set of reverting from the ‘high degradation’ tyres it introduced in 2011 to the more conventional racing tyres seen previously. The fastest racing lap today was 4.4 seconds slower than the pole position time, just as it was in the last Australian Grand Prix on Bridgestone tyres in 2010.
2017 Australian Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2017 Australian Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’26.538 | 56 | |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’26.593 | 0.055 | 56 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’26.638 | 0.100 | 53 |
4 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’26.711 | 0.173 | 51 |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’26.964 | 0.426 | 43 |
6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’27.033 | 0.495 | 44 |
7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’27.568 | 1.030 | 46 |
8 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’27.677 | 1.139 | 53 |
9 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’28.045 | 1.507 | 49 |
10 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’28.336 | 1.798 | 56 |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’28.475 | 1.937 | 55 |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’28.486 | 1.948 | 55 |
13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’29.052 | 2.514 | 51 |
14 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’29.389 | 2.851 | 38 |
15 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | 1’29.440 | 2.902 | 53 |
16 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’29.447 | 2.909 | 21 |
17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’30.077 | 3.539 | 48 |
18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’30.183 | 3.645 | 12 |
19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’32.052 | 5.514 | 18 |
20 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’32.195 | 5.657 | 6 |
2017 Australian Grand Prix
- 2017 Australian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Find out if you’re one of the 14 prize-winners in the Predictions Championship
- Vettel takes back-to-back Driver of the Weekend wins
- Australian GP gets second-lowest rating in a decade
- 2017 Australian Grand Prix radio notes: Race
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
26th March 2017, 16:42
So before the stop ham was doing 88.1 88.9 88.4 88.4 – I don’t see a drop off here as Ham says he felt.
After the stop 87.5 88.4 88.9 89.9 89.4 91.4
So yeah, Mercedes made a mistake. End of. Only why can’t they just admit it?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th March 2017, 17:25
@ivan-vinitskyy it looks like a mistake, but we can’t be sure. Hamilton said his tyres were gone, so maybe he was pushing even harder than the tyres wanted at the end of his stint to keep Vettel behind.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
26th March 2017, 18:34
@fer-no65 I’d say they are missing Paddy Lowe already. Ferrari admitted they were lucky to get Max in front of Lewis, they didn’t even know what to do if Lewis pitted, they only said they would try to run longer. Ferrari weren’t that smart, they didn’t foresee Lewis getting stuck, as he pitted far early than everyone else. I know Seb lost a little behind Stroll but after Mercedes and Lewis pitted too early their race was done.
keith
27th March 2017, 5:41
Hamilton was being his typical self and sulking under pressure. You could hear it in his voice over the radio.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
26th March 2017, 17:46
Well, he was a second per lap faster initially after the stop, so there was a threat of the undercut, but then he caught up with Verstappen. Usually the drivers will push harder when they were getting near the pit window, so maybe Hamilton wasn’t getting the lap times he expected. Still it was a mistake to pit so early, but there were more ways for Mercedes to go wrong.
Tire degradation is still higher than in 2010 I think. The 2010 race was partially wet, so I think the track wasn’t rubbered in as much as in qualifying.
MattDS (@mattds)
27th March 2017, 10:22
I kind of agree, but I think it is understandable. Remember Hamilton came out almost 4 seconds behind Verstappen, and with a difference of .550s the last full lap (S3 lap before + S1 + S2 of in-lap) before that and tyres that were going off, he would have needed a lot more laps to clear Verstappen, if he would have managed it at all that is.
Maybe they tought it was too big a stretch.
Claudio
27th March 2017, 10:26
Intermediate timing are collapsed during lap 17 (+8/10)
jar jar
28th March 2017, 13:44
Mercedes has additional aero in the rear and I guarantee that it caused faster tire wear. They were the only ones with the extra rear wing and nobody seems to see the obvious correlation between extra downforce and extra tire wear. I would bet that the next race the wing will be taken off.
Damon85
26th March 2017, 17:01
Hamilton these last few years has turned into a drama queen, well it cost him today so more fool him.
mateuss (@mateuss)
26th March 2017, 17:49
Race pace was like 2015 qualifying pace. Great to see, no more granny racing. The difference on track was obvious.
Can someone link this chart from 2015?
mateuss (@mateuss)
26th March 2017, 17:51
https://www.racefans.net/2015/03/15/cruising-mercedes-still-half-a-second-quicker-than-anyone/
Bosco Moroz
26th March 2017, 21:56
Wow, basically everyone was starting with full tanks at the speeds of 2014 and 15s fast laps… This weekend was the first time in a LONG time, I have been blown away by the cars speed. Very clearly faster…. up to 20mph in some turns, but no loss of top end on straights… at least here… helps being faster out of the turns. Love the cars continuing to go faster as the fuel is burned like in the old days. Looking forward to a good season. Now just get some visceral sound coming out of these beasts and all would be nearly perfect.
Glad to see Vettel and Ferrari put on a good race. Still lots to be decided on which car is truly better, but we are once again Racing between teams. Awesome start to 2017!!!
bosyber (@bosyber)
26th March 2017, 18:03
During the race I already noted that in his second stint, Hamilton had quite frequent laps of 1:28 in between faster laps; Bottas shows a bit similar, though has them less frequently, but Vettel has them a lot less – was that from differences in tackling traffic, or what was it?
darko
26th March 2017, 23:28
Comparison with a 2004 cars is only possible on a single isolated lap because those cars were up to 200kg lighter(than current cars) in their pre-refueling stints.
But yeah, at their absolute respective fastest, 2017 cars beat handily beat the 2004 cars.
Pep
26th March 2017, 23:31
Woah, Kimi was really off the pace in the first stint, and even in the second one until lap ~40. One couldn’t even tell he was just cruising it home, since he had Max right behind him so he wasn’t really in a position to take it easy.
Sumedh
27th March 2017, 10:46
Interestingly, Vettel doesn’t get any quicker after Lewis pits. So, Ferrari didn’t have any extra speed that was getting hindered by Hamilton’s dirty air.
From the looks of it, my guess is 1) Mercedes has edge in qualifying pace 2) Ferrari has advantage in following another car 3) Race-pace is equal in both Mercedes and Ferrari
If all the three above are true, then every race could be decided purely by pit stop strategy.
Nunu
28th March 2017, 5:42
Wow great to see MAG in the Haas with a 7 fastest lap….thats quick
HK (@me4me)
28th March 2017, 8:08
Great 2nd stint by Verstappen. He matched the Mercs en Ferrari’s.