Albert Park, Australia, the first of 21, A long season ahead…..
The Class of 2018…
Well, here we are again, Albert park, Melbourne, new reg’s and some new drivers. A lot of questions waiting to be answered. The new Halo, a lot against it, but it is here to stay, MClaren was first on board to get a flip flop/thong manufacturer on board and I was only saying on the Thursday that Haviana’s missed the boat on that one, when on the Friday their was a press release announcing that Haviana’s were on board with Sahara Force India, they must have heard me.
Robert Kubica (pictured below) was here every day, and I still think by the end of the year he will be in the Williams.
As per usual their was not much happening on the Thursday, the usual driver photographs, never ceases to amaze me how long this can take, a lot of drivers were very accommodating, and some were, well, not, and one was just, in a word, disappointing, not mentioning no names but he redeemed himself later on in the week.
Nico Hulkenberg seemed, I thought, to be very chilled out and relaxed this weekend, will see how that pans out on race day.
Every day we had the Melbourne Walk, where the drivers/team personnel would walk the gauntlet of the autograph hunting public wanting that brief moment with their heroes, so many selfies….
Local Hero Daniel Ricciardo never failed to disappoint.
Even Chase Carey, CEO of Formula 1 made an appearance along Melbourne walk.
And some, namely Lewis Hamilton arrived in the paddock on his scooter..
So now to the business end FP1,2 and 3…
The Halo’s of the Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren.
A few images from the pitlane and trackside during FP1,2 and 3.
Qualifying; Lewis Hamilton qualified pole on the first grid of the year with a cracking 1:21.164, Kimi was second with a 1:21.828 while Sebastian was third with a time of 1:21.838.
Race Day; Daniel Ricciardo pleasing the home crowd.
Lap 1, first corner, all through safely, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Vettel…
A pretty uneventful race really, this was a pretty close call at turn 1 (below). Having said that, it’s always busy for us guys, trying to plan where to go, what to shoot, trying to second guess, while still trying to make it back to the pitlane before the chequered flag to get to the podium.
The Podium.
Race Winner; Sebastian Vettel
2nd Place; Lewis Hamilton
3rd Place; Kimi Raikkonen
