Sebastian Vettel won the 2017 Australian Grand Prix with an exclamation point as the four-time world champion drove his Ferrari to a relatively easy 9.975-second victory over the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas [who was 11.25 seconds behind Vettel in third].
Vettel did not lead start-to-finish but once he took the lead in the early laps of the race, he firmly held his ground at the top and withstood few challenges as neither Hamilton nor Bottas could mount any charges to the Ferrari. Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who some saw as a possible pre-race contender for Red Bull, was felled by mechanical issues before the race began and was never a factor while his Red Bull teammate, the wild-driving Dutch teenager, Max Verstappen, was also no factor in the race for the podium, finishing a distant fifth behind Vettel’s Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen.
With the win, Vettel grabs the early lead in the driver’s championship, with 25 points to Hamilton’s 18 points and Bottas in third with 15 points.
2017 Australian Grand Prix Results
1 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
2 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +9.975
3 Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes +11.250
4 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari +22.393
5 Max Verstappen – Red Bull +28.827
6 Felipe Massa – Williams +1:23.386
7 Sergio Perez – Force India
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso
9 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso
10 Esteban Ocon – Force India
11 Nico Hulkenberg – Renault
12 Antonio Giovinazzi – Sauber
13 Stoffel Vandoorne – McLaren
14 Fernando Alonso – McLaren
15 Kevin Magnussen – Haas
16 Lance Stroll – Williams
17 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
18 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
19 Jolyon Palmer – Renault
20 Romain Grosjean – Haas