Vettel Proves Ferrari Is Back

FORMULA 1'S NEW ERA IS ALL ABOUT BIGGER CARS, WIDER TYRES, MORE downforce, and greater performance than ever before. But this category remains one defined by small margins, and ultimately it was minor details that meant Ferrari rather than Mercedes went home victorious from the first grand prix of 2017.

- Ben Anderson

The picture after Friday practice looked very different. Lewis Hamilton was out on his own in front, more than half a second clear of Sebastian Vettel over one lap, and a second clear over the longer runs. Mercedes looked in great shape. The W08 appeared stuck to the road and working well again after the tribulations of the second week of pre-season testing, when the floor fell apart and the car’s pace suffered badly as a consequence.

By contrast, pre-season pacesetter Ferrari looked a bit lost. Vettel was unhappy with his car’s balance, and it seemed that Maranello had a lot of work to do to rediscover the form that had raised expectations of a gloves-off title battle with Mercedes ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

The first hint of a breakthrough came in final practice on Saturday morning, when Vettel lapped almost half a second faster than Hamilton and the sister Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. The SF70H looked a healthier proposition in the hotter weather.

Vettel was in the mix in qualifying too, squeaking ahead of Bottas to claim second on the grid, and denied pole as the circuit clouded over only by a sublime last lap from Hamilton, who is the undoubted king of qualifying around the Albert Park circuit.

But Mercedes still held a decisive theoretical edge heading into Sunday’s race. Hamilton was on pole and had displayed an advantage of more than two tenths per lap on Vettel in pure pace. Provided he could ace the start, the race would be Hamilton’s to lose, given how difficult overtaking usually is on this track – narrow, bumpy, and short on straights.

The FIA has acted to make the starts trickier for the drivers to manage this season, mandating a linear response from the clutches that requires drivers to handle the start procedure without the assistance of specific pre-programmed clutch settings.