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Mercedes AMG Australian GP Review

24.02.2017 -

Season 22 has begun, the usual suspects are all poised to do well, except for Senna taking a small sabbatical and LKR seemingly misplacing their car somewhere if anyone has seen it please contact them immediately. :)

So the Australian GP? Many had high expectations and others such as ourselves at Mercedes had high hopes of improved finishes. So how did the weekend go?

QUALIFYING
Q1 looked very much like everyone would've expected going off last years form guide, Redbull, Mclaren and Williams going through with ease.

Q2 became slightly more interesting, a couple of mistakes put Grosjean only 0.039s inside the top10 to make it to Q3, with everyone else above having unremarkable laps. A special selfish mention to both our drivers for making into Q2 after the difficult season we had last time around. Q2 saw both the Jordans knocked out, and a couple of teams getting single cars into Q3, notably Porsche and Ferrari recovering well after S21.

Q3 began with both cars from Mclaren, Audi and Williams and short one Redbull car. The hopes of the bull rested on Grosjean, however the spoils of the first qualifying of the season go to Mclaren and Garcia. A special mention to Da Costa Jr taking the WAR machine to 7th place.

MERCEDES INSIGHT
As a team, Mercedes were very pleased with our drivers lining up 13th and 20th. We gave them an unfinished car and they did an excellent job of making it work for them. Thanks to Grosjeans errors in Q2, Beskov managed to get within 0.047 of sneaking into Q3. Thanks guys :)

THE RACE
The first lap of the race was slow and steady from all, biggest loser has to go to Grosjean who let both the Williams go past and the other Mclaren, leaving himself a lot of work to do to get back to the front, Garcia got off to a flier opening up a 1.8s lead on the first lap.

By lap 3, the defending champion had dropped to 6th, and Da Costa Jr had snuck himself into 5th place. The gap at the front stabilized slightly at 2s, Garcia holding back a chasing Williams well at this point.

On lap 10, the Mercedes boys were holding their spots well, Beskov holding on to his 13th place, and Petrov moving up to 19th. The top 6 at this point remained unchanged, with Garcia in front and the Williams boys splitting the Mclarens.

Lap 17 saw the first pitstop of the season with Sklenarikova putting the Ferrari crew to work. The front of the back remained largely unchanged although Grosjean started to close in on the WAR of Da Costa JR and the Mercedes boys were holding 12th and Petrov sneaking up to 18th.

On lap 20, things started to swing back towards Grosjean as he finally managed to get past Da Costa JR, and not one to miss an opportunity so followed Atrumins in the Porsche forcing the WAR back into 7th.

Lap 26, Garcia in the Mclaren still out in front, holding a very healthy 6.8s gap over the ever menacing Williams of Briand. Grosjean began reeling in the other Williams of Allas, the 3-way fight for 3rd place on the podium was separated by 0.795. Petrov in the Mercedes had managed to find himself upto 17th and Beskov still holding strong in 12th. The first DNF of the Australian GP as the Lamborghini of Winter suffers a chassis issue.

A small flurry of activity in the pitlane on lap 30 signaled the beginning of the pitstop window, most notable Da Costa Jr losing 11 places to fall to 19th after spending the majority of the first half in the top6. The Mercs sliding upto 11th and 16th respectively.

Lap 32 saw more pitstops, our crew at Mercedes were put to use for the first time this season servicing Beskov in 11.4s and he returned to the track in 18th, the pit activity saw Petrov climb to 14th. The top 5 remained unchanged and yet to pit.

Petrov was next to pit for Mercedes on lap 34, as Grosjean and Allas decided to peel into pitlane on Lap 35. The front of the field had a very different look for the first time since the beginning of the race, although Garcia was still out in front, the Mclaren of Rapido had now taken over 2nd place after a pass on Briand from Williams. Special mention to the Porsche of Atrumins now running in 4th place.

More pitstops to follow on lap 36, with Briand diving into pitlane, followed closely by Atrumins. We now had both Mclarens up front with both Williams following behind. A new face in the race for the top 5 with Nesbeky JR in the Ferrari sitting in 5th after a mistake by Grosjean let him by.

Lap 37 and the first LKR suffers a puncture resulting in a crash and putting Nummi out of the race.

Lap 40 saw us with 18laps remaining, the front of the race was still both Mclarens, followed by a pair of chasing Williams and Grosjean chasing them. The Mercedes boys were holding onto 14th and 18th.

With 10 laps remaining, Garcia still lead his teammate of Rapido, albeit by 10s. The two Williams were running in formation behind them with Grosjean trying to join the party. The Porsche of Atrumins rounding out the top6. And our boys sitting 14th and 17th.

Lap 49 and the Williams boys decided to switch places, unsure if that was team orders or not, but they were starting to look worried about the ever present Redbull in their mirrors.

Lap 51 saw the 7th placed Galimov in the Audi have to retire the car due to safety reasons which was a shame, almost going unnoticed in a very respectable points paying position. Beskov and Petrov had the most of the retirement moving upto 13th and 16th.

With 3 laps to go, the front 5 remained unchanged, although Grosjean was really starting to menace the Williams of Briand. Unfortunately, the ever looming battle never came to fruition and the top 5 remained unchanged right to the finish. Mclaren were off to the perfect start with a commanding 1-2 finish headed up by Garcia, 10s down the road were the two Williams going across the line still in formation with Allas taking the final podium place, followed closely by an assumed frustrated Grosjean in 5th.

Mercedes would like to thank both our drivers for a fantastic result, with Beskov holding onto his starting position of 13th and Petrov making up a few places over the race to finish 16th.

This has been my take on the Australian GP, and the interesting moments that took place, brought to you by Mercedes AMG, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to have a read and if people enjoyed it might make a few more over the course of the Season. Good luck to all teams this season and as always our door is open and the beer is cold. See you next time.