Six consecutive poles positions, but only one victory in his entire career. That's the strange story of Lewis Hamilton at the Australian Grand Prix, which today opened the F-1 World Championship with the crushing victory of the Finn Valtteri Bottas and ridiculous sonado, well-known, of Ferrari. The inaugural event of 2019 was not different from the one experienced so far by the champion Hamilton in Mebourne and Stevenage's boy saw, again, how the victory slipped through his fingers in a bad start and a strategy that did not favor him. Bottas won in the first double of the season for the 'silver arrows'.
Everything was decided at the start. Bottas completed a great start even for the dirty part and snatched the first place to Hamilton, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) also started better than his (theoretical) head of ranks, Sebastian Vettel, but the four-time world champion cornered his young partner in the bend two until the limit of almost touching. In any case, the pace of the Ferrari never disturbed Mercedes, they were even surpassed by Max Verstappen's Red Bull. The overtaking of "Mad Max" to Vettel was the best of the grand prize. "It is not easy to overtake a Ferrari in this circuit," said the Dutchman and the best way to sign the first Honda podium in his return to the F-1, the first 'cajón' in the premiere of the alliance between Red Bull and the Japanese biker.
Bottas, who had not won any race in 2018 - and only once received team orders - and today has opened the season with an unappealable victory that worked on a great start, and consolidated with a spectacular race pace. "It has been the best race of my life. It was an incredible solid, the car worked perfectly, "said the Finn. The strategy also favored him. Ferrari stopped Vettel - at that time third - very soon, to look for an "undercut" on Hamilton, forcing Mercedes to copy the strategy with Hamilton. "Why did you stop me so soon?" Asked the Englishman on the radio. "I do not think I can finish the race with these tires," he confirmed.
That early stop of Vettel and Hamilton complicated the end of the race. Leclerc, with a much cooler tire (he stopped 10 laps later) stuck to Vettel's rear wing eight laps from the end. Hamilton, who had lost any contact with Bottas, was already dealing only with the rear-view mirrors where Verstappen appeared. "I had it under control, but being second was not what I wanted. In any case, the team did a great job, we had a better beginning than expected, but I have to work more with my engineers, "revealed Hamilton. The margin of Bottas was so overwhelming that he took the pleasure of marking the fastest lap in the last turn and score a point more than the regulation granted as a novelty this year. At Ferrari, Leclerc was ordered by radio not to attack Vettel, although the four-time champion already knows what he has left for the rest of the season.
Behind, Kevin Magnussen, with Haas, was the first of the "middle group", ahead of Nico Hulkenberg's Renault. Carlos Sainz could not be added to that fight. The Spaniard was in full recovery from 18th to 14th in 11 laps, with the aim of reaching the points, when the McLaren's Renault engine burst into smoke and flame. "It is a pity. I was attacking Strolz that ended up in the points, so finishing in the points was possible. Disappointed by bullfighting problems, but happy with the possibilities of the car, said the Madrid native.