2014 Australian Grand Prix Sunday - Australian Grand Prix
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JONATHAN NOBLE is primed and ready to interrogate Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who has just come out of the stewards meeting.
It's worth checking out the driver data for Bottas' lap chart alone, by the way.
You can read more words from all the drivers over on AUTOSPORT's statistical partner FORIX's dedicated grand prix reaction section.
Not only that, but if you click on each driver's name, you can access a complete statistical breakdown of their weekend's work - lap times, speed trap figures, and the numbers from every single session.
FORIX is part of the AUTOSPORT subscription package. Just saying.
Not only that, but if you click on each driver's name, you can access a complete statistical breakdown of their weekend's work - lap times, speed trap figures, and the numbers from every single session.
FORIX is part of the AUTOSPORT subscription package. Just saying.
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Button was quite talkative after that race, and his attitude was incomparable to that of last year's McLaren debriefs.
"The great thing is that, as a team, we've done a really good job this weekend. The pace is getting there, when we had clear air we had a good chance of fighting anyone apart from the Mercedes really.
"We all knew [Kevin] was quick. He's done everything that's been asked of him. Yesterday he did a really good job in qualifying, and then he backed it up today. He's a good guy, and he's proven he's quick here so we should work well together this year."
Breaking news
Meanwhile, the other Toro Rosso driver - rookie Daniil Kvyat - has labelled his record-breaking grand prix debut as "intense" after finishing 10th.
That point means the GP3 champion succeeds four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel as F1's youngest point scorer. Good company to keep, that.
Story here:
Kvyat: record-breaking points finish "intense"
That point means the GP3 champion succeeds four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel as F1's youngest point scorer. Good company to keep, that.
Story here:
Kvyat: record-breaking points finish "intense"
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Toro Rosso got two cars home in the points today, although Jean-Eric Vergne says he had to deal with some brake issues to get there.
"This is obviously a good result, even though the car was very difficult to drive. We had problems with the brakes which made us lose a lot of time but at the end we are all satisfied to finish the race with two cars in the points.
"I'm very pleased with the overall three points especially for the team, more than for myself. After a long difficult time and so much hard work this winter, this is a great relief for all the guys in the garage and it's nice for us drivers to be able to give them something back."
"This is obviously a good result, even though the car was very difficult to drive. We had problems with the brakes which made us lose a lot of time but at the end we are all satisfied to finish the race with two cars in the points.
"I'm very pleased with the overall three points especially for the team, more than for myself. After a long difficult time and so much hard work this winter, this is a great relief for all the guys in the garage and it's nice for us drivers to be able to give them something back."
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One man we haven't yet heard from in AUTOSPORT Live this evening is Kimi Raikkonen. Here's his summary after finishing ninth:
"We had some issues but I don't know... There were a lot of things happening and until we look into those things I don't really know. We cannot be happy with the position that we finished in but at least we got something from a difficult weekend."
"We had some issues but I don't know... There were a lot of things happening and until we look into those things I don't really know. We cannot be happy with the position that we finished in but at least we got something from a difficult weekend."
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The other F1 rookies stole the spotlight, but Caterham's Marcus Ericsson is looking for positives after his debut ended in the garage.
"Even though my first race in F1 ended with a DNF I'm still proud of the way we fought today. It's been a very difficult weekend overall, one of the hardest in my whole career, but we still showed a bit of the potential we have in the first laps of the first stint when I passed Sutil and was running well in 12th.
"My first ever live pitstop a grand prix went really well but then unfortunately an oil pressure problem forced us to stop – we don't know what caused that yet but if we hadn't had that I think we'd have finished ahead of the Marussias as I was pretty comfortable ahead of Chilton until the issue."
"Even though my first race in F1 ended with a DNF I'm still proud of the way we fought today. It's been a very difficult weekend overall, one of the hardest in my whole career, but we still showed a bit of the potential we have in the first laps of the first stint when I passed Sutil and was running well in 12th.
"My first ever live pitstop a grand prix went really well but then unfortunately an oil pressure problem forced us to stop – we don't know what caused that yet but if we hadn't had that I think we'd have finished ahead of the Marussias as I was pretty comfortable ahead of Chilton until the issue."
Red Bull delegates are in with the stewards right now discussing the issue.
It takes a lot to knock the smile off Daniel Riccardo's face, but this would probably do it if he is stripped of second place.
While we didn't see (visibly) the aggressive fuel-saving tactics that drivers had expressed serious concerns over earlier in the weekend, the Ricciardo issue shows just how important fuel could prove under the new regulations.
F1 race director Charlie Whiting had already indicated there would be zero tolerance over fuel limits in 2014, so cars struggling to make the finish would just have to grin and bear it.
What that means for Ricciardo and fuel flow dramas, we don't know.
F1 race director Charlie Whiting had already indicated there would be zero tolerance over fuel limits in 2014, so cars struggling to make the finish would just have to grin and bear it.
What that means for Ricciardo and fuel flow dramas, we don't know.
Breaking news
Some confirmation here for you, Daniel Ricciardo's second place on Red Bull debut under threat over fuel flow issue:
Ricciardo podium in jeopardy
And the confirmation that Kamui Kobayashi will not be punished for that first corner accident:
Kobayashi escapes sanction over Turn 1 crash
Ricciardo podium in jeopardy
And the confirmation that Kamui Kobayashi will not be punished for that first corner accident:
Kobayashi escapes sanction over Turn 1 crash
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It was hardly a classic race for Lotus, but despite both cars retiring with MGU-K issues, Romain Grosjean is taking a 'positive thinking' approach.
"In a way, it was a pretty positive day. I expected to do around 15 to 20 laps in the race after all the issues we've had this weekend, and we managed 45!
"We've learnt a lot today and all the changes made to the car have been positive. We still have a long way to go, but at least I know more about tyre usage, all my engineers know where we need to improve with the chassis, and we've learnt a lot about aero balance and fuel consumption.
"Of course there's more to do with the energy management and recovery and some work yet with the braking. We've still got lots of work to do, but we're definitely heading in the right direction."
"In a way, it was a pretty positive day. I expected to do around 15 to 20 laps in the race after all the issues we've had this weekend, and we managed 45!
"We've learnt a lot today and all the changes made to the car have been positive. We still have a long way to go, but at least I know more about tyre usage, all my engineers know where we need to improve with the chassis, and we've learnt a lot about aero balance and fuel consumption.
"Of course there's more to do with the energy management and recovery and some work yet with the braking. We've still got lots of work to do, but we're definitely heading in the right direction."
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A pretty anonymous race for Sauber, with Adrian Sutil 12th and Esteban Gutierrez 13th, and the response post-race is all about the C33's lack of pace.
"We were simply too slow," was Sutil's reaction, "but we managed to finish the race, which was our goal. We came close to the points, but we need to improve our speed.
"There is a lot of data now to analyse and we can only improve. I hope that we will progress quickly."
Team-mate Gutierrez was more blunt.
"In general we are missing speed and it's a challenge to be able to compete at the front like this."
That meant Ricciardo breached article 5.1.4 of the technical regulations, and so the matter has been referred to the stewards.
Breaking news
Breaking news from the paddock: BEN ANDERSON confirms that Daniel Ricciardo is under investigation by the stewards.
"During the race car number 03 has exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow of 100kg/h."
"During the race car number 03 has exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow of 100kg/h."
Breaking news
Caterham reveals Kamui Kobayashi will receive no punishment from the Australian Grand Prix stewards for the Turn 1 crash.
The stewards have ruled it was the result of a "serious technical failure", not an error from the Japanese.
Full story to follow.
The stewards have ruled it was the result of a "serious technical failure", not an error from the Japanese.
Full story to follow.
Twitter
McLaren reveals on Twitter that Magnussen's podium and the team's ascent to first place in the teams' points has not provoked an emotional response from Ron Dennis.
In fact, he's quite matter-of-fact.
"Ron Dennis: "We're pleased but we're not ecstatic. We save 'ecstatic' for wins.""
In fact, he's quite matter-of-fact.
"Ron Dennis: "We're pleased but we're not ecstatic. We save 'ecstatic' for wins.""
This is the situation in both the drivers' and teams' championship after the first round of the 2014 season.
Drivers' championship:
1. Nico Rosberg 25
2. Daniel Ricciardo 18
3. Kevin Magnussen 15
4. Jenson Button 12
5. Fernando Alonso 10
6. Valtteri Bottas 8
7. Nico Hulkenberg 6
8. Kimi Raikkonen 4
9. Jean-Eric Vergne 2
10. Daniil Kvyat 1
Constructors' championship:
1. McLaren/Mercedes 27
2. Mercedes 25
3. Red Bull/Renault 18
4. Ferrari 14
5. Williams/Mercedes 8
6. Force India/Mercedes 6
7. Toro Rosso/Renault 3
Drivers' championship:
1. Nico Rosberg 25
2. Daniel Ricciardo 18
3. Kevin Magnussen 15
4. Jenson Button 12
5. Fernando Alonso 10
6. Valtteri Bottas 8
7. Nico Hulkenberg 6
8. Kimi Raikkonen 4
9. Jean-Eric Vergne 2
10. Daniil Kvyat 1
Constructors' championship:
1. McLaren/Mercedes 27
2. Mercedes 25
3. Red Bull/Renault 18
4. Ferrari 14
5. Williams/Mercedes 8
6. Force India/Mercedes 6
7. Toro Rosso/Renault 3
Twitter
Kvyat's old Formula Renault outfit Koiranen GP is in full support of the Russian after his record-breaking 10th place finish.
"Huge job from @Dany_Kvyat scoring his ever first points in #F1 in his maiden race! How proud we are from you Daniil! That's just amazing!"
Koiranen ran Kvyat to the 2012 FR ALPS title, and second in that year's Eurocup as well. He was beaten to the Eurocup crown by McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne - whose fans are getting worked up on Twitter about his impending F1 brilliance after Magnussen's podium.
"Huge job from @Dany_Kvyat scoring his ever first points in #F1 in his maiden race! How proud we are from you Daniil! That's just amazing!"
Koiranen ran Kvyat to the 2012 FR ALPS title, and second in that year's Eurocup as well. He was beaten to the Eurocup crown by McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne - whose fans are getting worked up on Twitter about his impending F1 brilliance after Magnussen's podium.
Magnussen stresses that it was definitely, definitely a gamble from McLaren to put him in a race seat this season - but one worth taking because he was sure he was ready.
It's difficult to argue against that right now.
It's difficult to argue against that right now.
David Coulthard
Today's victory is the 100th for a Mercedes-powered F1 car. Only nine of those came during its brief but spectacular period of mid-1950s dominance, so the other 91 are all since its mid-1990s F1 return.
The first win of that comeback came here in Melbourne, 17 years ago, when David Coulthard won another surprise-packed season-opener for McLaren.
The current works Mercedes team has contributed five of those victories. Wonder how high that tally will rise?
That's one of thousands of stats you can dig out on our partner site FORIX, which you get as part of your AUTOSPORT subscription.
While you can continue to submit your star of the race suggestions via #autosportlive and live@autosport.com, we'll throw another question out to you.
Daniil Kvyat became the youngest point scorer in F1 history with his 10th place finish today, aged just 19 years, 10 months and 11 days.
So what we want to test you on is this. Can you name the others on the current F1 grid that are in the top 10 for youngest drivers to finish in the points?
Daniil Kvyat became the youngest point scorer in F1 history with his 10th place finish today, aged just 19 years, 10 months and 11 days.
So what we want to test you on is this. Can you name the others on the current F1 grid that are in the top 10 for youngest drivers to finish in the points?
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Sounds like Hulkenberg, who finished seventh, doesn't think Ferrari could learn too much good stuff from Force India:
"It looked like we didn't have the pace some others had. Some cars had an advantage in terms of downforce and their corner speeds seemed to be higher. It could be better - we were lacking a bit today."
"It looked like we didn't have the pace some others had. Some cars had an advantage in terms of downforce and their corner speeds seemed to be higher. It could be better - we were lacking a bit today."
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Alonso also reckons he learned a bit about Ferrari's handling by watching Nico Hulkenberg's Force India:
"After the first race, you have a better picture of which areas you need to improve after running behind people, like I did with Hulkenberg for many laps."
"After the first race, you have a better picture of which areas you need to improve after running behind people, like I did with Hulkenberg for many laps."
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Alonso was thoroughly...neutral about Ferrari's position after his fifth place:
"We all had problems, probably. But at the end of the day both Ferraris crossed the line, which is a good effort from the team.
"On the other hand, we finished 35 seconds behind Nico Rosberg, which is probably too much and we need to do better in Malaysia."
"We all had problems, probably. But at the end of the day both Ferraris crossed the line, which is a good effort from the team.
"On the other hand, we finished 35 seconds behind Nico Rosberg, which is probably too much and we need to do better in Malaysia."
Breaking news
More on fan-favourite Magnussen - the Dane reckons his podium finish (the first for a Danish driver in F1) was like a win for him and McLaren.
The Woking squad now leads the constructors' championship, and Magnussen has paid tribute to the team for the working they did over the winter to prepare him for his rookie season.
Magnussen: podium 'like a win'
Twitter
Plenty more BOTTAS and Magnussen love coming in via Twitter for your suggestions for star of the race.
Pindertuco, J_Ahmad and @FormulaFotos are all in favour of the Williams driver.
Magnussen's corner includes @Baggies20, @shistari and @CJAugarde.
Pindertuco, J_Ahmad and @FormulaFotos are all in favour of the Williams driver.
Magnussen's corner includes @Baggies20, @shistari and @CJAugarde.
Breaking news
Despite Rosberg having plenty of positives to talk about for Mercedes, he concedes that there is work to do - as team-mate Hamilton's retirement attests.
Merc must work on reliability - Rosberg
Merc must work on reliability - Rosberg
Breaking news
Kamui Kobayashi crash
Edd Straw is reporting from the paddock that Kamui Kobayashi had no rear brakes at the start of the race, which explains his Turn 1 crash with Felipe Massa.
The Finn is also making clear that he's "mad at myself" for slapping the wall when running so strongly.
Fair play to Bottas - if TV interviewers try to move on after just talking about his mistake, he yanks them back to make sure he has chance to praise Williams for its amazing winter turnaround too.
Breaking news
Here's more from Ricciardo on his second place - and how he didn't even think he'd see the flag:
Ricciardo amazed just to finish
Ricciardo amazed just to finish
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Australian GP
Rosberg, as you'd expect, says plenty went right in that race - a start that was "off like a bullet... or like a Silver Arrow!", no worries with fuel consumption ("it all worked perfectly").
His only worry was some odd mid-race tyre behaviour.
"I got into a strange situation in that middle stint, got graining and losing temperature," he says.
"I thought I was going to have to come in soon and they said try to stay out. Then the graining cleared and I was able to go.
"It was a strange period but fine and I was able to go on like that."
Button is also fulsome in his praise of his new McLaren team-mate Magnussen as he talks to reporters in the media pen.
Twitter
Early response on Twitter is as you'd expect, with plenty of you saying Magnussen - "no question about that!" says @Anna_Morge - and Ricciardo for those first F1 podiums.
Rosberg understandably gets a shout as well from @MargaretOjalvo but Duncan Moore reckons Jenson Button "drove a brilliant race" to net fourth from 10th.
Kvyat and Bottas are also among your suggestions. You know the score, keep it coming with #autosportlive.
Rosberg understandably gets a shout as well from @MargaretOjalvo but Duncan Moore reckons Jenson Button "drove a brilliant race" to net fourth from 10th.
Kvyat and Bottas are also among your suggestions. You know the score, keep it coming with #autosportlive.
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And Magnussen?
"It is hard to believe, it seems so surreal. What can I say? The car was so much better than it has been at any point. I had what I needed in the race."
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Ricciardo was chuffed, as you'd imagine, to become the first Australian to stand on an Australian Grand Prix podium (because he finished in the top three - here's looking at you, Mark Webber!).
"Two or three weeks I would bet almost everything I had that we would not be standing up here, full credit here to the team for an unbelievable turnaround, I don’t know how they did it but thank you guys
"The Aussie fans? Completely overwhelming."
"Two or three weeks I would bet almost everything I had that we would not be standing up here, full credit here to the team for an unbelievable turnaround, I don’t know how they did it but thank you guys
"The Aussie fans? Completely overwhelming."
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Back to what was said on the podium, and Rosberg believes Mercedes has made a strong start - but cannot afford to rest on its laurels:
"An amazing day – I am over the moon really, everyone worked so hard over the winter and to have such an amazing Silver Arrow to drive is just unreal, this thing was unbelievable quick this weekend and reliability was good also.
"We have learned from this weekend, for sure [there is] some way to go, we can improve and we must - the competitors will not be asleep, we have to learn a lot."
Before that, though, he's off on holiday for a bit.
"An amazing day – I am over the moon really, everyone worked so hard over the winter and to have such an amazing Silver Arrow to drive is just unreal, this thing was unbelievable quick this weekend and reliability was good also.
"We have learned from this weekend, for sure [there is] some way to go, we can improve and we must - the competitors will not be asleep, we have to learn a lot."
Before that, though, he's off on holiday for a bit.
Twitter
Ex-F1 racer Timo Glock makes his feelings clear about who excelled during that race (though not in reply to AUTOSPORT Live, we hasten to add).
"Great to see a big talent instead of money back in F1 big respect to @KevinMagnussen that was impressive!!"
"Great to see a big talent instead of money back in F1 big respect to @KevinMagnussen that was impressive!!"
By: Matt Beer, Edd Straw, Ben Anderson, Jonathan Noble, Scott Mitchell, Andrew van Leeuwen
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