Sebastian Vettel won a dramatic Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park after leapfrogging Lewis Hamilton in the pits during a virtual safety car period.
The Mercedes driver was in control of the race until Romain Grosjean’s Haas stopped on track and officials imposed a virtual safety-car, which restricts the pace of the cars on track.
The World Champion had already made his pit stop but Vettel had yet to make his — and Ferrari pounced on the opportunity.
A pit stop made under the virtual safety car takes 10 seconds less than one made when the cars are at full speed and the time gain of stopping while Hamilton was restricted on track allowed Vettel to rejoin the race just ahead of the Mercedes. It was the deciding factor in the race, unfortunately, with Lewis heard complaining (rightly) on team radio “Why did you not tell me Vettel was in the pits?”
Sebastian Vettel leapfrogs Lewis Hamilton to take Australian GP win | BBC Sport
🏁 A perfect start to 2018 for Seb #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/t8k64wsjE4
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 25, 2018
Watch for the predictable controversy over the F1 rulebook, once again!