Vettel’s massive stroke of luck

It may sound strange to say it, but the Australian Grand Prix weekend was not a particularly strong one for Sebastian Vettel. For the most part, he was slower than Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who was having one of his stronger outings.

The German couldn’t make the front row in qualifying and failed to have an impact on Lewis Hamilton and Raikkonen in the first stint.

But that lack of performance actually benefitted him, as Ferrari rolled the dice and left him out longer than his rivals meaning he was perfectly placed when the Virtual Safety Car was called into action while marshals attempted to retrieve Romain Grosjean’s Haas.

That combined with a software glitch for Mercedes meant Vettel kept the lead and with overtaking so difficult in Melbourne, he maintained it to secure his second successive win in Australia.

In doing so, he became the third man in history to lead 3,000 laps in his career, after Michael Schumacher and Hamilton. He also equalled team mate Kimi Raikkonen’s tally of wins for Ferrari – and in 71 fewer races no less. Not a bad way to mark your 100th F1 podium, eh?

formula1.com