Vettel, Hamilton would relish F1 2017 title battle

The Ferrari drivers trailed their Mercedes counterparts in the first session, but improved significantly in the second, with Germany’s Sebastian Vettel achieving the second-best lap time on the day, at 1:24.167.

This year, there was no safety vehicle to bunch a field together and Vettel won the race in the pits.

But Lauda, himself a three-time world champion and now non-executive chairman at Mercedes, believes Bottas more than adequately filled the German’s shoes.

“I am concerned because we have very, very strict processes that for 21 races have worked beautifully, so something went amiss”, said Westacott. We won’t panic, though.

When asked if P2 proved a step forward from Ferrari, Vettel replied: “Definitely, I think we have a good vehicle”.

Hamilton began on pole position and led until the first set of pit stops when Germany’s Vettel leapfrogged the Englishman to secure Ferrari’s first victory since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix.

“This is one of many steps and we have to enjoy what we do”.

It wasn’t all plain-sailing, however, as Vettel said he was not quite satisfied with his display after a less-than-impressive start at the lights.

Finland’s Valtteri Bottas completed the podium on his debut for Mercedes.

Valtteri Bottas lost the first battle with new teammate Lewis Hamilton when he was outpaced in Melbourne qualifying, but the Finn still sees the upside of his first weekend as a Mercedes driver.

“It was about time”, he said. We’ve been waiting for this victory for nearly a year and a half. Hearing the Italian national anthem again was very moving. “I’m sure during the year it’s going to ramp up much quicker”. The way Lewis started into the season, we all like it.

The Briton, who also topped the timesheets in yesterday morning’s opening 90-minute session, ended the day with a benchmark time of one minute 23.620 seconds around Melbourne’s 5.3-kilometer long Albert Park circuit.

His first taste of the top level was one he put down to experience, having started at the back of the grid after getting a penalty for needing an unscheduled gearbox change following his crash in practice on Saturday.

Shares rose as much as 3.6 per cent to €68.5, the highest since the Italian sports vehicle maker debuted on the Milan exchange at the beginning of previous year.

The weekend setback continues Ricciardo’s run of bad luck at his home grand prix, where he was disqualified from second place in 2014 for breaching fuel rules.