motorhub Jun 2015 - Sept. 2015 | Page 21

L MOTORHUB MAGAZINE AUSTRALIAN GP REPORT ewis Hamilton won the opening race of the 2015 season in Melbourne ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg with what few of their rivals finished a long way behind. By the end of lap one just 13 cars were left in a race that 18 drivers qualified for. A back injury prevented Valtteri Bottas from starting, and two more drivers failed to reach the grid after problems on their way to the grid. Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren failed spectacularly, and Daniil Kvyat stopped with a gearbox fault. Lotus’s race ended within moments of the lights going out. Romain Grosjean got away slowly from the grid and then pulled into the pits to retire. Meanwhile Pastor Maldonado lost out in a first-corner tangle and was dumped into the barriers. Following a brief appearance from the Safety Car, Hamilton quickly re-established his lead as Rosberg reacted slowly to the resumption of the race. A single midrace pit stop was the only time Hamilton lost the lead. Sebastian Vettel jumped ahead of Felipe Massa in the pit stops to claim third on his debut for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton has won 4 of the first 7 races and remains on top of the driver standings. Lewis Hamilton and a team engineer discuss strategy L CHINESE GP REPORT ewis Hamilton dominated the Chinese Grand Prix to take his second win of the season and his fourth career victory in Shanghai. It was another Mercedes 1-2 with Nico Rosberg taking second, but there were suggestions of renewed tension between the team mates. Ferrari kept the Mercedes duo under pressure throughout the race in third and fourth, but Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were unable to mount a serious challenge on the Silver Arrows for the lead. After both Mercedes and Ferraris had pitted for another set of Soft tyres, Rosberg began to eat into his team mate’s lead. Despite being just over two seconds adrift of Hamilton, Rosberg was heard on team radio complaining about the leader’s pace and encouraging his team to hurry the world champion up after concerns over his tyres should he have gotten any closer to his team mate. Hamilton cruised around to secure his second win of the season, ahead of team mate Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. Raikkonen took fourth for Ferrari, with the two Williams of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas fifth and sixth. Nico Rosberg Celebrates win at the Monaco GP ISSUE #2 Jun - Sept 19