The Gentleman Magazine Issue 14 | April 2019 | Page 20

I know we have a very big supporter who is in Vienna now
and not here with us in Melbourne – to you, Niki, we send all
our best wishes and we hope you’re happy with this one. But
this feeling will only last as long as we stay at the circuit; when
the plane takes off for home, our eyes will turn to Bahrain. We
know that Ferrari have the speed to fight back, so we won’t
be jumping to any conclusions after just one race. We have a
long season ahead full of twists and turns and challenges; we’re
looking forward to the fight.
James Allison
Days in motor racing do not come much sweeter than this. A
1-2 finish is a precious thing and to top it off with the cherry of
the fastest lap point for the first time, makes it feel even nicer. I
guess the main reason it feels so good is that it was unexpected.
We came to Australia expecting a very tough fight against a car
that had set the benchmark throughout winter testing. But we
found ourselves in the happy position of being very competitive
from the first time we turned a wheel - and almost spent our
weekend waiting to wake up from that state of slight disbelief.
However, we should have trusted what our numbers told us,
because Sunday turned out almost exactly how an impressive
Friday had promised, and it’s a fantastic feeling for all of us to
achieve this result at the first race. That doesn’t mean we will do
the same at the next race but it is a good start: it was fantastic
to see Valtteri drive so flawlessly to answer some of his critics
and remind everybody that he is a class act; Lewis on the other
hand was punished for a poor start and had to contend with
damage to the floor of his car, but nonetheless was able to drive
a strong race to seal off the 1-2 finish for the team, which will
see us heading to the next race with very happy spirits indeed.
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