Lewis Hamilton sees plans wrecked by Sebastian Vettel as Mercedes man is beaten by Ferrari rival in Australia
Mercedes driver - eating a pear at the post-race press conference - paid the price for early pitstop in Melbourne
FORMULA ONE’S new dawn has gone all pear-shaped for Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes ace, who started the season-opener on pole, had to put on a brave face after Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton paid the price for his early pitstop at Melbourne’s Albert Park — a decision made between himself and the team on the pitwall.
The three-time world champion, 32, who came into the debrief room eating a pear, said: “We had a really good start, which is fantastic, but after that I was struggling with the grip.
“Sebastian was able to always answer in terms of lap time — and the majority of the time do faster lap times. Then, towards the end, I got in a bit of traffic and the car started to overheat the tyres and I was struggling.
“I was sliding around so it was my call to pit because otherwise he probably would have come by anyway.
“Then I came in and obviously got stuck in traffic, which is unfortunate but that’s motor racing.”
Hamilton’s fears that this season’s new rules would threaten to disrupt his team’s strangle-hold on the sport appear to have been well founded.
Last year, Mercedes won 19 of the 21 grands prix, taking their tally to 51 wins in 59 races in this hybrid-turbo era.
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But you get the feeling things are not going to be such a cakewalk this time around after Vettel’s win Down Under.
The German, looking to become only the third man — after seven-time champ Michael Schumacher and Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio — to lift the title five times, said: “What this team has done in the last six months has been really tough, rough as well, not easy to manage.
“So it is fantastic, a big reward, a big relief for everyone. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“The foundation has been laid a long time ago and I’m really proud to see it coming together.”
Vettel’s key call was to push through to lap 23 on his first set of tyres while Hamilton stopped on lap 17.
It was a strategy that worked in the German’s favour as he was able to capitalise on Hamilton being caught in traffic.
Vettel added: “We realised early on we had decent pace and I knew if there was anything to happen around the first stop, then I needed to be right behind him.
“Once it was clear that he went in, there was no point following. We stayed out, the tyres were still holding on and the pace looked all right.
“I just tried to calm down a bit and hope for an ‘overcut’. And then obviously we saw the gap, went into the pits and it worked.
“The car was really good, working well and I could control the gap and the pace, going through traffic and just bringing it home. It was very pleasant.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, sat in their motorhome with Hamilton’s discarded second-place trophy on a sideboard, admitted: “It’s personality-building.
“You lose some and you win some. It is about accepting Ferrari beat us. We always said we could not expect the victories to continue forever.
“Testing wasn’t great and we did not have a great Sunday but we will leave no stone unturned in order to win. We will come out stronger.”
Having traded titles over recent years, Hamilton and Vettel swapped compliments instead.
The Brit said: “It’s been a privilege to be racing in an era with Sebastian and we’re now finally at a period of time when we can actually have a real race.
“We are similar pace-wise, so it’s going to be a very hard slog. It’s going to be physically and mentally demanding but racing the best is what Formula One is all about.”
Vettel, in turn, said: “I have a great respect for Lewis.
“He’s proven to be one of the quickest drivers on the grid and I would love to have a close battle.”
With defending champion Nico Rosberg retired, his replacement at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas, came third.
Yet there was misery for Fernando Alonso, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Brit Jolyon Palmer, who were three of seven drivers not to finish.
McLaren’s Alonso, in tenth place before suffering a mechanical failure, said: “It was probably the best race of my life until that moment.
“Few times I’ve had such an uncompetitive car, without any winter preparation, having to save fuel in a brutal way and, even so, we were in the points.”
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