2019 Australian Grand Prix – Sunday

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport start the 2019 Formula One season with a 1-2 victory

• Valtteri took his fourth career victory today – his first in Australia and first of the 2019 season
• Lewis finished in second place, completing a perfect start to the season for the team
• Valtteri scored the fastest lap, his tenth with the team, gaining an extra Championship point
• Today’s result marks the 45^th 1-2 finish for Mercedes in Formula One
• Valtteri (26 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 8 points from Lewis (18 points) in P2
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (44 points) lead Ferrari (22 points) by 22 points in the Constructors’ Championship
• Loïc Serra, Performance Director, accepted the Constructors’ trophy on behalf of the team
• Rights-free imagery from today is available on our media site

Valtteri Bottas

This feels so good – I don’t think I’ve ever had a race like this! We could not have asked for a better start to the season – getting maximum points for the team is a perfect result and we couldn’t be happier. It’s also an important result for me personally, I’m really pleased with how the race went. These things don’t just happen – both the team and I have worked hard for this and it seems like the hard work paid off today. The key was the start; I think Lewis may have had a bit of wheel spin, so I was able to take the lead. My race pace was really strong, I could pull away and build a gap. In the end, I managed to get the fastest lap as well, which of course means an extra point this season, so I went for it. It can be a little risky with worn tyres, but I had it all under control. I’m very, very pleased with today, but it’s only the first race and we have another 20 races to go.

Lewis Hamilton

It was an incredible weekend for the team, we’re leaving Melbourne with maximum points. Valtteri did an exceptional job today – congratulations to him. I had a pretty straightforward race today; I lost position at the start and my race was pretty much done and dusted after the first corner. Afterwards it was really about bringing the car home and bagging the points. I had to pit early to cover the pit stop from Ferrari, so I had a long second stint and drove super carefully to make sure I had tyres left at the end of the race. I’ll bag the eighteen points I got today, keep working and come back recharged for the next one. It was a really great weekend for the team and I’m really happy for everyone. We showed a great performance today and we need to continue to build on this – we have a long season ahead of us.

Toto Wolff

That was a great day and an awesome drive for Valtteri – a perfect rebound after how last season finished. Over the winter, he recharged the batteries, reset, found his joy of driving again with the rally in Finland – then today it all came together for him. I can see again the young boy I first met over ten years ago and who dominated the junior series in 2008; it was a strong comeback and a really well earned win today. For Lewis, it was a harder afternoon –