Nico Rosberg confidently won the race – with the advantage of 24.5 seconds over his closest rival. Riccardo finished second in the first race for Red Bull Racing, achieving the best result for the Aussies in the home Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen on the podium in his debut Grand Prix.
1st Nico Rosberg, Mercedes: “That was an incredible day for us. To start the season with a win is unbelievable and I have to say a big thank you to everybody who was involved in building our car over the winter. I always dreamed of having such a strong Silver Arrow and now it seems we are there. In the race, everything went perfectly for me. My start was great and I was able to push from there until the end, with our fuel consumption well under control. However, despite our success today, we also know that there is still some work to do. We saw over the weekend that reliability is still a concern and it prevented us from having a strong two-car finish. We have two weeks to improve that. I am very much looking forward to Malaysia and I would love to race again tomorrow!”
2nd Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing: “Two or three weeks ago I would have put everything that we can not get on the podium. Today’s result – fully merit team. Incredible, but they were able to change the situation. I do not understand how they did it, but they succeeded. Thank you, guys, and, of course, thanks to the Australian fans.
It’s awesome. I have no words. I am intoxicated with success. I am very happy to be here: I am the first Australian to climb the podium in Australia. It is very nice!”
3d Kevin Magnussen, McLaren-Mercedes: “It’s hard to believe ! Unreal situation . In the race the car was better than ever – just as I needed. Training, we spent last winter, brought excellent results.
I did not win the race, but this podium tantamount to victory. Last season was difficult for McLaren, they really wanted to return to the fight, did everything possible to prepare me, a novice, no experience, to debut in the championship, and today I felt very comfortable.
Fighting on the last lap? With the new engine can work actively – to attack, then slow down, then attack again. From the outside it looks very cool – the drivers emerge opportunities for overtaking, but today the car did not have enough speed to fight for second place”
