Top ten pictures from the 2015 Australian Grand Prix

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Ten of the best pictures from the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix weekend.

Daniel Ricciardo

Whether signing heads or posing for pictures, Daniel Ricciardo was unmistakeably the centre of attention at his home grand prix.

Daniil Kvyat

Ricciardo’s new team mate Daniil Kvyat made an early start on the unenviable task of trying to get a Renault-powered anything to lap Albert Park quickly. He established the first production car lap record for the circuit at the wheel of a Renault Megane R.S. 275 Trophy-R – his time of 2’23 was less than a minute off his qualifying time in the Red Bull-Renault RB11.

Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen was back in the cockpit of a McLaren in place of the injured Fernando Alonso. Unfortunately he failed to take the start after his Honda engine failed spectacularly on his reconnaissance lap.

Drivers’ pre-season photograph

The drivers assembled for their annual pre-season photograph.

Start

By the time the lights went out on the first race of the season the thin 20-car field had been pared back to just 15. While the Mercedes disappeared up the road, Romain Grosjean’s Lotus sunk to the back of the field with a power unit glitch and the sister car of Pastor Maldonado was about to drop out in a collision with Felipe Nasr.

Carlos Sainz Jnr

Carlos Sainz Jnr scatters leaves and sparks. The camera seems to love him – here’s a few bonus pictures:

Nico Hulkenberg

A helicopter follows Nico Hulkenberg’s progress in the Force India.

Felipe Nasr

Sauber didn’t run at all in the first practice session as their cars were under threat of being impounded due to a legal action brought by Giedo van der Garde. However once they got running the C34s looked much more competitive thanks to their improved Ferrari power unit, and rookie Nasr came home an impressive fifth.

Carlos Sainz Jnr

Sainz (that man again) emerges from his Toro Rosso having parked up behind the rest of the field. He came home ninth in the race, meaning two of F1’s newcomers scored points in their first race.

Lewis Hamilton

Race winner Hamilton was head and shoulders above the rest in more ways than one in Melbourne.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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24 comments on “Top ten pictures from the 2015 Australian Grand Prix”

  1. What a picture!! (The one with with Sainz and all the rear wings).

    It reminds me a bit of when you go karting, and all the go-karts are in a line and you can make your pic with your friends simply by taking a seat in one. I imagine everyone would run for the Mercs!

    1. It’s a great picture indeed.

    2. Reminds me of Skittles… Taste the rainbow!

  2. My mother upon seeing the necklace Hamilton wore during the talks with the BBC;

    ‘Doesn’t it bother you they always interview people like Schwarzenegger and this rapper dude and they to go everywhere for free just because they are famous?’

    I swiftly responded with #swag #NOTblessed.

    1. You replied to your mom with a hashtag?

    2. Wow wearing a gold chain suddenly makes you’re a rapper, and to think just 2 hours ago he was a race car driver, when he wears a 3 piece suit i guess he’ll be that Banker dude with Schwarzenegger.

  3. If anyone wants to see what the Toro Rosso looks like with a fatter/lower rear wing, bigger rear tyres, and a more normal front wing…..:

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/s8ux0hoj8bvveuq/renault-6.png?dl=0

    Pretty gorgeous!

    1. Ohhhhh this needs to happen for real, very quickly. That looks so much better!

    2. @ecwdanselby Hats off to you sir

    3. Thank you very much, guys. Took me about 40 minutes, but happy to edit any shots people want me to try.

    4. And the final edit, the chassis is now wider. Here’s a GIF animation showing before and after:

      http://postimg.org/image/47mtha0yn/

  4. The drivers’ annual photo won’t be among the top ten pictures with them all squinting into the sun like that…and sure enough, most of their faces are in shadow from their caps! Truly craptastic.

    Love the eye-in-the-sky shot of Hülkenberg. Was the cameraman in a second helicopter, or are the cranes that high?

    1. I would think that it’s a second helicopter or something like a blimp or a small airplane.

  5. He established the first production car lap record for the circuit at the wheel of a Renault Megane R.S. 275 Trophy-R – his time of 2’23 was less than a minute off his qualifying time in the Red Bull-Renault RB11.

    But did he complain about drivability?!

    1. Ricciardo’s new team mate Daniil Kvyat made an early start on the unenviable task of trying to get a Renault-powered anything to lap Albert Park quickly.

      That line killed me! :D

      I love the last Carlos Sainz Jnr pic.

  6. Sire Adrian Dennis
    17th March 2015, 15:05

    sir why did you delete my post?

  7. How is the helicopter picture of Hulk taken? Isn’t there just one TV helicopter for races? To shoot such a picture, we would need 2 helicopters.

    1. it was Superman, actually. He’s working part time with Sutton

    2. There are many helicopters circling the venue. That one in the picture is the TV one, and flies pretty low.

  8. I’m just worried about Lewis. That chain and gravity can may cause his fall right on the asphalt…

  9. The first picture is really funny. :D

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