2014 Australian Grand Prix Driver Reaction

One of the most highly anticipated seasons in F1 history kicked off at the Albert Park Circuit in Australia.

© Ferrari

The race was dominated by Nico Rosberg but the Mercedes team suffered mixed fortunes, with Lewis Hamilton retiring on lap two. Daniel Ricciardo was dramatically excluded from second place, moving rookie Kevin Magnussen up to second and Jenson Button to third.

For a detailed look at the race weekend and a track guide, see my preview. You can also look back at previous races with my blog's F1 Flashback, Richland F1's One Year Rewind and my new Formula 1 Blog 'Remember when...' feature.

See what the teams and drivers got up to before the driving started with my Thursday Snap Shot and catch up with all the on-track action, including my race report, with my weekend review. Here are some post-race thoughts from the 2014 grid:

Vettel - We don't understand the problem yet:

© Red Bull/Getty Images

"I feel very sorry for Daniel, as there isn't anything better than a good race result at your home GP. We don't know why it happened and we don't understand the problem yet. Everything is linked, so in the beginning I thought I just had no power from the battery, but it turned out that the engine failed in some way. It's complicated how everything works together, but in the end, the overall effect is that you have to stop the car."

Hamilton positive despite early exit:

"My start didn't feel great today and I had a lot less power than usual when pulling away, so it was obvious immediately that something was wrong. It looks like we only had five cylinders firing and, while I wanted to keep going, we had to play safe and save the engine. It's unfortunate but that's racing and we will recover from this. We have a great car and engine, and the pace was really strong today as Nico clearly showed.

"Of course I'm disappointed with my own race and when I think about all the work that has gone on back at our factories, it's tough to have a costly hiccup. However we have achieved an incredible amount to get here, to be at the front and to be so competitive; we will bounce back and learn from this. There is a very long way to go this season."

Alonso disappointed to miss out on podium:

© Ferrari

"I’d have liked to start the season with a podium, but getting both cars to the flag is a good result, which can give us confidence, especially on the reliability front. I had some problems with the electric motor at the start and had to make a few changes from the steering wheel, but after the first ten laps everything went well. When I managed to pass Hulkenberg after the pit stop my pace was definitely better, although it was impossible to overtake.

"35 seconds down on the leader is too big a gap and to work out what we need to do to close that gap, we will need to analyse the race, work out what are the strong and weak points on the car and with that in mind, the laps I did behind Nico can provide very useful information. We still have lots to learn about this new Formula 1, as the race was very strange and very difficult. But it’s only the start. We must concentrate on doing better in Malaysia."

Grosjean admits Lotus have a long way to go:

"In a way, it was a pretty positive day. I expected to do around 15 to 20 laps in the race after all the issues we’ve had this weekend, and we managed 45! We’ve learnt a lot today and all the changes made to the car have been positive.

"We still have a long way to go, but at least I know more about tyre usage, all my engineers know where we need to improve with the chassis, and we’ve learnt a lot about aero balance and fuel consumption. Of course there's more to do with the energy management and recovery and some work yet with the braking. We’ve still got lots of work to do, but we’re definitely heading in the right direction."

Magnussen ecstatic after scoring podium on debut:

© McLaren Mercedes

"It’s just fantastic to be on the podium. What happened today just feels surreal. Being on the podium in the first race of my Formula 1 career – it’s amazing. My ‘moment’ at the start was quite scary – I got on the power a bit too quickly, and nearly lost it. But the car was fantastic today – I was always able to place it exactly where I wanted, and I had the pace to fight the Red Bull.

"I had a bit of a go at Daniel towards the ends of the race, but didn’t quite have the speed to get past. I’m very happy, and I’m sure the guys are happy to be leading the constructors’ world championship, as indeed I am too. That’s a big boost, and the guys completely deserve it. I’ll just keep pushing as hard as I can."

Hulkenberg happy to see the flag for the first time in Australia:

"Seventh place is a positive way to start the season. I was very happy to see the chequered flag – the first time I’ve done so in Melbourne – and it’s important to score some good points early on. I made a strong start and enjoyed good track position for the first two stints when I was running up in fourth.

"The only real issue I had was some front left graining on the soft tyres, which never really cleared up and that compromised my first two stints. It was a shame to lose two positions at my second stop but it looks like some of the cars around us have a bit more pace at the moment. It’s been a great effort and it’s nice to reward everyone with some points at the first race."

Sutil admits Sauber simply too slow:

© Sauber F1 Team

"It was an exciting race, and especially the start, but luckily I went through without any incidents. We had a few issues with the powertrain during the first stint, but after the pit stop that improved. Nevertheless this cost us a lot of time that we couldn’t recover. I was on a two stop strategy, but we switched to a one stop because of the safety car.

"This could have worked well, but the safety car phase didn’t help us. In addition we were simply too slow, but we managed to finish the race, which was our goal. We came close to the points, but we need to improve our speed. There is a lot of data now to analyse and we can only improve. I hope that we will progress quickly."

Kvyat surprised to score in first F1 race:

"It was a very intense afternoon and finishing my first race with a point is a great feeling. It was a fantastic first Grand Prix weekend with the team, everyone worked really hard and scoring points was a great way to end it. So well done to everyone.

"The start was a bit messy, but after that I managed to get into a rhythm and the car seemed competitive compared to those around us. It was close at the end with Jev, but I had to save fuel towards the end, so I was not going to attack him. I never expected to score a point in my first race, so it feels amazing. It’s a real boost for us and now we have to keep on working hard and if we keep on the way we are going, then we can look forward to a really positive season."

Bottas looking to learn from mistakes:

© Williams Martini Racing

"The car performed very well today which is looking encouraging for the season ahead, and on the whole as a team we can be pleased that we have made a good step forward from last season. I'm a little disappointed with myself because I was pushing a bit too hard and hit the wall which caused a puncture and put me back a long way.

"I spent the rest of the race trying to make up for that mistake and managed to make some good overtakes, but I need to learn from this and make sure it doesn't happen again. It felt great to be able to race hard with people around me. We should have finished higher today than we did with the pace we had and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do in Malaysia."

Worrying start to Australian GP for Chilton:

"Today’s race was by no means perfect but we have started the season with a two-car finish, and on my side a 14th place as well, so we have to be pleased with that. The start was obviously extremely concerning. I was on the grid preparing for the formation lap with the usual procedures and suddenly everything just cut out.

"We’ve learned an awful lot today that will stand us in good stead as we prepare for the next race in Malaysia and also to start developing the car for the longer term. After a tough time in testing when we did not achieve all the mileage we had hoped for, it’s good to take home a 14th place finish from the first race of the season. It’s a nice reward for all the hard work across the whole Team."

Kobayashi - Brake problem caused turn one crash:

© Caterham F1 Team

"That isn’t how I wanted my first race back to go, and I’m sorry for the team and for Felipe that both our races ended early. From the initial data it looked like I had a brake system issue which obviously meant I couldn’t do much about the contact and when we got the car back and looked at the information in much more detail it was clear that was the problem. After the race I went to the Stewards and they went through the data from the car and confirmed this was the case. 

"It’s been a tough weekend for us, but we still have a lot more data that will help us keep improving, and the really positive thing is that we were still quite competitive, even with the issues we had on Friday. Race two is Malaysia, one of our team’s home races, and we’ll keep pushing there, just as we will all weekend."