Pirelli: Hembery, “Very low tire wear and degradation”

Pirelli F1 – The reigning world champion, Lewis Hamilton, started his title defense perfectly, snatching the first step of the podium from his teammate, Nico Rosberg, and thus taking his second victory in Australia, the 34th of his career. Both Mercedes drivers made just one stop, starting the race on the soft tires and then switching to the medium tires on the 25th and 26th laps respectively. With today's result, Hamilton has turned his last seven pole positions into victories.

Sebastian Vettel he scored his first podium on his Ferrari debut – the German also made just one stop, on lap 24, after starting on the soft tyres. The performances seen in Australia confirm expectations for the 2015 season, which is why Pirelli has developed a new rear construction.

Wear and degradation were extremely low and, although lap times were around two seconds faster than last year, the majority of drivers adopted a one-stop strategy, aided by the entry of the safety car at the start of the race which extended the duration of the first stint, minimizing the energy released onto the tires when the cars are heavier.

Some pilots used a two-stop strategy. The highest-placed driver to stop twice was Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, who finished the race in eighth place.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, was on a two-stop strategy (theoretically four seconds faster than a single stop), before retiring from the race near the finish line.

The ambient temperatures hovered around 20 degrees centigrade, the track temperatures around 38, and this extended the life of the tires and allowed the two leading drivers to lap with two seconds of difference from each other for the most of the race.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director, said: “As expected, Australia was a difficult race for the teams, but the tires gave everything that was asked of them. The not high temperatures and the entry of the safety car at the start of the race meant that the initial idea of ​​a two-stop strategy was changed to a single stop. In addition to the excellent performance of the leading drivers, some of this year's rookies also had a good race."