ESPN rounds up all the reaction from up and down the paddock after the Australian Grand Prix
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Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (1st): It’s quite unbelievable, really, what this team has done. It’s a great feeling to start off the season the way we finished the last and the car is just incredible, so thank you to the team. It was still a tough race, though, as Nico was very quick throughout. It was about managing fuel and also the tyres – trying to see how long we could push them. Once I’d built a two second gap it was about maintaining it. But when Nico turned up the heat it was tough. He drove really well and it’s a great result for the team to start the season with a 1-2.
“It’s good to see Ferrari back up here on the podium. I think they have taken a big step, so I anticipate a good fight with them this year at some point and we can’t back off. In fact, the podium was pretty awesome. I don’t often get star struck but I can’t believe I was up there with the Terminator! Anyway, we’ve learned a lot this weekend and there will be a lot of analysis to do before Malaysia. Hopefully we’ll keep finding ways to improve. Just because we had that gap today it doesn’t mean we’ll be cruising. There’s still a long way to go.”
Nico Rosberg (2nd): “What a start for us. It’s great to have the quickest car again and what an amazing job by everybody involved. A big thank you to the guys back in the factories for all their work. Okay, so now it’s 1:0 to Lewis. He did a perfect job this weekend with no mistakes and improved a lot from Friday to Sunday. Yesterday after Qualifying I was already on the back foot and that’s difficult to change in a race against Lewis. I need to have a better Saturday, which I was able to do last year. But it’s still a long season with lots of races to go. I want to strike back in Malaysia, so that’s the focus. Thanks to everyone in Europe for waking up so early and for crossing their fingers for us – we’ve had fantastic support and it’s really great to see.”
