Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Monday 27 March 2017

Vettel breaks Ferrari’s F1 drought with victory at Aussie GP

JOHN PYE since Vettel’s victory in Sin-
AP Sports Writer gapore in September 2015,
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) and so his unrestrained joy
— Sebastian Vettel jumped on Sunday signaled re-
onto the podium at the newed confidence from
Australian Grand Prix and him.
held up his right index fin- “It’s been a great day for
ger, celebrating the end us. The team has been
of Ferrari’s Formula One working so hard at the
drought and a break in the track as much as back
Mercedes dominance. at the factory. It’s a great
It was back to No. 1 for Fer- feeling.”
rari, at least after one race “Grazie mille,” he added,
to open the season. a nod to the Italian manu-
Ferrari hadn’t won an F1 GP facturer, “you can’t say

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany sprays champagne as confetti falls around him after
winning the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, March 26, 2017.
At right is Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas who finished third.
(AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
much more.” the title in 2007. Raikkonen, sion to pit and change tires.
With regulations designed in the second Ferrari, fin- “A big congratulations to
to make the 2017 F1 cars ished fourth this year. Sebastian and Ferrari.
faster — wider tires, greater For the second year run- “This shows we’ve got a
aerodynamics, bigger fuel ning, Hamilton started on real race on our hands this
loads and increased down- pole position at the Albert season and it’s a challenge
force — Vettel proved Fer- Park circuit and placed we will relish. It’s going to
rari’s extra pace in pre-sea- second. Last year, he lost to be great for the fans.”
son testing was genuine. then Mercedes teammate Mercedes won 19 of the 21
“It’s good to know we have Nico Rosberg, who went on GPs last season, and Red
a great car but it’s just the to edge him for the world Bull won the other two. But
beginning ... with new reg- championship before retir- Red Bull was well off the
ulations, a new generation ing. This time, Vettel took pace in Melbourne, with
of cars,” Vettel said. “Mer- the lead when Hamilton Verstappen placing fifth —
cedes have a great engine pitted for new tires on lap almost 29 seconds behind
and a great car the last 18 and then got stuck in Vettel — and local hope
couple of years — we’re traffic behind Red Bull driv- Daniel Ricciardo failing to
the ones who’ve had to er Max Verstappen. finish.
catch up. Whatever hap- Vettel was able to pit much In fact, the Australian driver
pens this year, the race to- later and gradually build almost didn’t start. Ricciar-
day doesn’t hurt.” up his lead as Hamilton do’s day started badly and
Vettel finished in 1 hour, 24 drove conservatively on kept getting worse as he
minutes and 11.672 sec- older tires to ensure he fin- got a grid penalty, missed
onds, almost 10 seconds ished the race. the start after a mechani-
clear of Hamilton, to give “That’s motor racing,” cal failure in the warmup,
Ferrari its first win in Australia Hamilton said of the hold- and then retired after 28
since Kimi Raikkonen took up, adding it was his deci- laps.q
Venus Williams reaches 4th round at Miami Open

STEVEN WINE victory. “It’s really home.” atop the rankings a week
AP Sports Writer Williams has won the tour- ago to replace Serena Wil-
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — nament three times, most liams, who missed the tour-
Venus Williams made the recently in 2001. At 36 she’s nament due to a left knee
most of her home-court the oldest player in the injury.
advantage Sunday at the draw. Seeded 11th, she’ll In men’s play, No. 2-seed-
Miami Open. next play No. 7 Svetlana ed Kei Nishikori beat No. 25
Playing for the 18th time in Kuznetsova, who won Key Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (2),
a tournament she consid- Biscayne in 2006 and was 6-7 (5), 6-1.
ers her hometown event, the runner-up last year. No. 3 Milos Raonic pulled
Williams reached the fourth Kuznetsova beat American out after aggravating a
round by beating qualifier qualifier Taylor Townsend right hamstring injury that
Patricia Maria Tig 6-3, 6-0. 6-4, 6-2. sidelined him for nearly a
Williams lives 100 miles up Top-ranked Angelique month. Raonic withdrew
Interstate 95 in Palm Beach Kerber lost the first three before his match against
Gardens. games and then rallied to American qualifier Jared
“I love South Florida,” she beat American Shelby Rog- Donaldson, who advanced
told the crowd after her ers 6-4, 7-5. Kerber climbed to the fourth round.q