Press Releases - Craig Gardner finishes 5th on F1 debut

Despite a relative lack of success in lower categories for a Formula 1 driver, there has been a lot of hype surrounding the arrival of Craig Gardner to the series.  They've shown a lot of pace in qualifying throughout the seasons, and it was on display again in Melbourne as Gardner finished Q3 in 6th ahead of former world champion Campolargo.

Craig however was understandably nervous on lap 1, and conceded the place back to the Red Bull driver before settling into 7th place until lap 15, where he was able to find a way back past.  Lau would then go against the grain of the frontrunners by pitting on lap 20; they were on a 3 stop, but it backfired because they were unable to pick off the traffic.  The top four came in together on lap 24, but Gardner extended to 25, and was thus credited with a lap led in Formula 1.

Further back, Sue Lawley crashed out on lap 30 bringing out a short safety car, but few drivers were able to capitalize due to still being outside their pit window.  This bunching of the field was good news for Gardner's teammate Hamays, who had earlier issues necessitating an extra pit stop.  Sadly, they too were unable to pick off the traffic, but full credit must go to crew chief Temmes for the strategy that allowed Gardner to fight with the front 3 teams.

The rest of Gardner's race was about dueling Pinto for 4th place.  The 2nd pit stop cycle put Craig within DRS range for the rest of the race, but try as he might to make use of the mega braking of the Mercedes, Pinto's Lotus was just too strong in a straight line for the DRS to be effective.  Though perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that Gardner was in the DRS train, as it did lead to his fastest laps of the race and a comfortable gap over Campolargo and Oblak behind.

Though there was no dream home podium this time, 10 points after a well driven race was a cause for celebration for a Mercedes team that has been scoreless for 11 seasons straight and needing to trust the process if they were to ever be competitive again.  F1 budgets can be cruel if you're trying to compete every single season and aren't Red Bull or Ferrari.  As for Gardner, there are rumours that this performance has already caught the attention of teams in the paddock and made it likely that this will be more than a one-and-done season...