Australian Grand Prix: race prospects

Will Leclerc take the advantage over Verstappen?

The Monégasque driver is truly the driver of this early season. In great shape, Leclerc firmly secured his 11th pole position of his career on Saturday, well ahead of the two Red Bull drivers.

The rivalry against Max Verstappen in the first two Grand Prix races has left us eager for what’s to come in this championship. But in Melbourne, Leclerc can already gain a psychological edge over his rival by going for the win. Succeeding in his start will be crucial for the Scuderia protege because let’s not forget that the 2021 world champion has a lot of resources!

Will Carlos Sainz recover from his mistake?

He is the big loser of these qualifications. Disappointingly 9th, even though he had the pace to fight with his teammate, Sainz struggled with the overheating of his tires on this new Australian asphalt.

The Spaniard also suffers from the direct comparison with his teammate Leclerc, who is in the spotlight, while Ferrari has once again become a winning machine this season. A much-anticipated reaction from the “Smooth Operator,” who is more known as a Sunday man than a Saturday man.

Will Alpine beat Mercedes fairly?

If the Mercedes drivers did well in qualifying by taking the 5th and 6th times, it should be noted that the Silver Arrows are 1 second behind Leclerc’s pole position and were mainly beaten by the McLaren of Lando Norris, a customer team with the same engine! Hamilton and Russell are truly performing miracles with a car whose behavior is still not fully understood, which puts them in a rather unfavorable position.

Because it must be said that the eight-time world champion team is doing well, as the third strongest team on the grid could very well be the French team, Alpine. Fernando Alonso was on an epic lap before being betrayed by the mechanics and crashing into the wall in the third sector of the Albert Park circuit.

Ocon himself finished 8th ahead of Sainz’s Ferrari and just two tenths behind Lewis Hamilton’s 5th place. The Alpine has shown an interesting race pace and could possibly spring a surprise against Mercedes… If the mechanics don’t interfere!

Will McLaren manage to make it to the podium?

If Sainz was the big loser of these qualifiers, the nice surprise, on the other hand, was the convincing performance of the McLarens! Lando Norris positioned himself ideally as ‘Best of the rest’ in 4th place, while Ricciardo honestly qualified in 7th position.

At the bottom of the pit during the first two Grand Prix races, the Oranges are gradually starting to resurface at the top of the standings, and their ideal position on the grid allows them to dream of a possible podium finish, which was unthinkable just 15 days ago. This will be one of the highlights of this Sunday!

Will Stroll and Latifi go further than the first corner?

The question may seem harsh, but considering the lack of performance from their respective cars, their disastrous position on the grid, and above all their more than limited performance, we are entitled to ask ourselves, especially with the events of this Saturday.

In Q1, the two Canadians had a surreal encounter (even though neither of them were on a flying lap!) with the Aston Martin driver being found guilty. Let’s hope that these two compatriots don’t end up too close on the track, especially in the first turn!

So which driver will emerge as the winner of this Australian Grand Prix?

The start of the Grand Prix will be given this Sunday starting at 07:00.