Australian Grand Prix: The Tops/Flops from the editorial staff

There is no point in asking the question. The second force on the Melbourne circuit was indeed Mercedes. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who qualified second and third, surprised the paddock by placing their cars in between Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin. Furthermore, they both took the lead after the first lap. With a perfect start, the younger of the two British drivers controlled the early stages of the race before the first interruption due to Alex Albon’s exit. Unfortunate in his strategy, Russell had to retire a few laps later due to an engine problem.

On his side, Lewis Hamilton reminded his opponents, especially his main rivals Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, of his presence. With a bold overtake on the first and a masterful defense against the second, which the Spanish champion didn’t fail to highlight post-race, Hamilton took us on a journey through time, and perhaps into the future, when he battled for world glory. Mercedes showed good progress in Australia. However, this will need to be confirmed in the upcoming races, as Melbourne is a unique circuit on the calendar.

Norris and Hülkenberg, the pack holds no secrets for them

It is tempting to think that Lando Norris and Nico Hülkenberg finished their races in the points solely thanks to the chaos of the final laps. This would forget everything that happened before Kevin Magnussen’s retirement on the 54th lap. In the top 10 throughout the race, the McLaren driver and his counterpart from Haas kept pace with the drivers ahead of them, including Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. It is quite remarkable for the German driver, who was never distanced by the group fighting for fifth place. Virtually third after the third restart, Hülkenberg is the big loser in the chaos that reigned when the rankings were being established. Finally finishing 7th, the former Renault driver scores his first points with Haas and, most importantly, gains an edge over his teammate.

For Norris, the analysis is somewhat different. In a McLaren, at least during the race, the British driver has shown his great talent for extracting the full potential of his machine. With a brilliant overtaking move on Hülkenberg, which allowed him to finish one place ahead of the latter, this performance will boost the spirits of the Woking team, who have been in need of it after a difficult start to the season.

The attack race of Sergio Pérez

Elected driver of the day for this Grand Prix, Sergio Pérez proved his ability to react when his back was against the wall. He claimed to be a victim of brake problems during qualifying, which condemned him to start from the pit lane. However, his version was contradicted by Helmut Marko, who did not believe his driver’s story. Forced to constantly justify his place at Red Bull in Verstappen’s shadow, Pérez once again showed determination. With bold and risky overtaking maneuvers, particularly at the very fast turn 9, the Mexican driver ultimately finished 5th and minimized the damage in the championship compared to his teammate. Being Max Verstappen’s garage neighbor is undoubtedly the most uncomfortable position in the pit lane, but Pérez is determined to keep the knife between his teeth throughout the season.

The FLOPS

The F1 doesn’t learn from its mistakes… it reproduces them.

Difficult to summarize the chaotic end of this Australian Grand Prix in just a few lines. With only five laps remaining, Kevin Magnussen sent his Haas into the wall on the outside of turn 2. The race direction then decided to wave the red flag for the second time of the afternoon. During the first interruption following Alex Albon’s crash, there were fewer questions because the Williams car was on the racing line and there was a lot of gravel on the track. For the incident on the 54th lap, the debate must be open. Yes, a Haas tire was on the track, but a marshal could have easily retrieved it safely under a safety car regime. Moreover, the Danish driver had taken care to park his car in a way that it could be quickly removed.

Making sure to avoid a race ending behind a safety car is commendable, but creating a chaos like the one that happened afterwards risks harming the sport. With an Aston Martin spinning, two Alpines in the wall, and several cars forced to cut the first corner, this third restart gave the impression that the race direction had done everything to prioritize spectacle over sport. They don’t hide it, indeed they sell a show to the promoters, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the actors, that is, the drivers. Many of them didn’t understand the decisions made at the end of the race, starting with the president of the GPDA, George Russell, who laments a lack of communication between the FIA and the drivers. Or even Max Verstappen, who would have preferred a safety car to avoid the inherent risks of a new standing start.

After Abu Dhabi 2021 and Suzuka 2022, which ended in maximum confusion, especially for the former, the FIA still doesn’t seem to have learned from its past mistakes. It would be unfortunate if all the work done by Stefano Domenicali and his teams over the past few years to make F1 even more appealing were to be undermined by decisions that are ill-suited to the situations and incomprehensible to the fans.

Zero points for Ferrari

All hopes were allowed for the Reds this weekend. On a unique circuit like Albert Park in Melbourne, the Scuderia could hope to climb up the hierarchy and fight for a podium finish. From Saturday, it seemed evident that their quest would be in vain during the race. Left behind by Verstappen and the Aston Martins, as well as the Mercedes, the SF-23 didn’t seem to be worth more than a Top 5 position. Worse still, at the end of the qualifying session, Leclerc complained about not receiving the slipstream from his teammate as planned. Tension was in the air.

During the race, probably too optimistic, the Monegasque driver saw his Grand Prix end at the third corner after a collision with Lance Stroll. A black weekend for the winner of Melbourne in 2022, who according to his own words, is experiencing his worst start to the F1 season.

For Carlos Sainz, without the third start, the analysis of his race would have undoubtedly been different. However, he squandered all his efforts by ramming into Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin at the first turn. A costly mistake, as the 5-second penalty following this collision relegated him to 12th and last position.

Ferrari returns from the antipodes with a clean score and sees its direct rivals moving away in the standings. A reaction will be eagerly anticipated in Baku.

The missed opportunity of Alpine

What a terrible sight to see the two Alpine cars destroyed and stopped against the walls of Albert Park. After Pierre Gasly’s magnificent race, fighting for a Top 4 position, the wake-up call must be hard in Enstone. As the big loser of the chaotic third start of this Australian Grand Prix, the French team lost everything in a matter of meters. Drifting to the right on the exit of turn 2, Gasly didn’t see his teammate alongside him and the collision was inevitable. Big points were within reach for the pink cars. With a superb first stint, the number 10 Alpine was keeping up with the leaders while the number 31, with an alternative strategy, had hopes for a Top 8 finish. The French team had a stroke of bad luck in Melbourne, but the performance is there. With more luck, we will surely get used to seeing the A523 cars racing at the front in the upcoming races.