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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Sainz surges to epic victory in Oz after Verstappen’s mechanical failure on Lap 4; Leclerc second for a Ferrari 1-2; Norris P3 & Piastri P4 for McLaren; Perez P5 in lone surviving Red Bull, as Mercedes suffer double DNF

In his first race back after missing the Saudi Arabian GP two weeks ago with appendicitis surgery, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz demonstrated epic grit and determination, as well as superb skill, to take an amazing victory in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. Sainz was undeniably helped by the stunning mechanical failure of Max Verstappen’s normally bulletproof Red Bull on only Lap 4 of this 58-lap event at the beautiful Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. Verstappen’s RB20 suffered a terminal brake issue at the right rear that actually exploded the wheel as he pulled into the pits to retire the car. It was the first DNF for the flying Dutchman in 43 races, the last one ironically also occurring here in 2022. Nevertheless, the Ferraris had genuine pace and Sainz appeared up for the challenge of a mano-a-mano battle even had Verstappen not been so unlucky, and the Spaniard rapidly proved the class of the field in the three-time champion’s absence. Even his teammate, Charles Leclerc, couldn’t really challenge Sainz’s pace at the front and when the race was ended under a Virtual Safety Car due to George Russels’s dramatic late race crash, it was a Ferrari 1-2 highlighted by a remarkably gutsy performance from Sainz, a man only recently returned from a hospital bed and certainly unable to train for the Grand Prix weekend as he normally would. While Albert Park seems particularly well suited to Ferrari’s cars every time they visit Down Under, F1 fans will hope that the Prancing Horses’ dominance on Sunday was a harbinger for more good things to come in 2024 vis a vis a genuine fight with Red Bull. And for Sainz personally, who was let go by the Scuderia for next year in favor of Lewis Hamilton, it was certainly one of the finest advertisements any free agent pilot has offered prospective future employers in the F1 paddock.

Team McLaren had the second best day amongst the constructors under the sunny Melbourne skies. With Lando Norris starting from P3 on the grid and teammate Oliver Piastri P5 at his home GP, Norris was able to retain that final podium spot when the checkers flew, while Piastri improved to a P4 finish. While they never really had the pace to challenge Leclerc once the Monegasque had cleared Norris via a one-lap undercut on the first pit sequence early on, they did manage to keep the lone surviving Red Bull of Sergio Peres well and truly behind Piastri in the final third of the race. Perez was hampered by a 3-place grid penalty after he was adjudged to have impeded Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg during Saturday qualifying, dropping him to a P6 starting position. While he did make up one position, it appeared his Red Bull suffered with tire degradation and dropped off on pace later in the tire stints. With Verstappen’s shocking DNF and Perez only able to gather 10 points for the team with his P5 finish, it was a rare lost weekend for usually imperious Red Bull.

Perhaps they can take solace in the fact that their old nemesis, the Mercedes factory team, had an even worse Australian excursion. First, Lewis Hamilton, who was looking very racy in the early going, suffered an abrupt engine failure on Lap 17. Then, to add salt to the Silver Arrows’ wounds, George Russell suffered a lurid penultimate lap crash while in pursuit of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for P6.  After the race, the stewards handed Alonso a 20-second penalty for erratic driving, deciding that the veteran two-time champ had slowed excessively through the tricky Turn 6-Turn 7 complex and forcing Russell to have to abruptly hit the brakes and change his line. That sent Russell’s Merc skidding through the gravel trap there at a high rate of knots, breaking the front suspension and eventually pitching the Briton’s Silver Arrow across the track and laying on its side. Thankfully, Russell came out of it unscathed but Alonso’s subsequent demotion from P6 to P8 was cold comfort to team Mercedes, which scored zero points for all their efforts coming in to the weekend. Team principal Toto Wolf will need an extra bottle of Maalox while he marinates on this bitter turn of events for the next fortnight.

Alonso’s Aston teammate Lance Stroll was elevated to P6 and the RB Honda of Yuki Tsunoda got P7 thanks to the naughty Spaniard’s penalty. And Haas had a splendid day, scoring points with both cars after Nico Hulkenberg in P9 and Kevin Magnussen in P10 were both able to overtake the lone Williams of Alexander Albon in crunch time. In an effort to score points, Williams had decided to allow Albon to run Logan Sargeant’s car after Albon binned his irreperably during Friday practice. But with Albon not finding the pace to come home in the points, the maneuver led to nothing more than bruised feelings for the already under the gun Sargeant.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 58 1:20:26.843 25
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 58 +2.366s 19
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +5.904s 15
4 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +35.770s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 +56.309s 10
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +93.222s 8
7 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB HONDA RBPT 58 +95.601s 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +100.992s 4
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 58 +104.553s 2
10 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 57 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks’ time with an uncharacteristically early visit to Japan’s fabled Suzuka International Racing Course. Verstappen and Red Bull will be itching for redemption and a return to their usual winning ways, while Ferrari and Sainz will be hoping to ride their Aussie high to even greater heights in Japan. Hope to see you then to find out how it all plays out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

Verstappen earns third consecutive pole to start season, Perez P3 for Red Bull; Sainz returns from illness to post impressive P2 time for Ferrari in Oz; Hamilton knocked out in Q2

Formula 1 returned to its regularly scheduled Saturday Qualifying on a beautifully sunny afternoon at the super fast Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia after two races run on Saturdays to start the 2024 season. And while the extra week off between race weekends didn’t exactly slow down Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen, who continued his torrid start by taking his third consecutive pole when all was said and done, it did lead to some positive signs for the Ferrari team in their quest to close the gap to the reigning Constructors’ and Drivers’ champions. Most hearteningly, the Scuderia’s veteran number two, Carlos Sainz, made his return from the appendectomy that had kept the Spaniard out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks ago. And not only was Sainz fit enough to compete but he also laid down a mighty impressive final lap of his own to slot in at P2 on the grid alongside the pole-sitting Verstappen to start tomorrow’s race. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez set the third fastest time of the day, while Sainz’s Scuderia stablemate, Charles Leclerc, abandoned his final quali lap and had to settle for P5.

Leclerc was sandwiched by the two McLaren’s of native Melbourne son Oscar Piastri and Englishman Lando Norris in P4 and P6 respectively. McLaren now seem to be the third best team in the paddock behind Red Bull and Ferrari, as Mercedes’ mediocrity to begin 2024 continued to manifest itself here in Round 3. For all his efforts, George Russell could do no better than P7, while Silver Arrow teammate Lewis Hamilton suffered the ignominy of getting bounced out in Q2 for the first time in Oz since 2010. Hamilton’s Benz looked a real handful and he will have to work hard come Sunday to score points starting from down in P11 with a lot of fairly evenly matched equipment in front of him. That said, Yuki Tsunoda perhaps over-performed in his RB Honda to grab P8 on the day, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso likely had room for improvement after only taking P9 and P10 on the grid respectively. Alonso, in particular, made a hash of his Q3 session with a lurid off track excursion through the gravel at Turn 6. Only the Spanish two-time champion’s cat-like reflexes saved what could have been a major shunt at one of the circuit’s trickier sections.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:16.819 1:16.387 1:15.915 21
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:16.731 1:16.189 1:16.185 18
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:16.805 1:16.631 1:16.274 22
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:17.430 1:16.750 1:16.315 19
5 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:16.984 1:16.304 1:16.435 20
6 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:17.369 1:16.601 1:16.572 18
7 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:17.062 1:16.901 1:16.724 23
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB HONDA RBPT 1:17.356 1:16.791 1:16.788 18
9 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:17.376 1:16.780 1:17.072 23
10 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:16.991 1:16.710 1:17.552 21

Continue reading →

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Verstappen prevails is chaotic, incident-filled Aussie GP; Hamilton runs to a clean P2, Alonso survives late-race carnage & rulings for P3

The only predictable thing in Sunday’s absolutely bonkers Australian Grand Prix at the tricky Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking victory. The rest of the race was pure chaos that featured a record three Red Flag periods for debris clean up, followed by nail-biting two standing restarts from the grid, and, not coincidentally, a whopping eight retirements. With the race already having been effected by the first Red Flag on Lap 9 after Williams’s Alexander Albon lost control and crashed out at Turn 7, spewing gravel all over the track that necessitated a lengthy cleanup, it seemed that the results would come down simply to long run tire management by the top 3 of Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. But right after Verstappen seemed to show a hint of vulnerability on Lap 54 of this 58-lap contest by running off track and through the grass after locking up on his aging Hard Pirellis, the real drama began in earnest. On that same lap, Haas’s Kevin Magnussen misjudged his exit coming out of Turn 2 and bashed his rear right into the concrete barrier. That knocked the rubber off the rim as well as shattering Magnussen’s suspension and a second Red Flag was thrown on Lap 55 to clean up the debris field & haul away the stricken Haas, as well as preserve a few precious final racing laps and not end under yellow. The stewards then made the momentous decision to restart the race from the grid once again, rather than a more conventional rolling start behind the Safety Car, thereby turning the Down Under GP into a 2-lap shootout.

This backfired rather spectacularly when the cars sped off in anger again, as first the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz got into Alonso’s Aston Martin, spinning his fellow Spaniard around amidst a pack of snarling F1 cars. Directly or indirectly, that had the knock-on effect of forcing the Alpine of Pierre Gasly across the road and into the front left tire of his teammate Esteban Ocon, wrecking both of their cars in the process and robbing the team of a certain double-points finish. As a result of all that mayhem, another Red Flag was thrown with no chance of any more competitive laps being left to run. Now the debate within the FIA race directors and rules experts was on how to classify the field for the final ceremonial restart. After another long delay, it was decided that the order would be determined by the positions upon the prior restart, as the field had not even completed one sector before the last Red Flag had come out. That was great news for Alonso and Aston teammate Lance Stroll, the latter having also lost a ton of spots outbreaking himself amidst the mayhem. And while it seemed to be good news for the lone surviving Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in P4, that joy was extremely short lived when the stewards handed down a 5-second penalty to Sainz for the earlier contact with Alonso. With the twelve cars surviving to take the checkered flag all bunched together behind the Safety Car and no racing on the final lap, that saw the disconsolate Sainz dropped out of the points to dead last of the runners in P12. It made for a miserable, pointless day for the fabled Scuderia, which also suffered the ignominy of seeing their other pilot, Charles Leclerc, crash out and beach himself on the very first lap while  going into Turn 1 after contact with Stroll. To say Ferrari and their drivers are seriously in trouble in their championship pursuits after just three rounds would be an understatement.

Possibly lost in all that drama and incident was Verstappen’s first win in Australia and second of the season. And while it didn’t look as if Hamilton or Alonso really had anything for the Dutch points leader, particularly in the face of the Red Bull’s seemingly invincible advantage while using DRS, it was still an excellent race for both veterans, who joined Verstappen on the podium to make it three World Champions taking home trophies when the GP finally ended. Hamilton withstood Alonso’s best efforts and kept it clean to maintain a solid P2, even briefly taking the lead from Verstappen early in the race. That gives some hope and momentum to the Silver Arrows in their quest to creep closer to the imperious Red Bulls. It was also doubly important that Hamilton scored big points on the day because teammate George Russell was forced to retire on Lap 18 when something in his engine caught on fire. For Alonso, who looked like he had been punted out of the points by Sainz, it was another sweet day on what is turning out to be a 2023 renaissance. With his P3 restored after the collision with Sainz and teammate Stroll promoted back up to P4 after Sainz’s penalty, it was also a banner day for Aston Martin, which have made themselves a genuine fourth powerhouse team in F1. Spare a kind word for Sergio Perez, as well. The second Red Bull had to start from the pits after a disastrous qualifying and some engine tweaks while in parc fermé. But the talented Mexican, who excels at driving through the field, patiently worked his way up to P7 at the time of the penultimate Red Flag. And, while he went dirt tracking through the mayhem on that fateful final proper restart, losing several spots in the process, between the ruling on the actual race positions reverting to prior to that start, the double DNF of the Alpines and the penalty to Sainz, that pulled Checo all the way up to a very respectable and hard-earned P5.

If Alpine had a disaster with their late race shunt between teammates and subsequent double DNF, team McLaren finally caught a break after a dismal zero-points start to this year’s campaign. Lando Norris was able to finish in P6 and rookie teammate & Melbourne native Oscar Piastri got a fairy tale P8 in his literal hometown Grand Prix.  Alfa Romero’s Zho Guanyu and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda also capitalized on the carnage to come home safely in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 2:32:38.371 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 58 +0.179s 18
3 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +0.769s 15
4 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +3.082s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 +3.320s 11
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +3.701s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 58 +4.939s 6
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +5.382s 4
9 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 58 +5.713s 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 58 +6.052s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Somewhat suitably after this epic, bizarre and frankly exhausting contest in Australia, the next race is in three weeks time — the equally unpredictable Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the perilous streets if Baku. So rest up and I’ll hope to see you then for what should be even more crazy F1 action!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

Verstappen ekes out first Oz pole ahead of fierce competition but teammate Perez crashes out in Q1; Russell qualifies P2, Hamilton P3 for improved Silver Arrows

Red Bull’s peerless ace, Max Verstappen, excellent during crunch time to earn his first career Australian Grand Prix pole during Saturday qualifying at the Albert Park street circuit but it was anything but his usual dominant romp to the top spot. With teammate Sergio Perez unceremoniously crashing out by beaching himself in the gravel early in Q1, the Dutchman had to fend off some very competitive efforts by other cars to emerge in P1. Most notable among them and somewhat surprisingly were the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. After relentlessly tuning on their cars in the three practice sessions leading up to quali, the Silver Arrows suddenly found nearly Red Bull-like pace at this tricky track. While it looked for a while as though Hamilton might be able to ride a mid-Q3 fast lap to grab pole for himself, in the end it was Russell who slotted in behind Verstappen on the final time sheets by just .236-seconds, earning the right to line up alongside him for tomorrow’s race. Hamilton had to settle for P3 and the second row but that still resulted in both Mercs not only besting the Ferraris for fast lap honors on the day but also their newest rival, Aston Martin. While it remains to be seen if that excellent result will translate into true race pace come Sunday, it was still a potential harbinger of better days ahead for Mercedes, especially with major upgrades to their chassis in the pipeline and arriving soon.

With Perez out of the mix and relegated to the rear tomorrow and the top three spots allotted to one Red bull and two Mercedes, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the best of the rest with another solid effort good enough for P4. The veteran Spaniard’s renewal continues and he is seemingly in the mix for podiums every week with this massively improved Aston Martin machine. Lance Stroll, still healing from a pre-season bicycle crash, closed the performance gap to his veteran teammate somewhat by slotting in at P6. Stroll will find himself sandwiched by the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz in P5 and in Charles Leclerc P7. But the Scuderia pit wall and their famously rabid fan base have got to be concerned about those starting positions, as the best part of the Prancing Horses in the first two rounds has been their qualifying speed and the worst has been their lackluster race pace. If that disappointing form holds true tomorrow, it’s hard to see how either Leclerc or Sainz can compete for a podium in this particular contest, although the Melbourne race does have a history of Safety Cars and unpredictable weather to scramble the expected narrative..

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers, Alexander Albon drove superbly to will his Williams up to P8, while the Alpine of Pierre Gasly was able to set the ninth fastest time and Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg continued his run of good quali form by slotting in at P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:17.384 1:17.056 1:16.732 24
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:17.654 1:17.513 1:16.968 29
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:17.689 1:17.551 1:17.104 28
4 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:17.832 1:17.283 1:17.139 26
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:17.928 1:17.349 1:17.270 28
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:17.873 1:17.616 1:17.308 26
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:18.218 1:17.390 1:17.369 25
8 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:17.962 1:17.761 1:17.609 27
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:18.312 1:17.574 1:17.675 25
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:18.029 1:17.412 1:17.735 26

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 1AM Eastern here in the States. So, put on a late night pot of coffee or set your DVR because it looks like this year’s Aussie GP could be a wild ride indeed. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Leclerc romps to dominant win in Melbourne; Perez P2, Russell P3; Verstappen, Sainz DNF

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc absolutely dominated Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, winning the race handily after starting from pole and leaving even his closest pursuers far, far behind. The Monegasque’s pace in his Prancing Horse here at Albert Park was somewhat of a a surprise, because even after qualifying in the top spot on Saturday the savvy take around the paddock was that Red Bull would have the true race pace. But the famed Scuderia’s return to championship contending form after several years mired in mediocrity was confirmed in this first Aussie GP in two years, as neither the Red Bull of Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez could touch Leclerc on this day. In fact, Verstappen was forced to retire the car on Lap 39 of this 58-lap contest when his engine or hydraulic lines developed a leak leading to a small conflagration in the engine bay. The Dutch reigning world champion, who had been sitting comfortably in second during the race despite not being able to truly challenge Leclerc for victory, instead was forced to resign himself to his second DNF in three races to start the 2022 campaign. The Red Bull is certainly fast but reliability could well be its Achilles heal in what is shaping up to be a season long battle against Ferrari. That left it to Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez to fly the Red Bull team’s flag, which the Mexican did with aplomb by taking an easy P2 on the day, albeit over 20.5-seconds in arrears of Leclerc. To put the exclamation point on his performance, the Ferrari man also took the bonus point by setting race’s fastest lap, reaping the full 26 on a day when his key rival Verstappen scored a big fat zero.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

All was not totally sunshine and roses at the fabled Scuderia from Maranello, however. Their number two Carlos Sainz had a disastrous weekend, following his somewhat unlucky P9 qualifying when he and the team were caught out but a late Red Flag in Q3 with an early DNF on Sunday when the veteran Spaniard misjudged his braking going into Turn 10 on Lap 2, overshot and then beached himself in the gravel. So like Verstappen, Sainz failed to score for his team in Melbourne, as well, only in his case he barely notched any laps at all and it appeared to be entirely his fault. Sainz will probably not be happy that the next race is two week’s away, since he’ll have all that time to stew on what he freely admitted was a “disaster” of a GP weekend. Continue reading →

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

Ferrari’s Leclerc stamps authority in quali, takes pole for return of Aussie GP in Melbourne; Red Bull’s Verstappen settles for P2, Perez P3 but Sainz fumbles way to P9; P5 Hamilton edged by Norris at reconfigured Albert Park

 

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:18.881 1:18.606 1:17.868 21
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:18.580 1:18.611 1:18.154 21
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:18.834 1:18.340 1:18.240 21
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:19.280 1:19.066 1:18.703 20
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:19.401 1:19.106 1:18.825 28
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:19.405 1:19.076 1:18.933 26
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:19.665 1:19.130 1:19.032 22
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:19.605 1:19.136 1:19.061 23
9 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:18.983 1:18.469 1:19.408 22
10 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:19.192 1:18.815 DNF 15

Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.

Put on that extra pot of coffee — tomorrow’s race from Down Under airs live beginning at 1AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how things shake out between the resurgent Ferrari star Leclerc and the always formidable Red Bull ace Verstappen!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Game on at Mercedes — Bottas earns dominant victory in season opener, Hamilton a distant second; Red Bull’s Verstappen gets first Australian podium with strong P3; Ferrari flummoxed

After getting pipped for the pole in Melbourne by Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in Saturday qualifying for the season opening Australian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas and the rest of the F1 world could be forgiven for thinking “here we go again.” But come race day at the Albert Park hybrid street circuit, Bottas decided to flip the script that saw him playing wingman to Hamilton’s team leader for the past 2 seasons. After earning precisely zero victories in 2018, Bottas spent the off season hardening his body and mind. And when the lights went out to start a race for the first time in 2019 the Finnish driver leapt away from the line and left Hamilton in his rearview mirrors. Bottas quickly established such a comfortable lead over his 5-time and current World Champion teammate that Hamilton was never able to make a dent in it for the entirety of this 58 lap Grand Prix. While the team brought Hamilton in for Medium compound Pirelli tires on Lap 16 in response to the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel’s stop a lap earlier, Bottas kept swanning away on track for several more laps on the preferred Soft rubber. Running in clean air, Bottas actually increased his lead and took it all the way to Lap 23 for his first and only stop, also going onto the Mediums.

Crucially, Bottas got on better with both those tires and his machine than Hamilton, who was left grumbling about pit strategy and the poor performance of his Pirellis relative to his teammate. No on in the field had anything for Bottas in this year’s Australian GP. In the end he dusted Hamilton by over 21 seconds, laying down a promising marker — as well as the fastest lap of the race, which earns a bonus point this year — and serving potential notice that this year Hamilton could be facing the stiffest challenge since the determined Nico Rosberg was his Silver Arrows stablemate. Of course one swallow does not make a spring but the dominant performance by Bottas Down Under can only serve to increase his confidence for the fight ahead of him. It should also be interesting to see whether the previously cordial relationship between the two Mercedes drivers remains the same or if Bottas will have to deal with the head games that Lewis deployed on Rosberg now that he has a teammate who may once again pose a genuine threat.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ran an excellent race nearly mounting a challenge against Hamilton for second place in the debut of the team’s new Honda power unit. Though the Dutchman ran out of laps he still earned his first Aussie podium and was far quicker than the Ferraris. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

Hamilton lays down marker for 2019 with pole run in Melbourne, pipping Bottas to lock out front row for Mercedes; Ferrari’s Vettel only good enough for P3 start in first race of new season

After the long, dark winter the new 2019 Formula 1 season began in earnest at the sunny Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday with the first qualifying session of the year at the now traditional opening weekend from down under. Proving that the more things change the more they stay the same, Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton, the current reigning World Champion, snatched pole out of the hungry hands of his Finnish teammate, Valtteri Bottas. With Bottas entering his third year with the factory Mercedes team desperate to give Hamilton more of a challenge and shed his wingman reputation it looked midway through Q3 that he’d done enough to get the better of Lewis. But Hamilton marshaled a mighty final lap of just 1:22.043, good enough for the lap record, as well as the pole over his crestfallen teammate by a mere .012 seconds.

If Bottas was dismayed yet again by Hamilton’s unearthly quali pace Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel must also have had a sinking feeling of deja vu. After finishing second to Hamilton in the championship for the last two seasons and working under a new team boss after Maurizio Arrivabene was canned in favor of former technical director Mattia Binotto, Vettel could only have been disheartened to find the pace of this year’s model of Prancing Horse still wanting that certain bit of magic in comparison the peerless Silver Arrows. Vettel could do no better than P3 with a time some seven-tenths slower than his pole-sitting nemesis. Vettel’s new teammate Charles Leclerc, who made the leap from last year’s sister Sauber team to Ferrari’s second seat, displacing veteran Kimi Raikkonen in the process, acquitted himself very well with a solid P5 run his first time out of the chute. Leclerc was bested, though, by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who pushed his now-Honda powered chassis to the very edge and up to a P4 qualifying time. It was difficult to get a true read on Red Bull and their engine partners, however, as Verstappen’s new teammate Pierre Gasly, who was promoted from Toro Rosso, got caught out by rapidly improving track conditions in Q1 and was bounced with only the 17th fastest time in that first session. Look for a lot of passing from Gasly early in tomororw’s race as he looks to atone for that lackluster effort and show that team Red Bull made the right choice is letting Daniel Ricciardo to give him the first team drive.

Further down the order, the Haas F1 team made a strong opening bid to earn the “best of the rest” moniker, as the returning duo of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen qualified P6 and P7 respectively. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Vettel and Ferrari score opportunistic win in Round 1, Hamilton a disappointed P2 for Mercedes; Raikkonen P3

For the second year in a row Ferrari and their ace driver Sebastian Vettel used clever strategy — plus  a little luck this time — to score an upset over favored Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Despite qualifying third fastest behind pole-sitter Hamilton and Scuderia stablemate Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel ran a longer stint on his opening set of Super Soft Pirelli tires than his nearest competitors. Thus while Raikkonen pitted on Lap 19 and Hamilton on Lap 20, Vettel gambled and stayed out until Lap 26, where he was able to take advantage of a well-timed Safety Car for Romain Grosjean & Kevin Magnussen’s disabled Haas cars, which inexplicably left the pits with unsecured wheels. Whether by calculation, blind luck or a combination of the two that meant that Vettel could dive to the pits while the field had to slow and close up behind the Safety Car, erasing the impact of the lost to the dreaded pit lane delta and, in fact, emerge just ahead of Hamilton upon reentry to the circuit. Also, due to a quirk in the rules, Vettel was able to gun his Ferrari out of the short pit lane blend line while Hamilton had to run the slower set pace, thereby giving the German 4-time world champion a crucial advantage. It was one Vettel and Ferrari would not relinquish as, despite his best efforts, Hamilton could never get his car to work well enough or keep his engine cool enough in Vettel’s aero wake to make an overtaking move.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

After Vettel’s somewhat fluky strategic victory F1 may need to look at their pit stop/Safety Car rules anew because there seems to be a net gain for a car that dives for the pits under full course yellow as opposed to most other forms of motorsport, where the pits generally stay closed after a safety car is deployed for at least a set number of laps. That negates the advantage of a car entering the pits directly after yellow, though of course it’s fair play if the team is lucky enough to call their driver in just before the full course yellow is thrown.

Nevertheless, Ferrari takes the season opening victory just as they did last year when their strikingly similar long-run tire strategy with Vettel also paid off with a win. Hamilton was left to console himself with a somewhat hard luck P2 and the knowledge that his Mercedes did have superior pace to the Ferraris in both qualifying and when running out front. Once again things look to be shaping up as a contest between Vettel and Hamilton to see who can secure the Championship, what would be the fifth for either very accomplished ace. Mighty Mercedes must surely be hoping that once again they prevail in the long run, as they have the previous four seasons. However they will need more from their second driver, Valtteri Bottas, who binned his car in qualifying, started from 15th and could only manage to claw his way back to P8 at the checkered flag.

Raikkonen also got burned by the Safety Car but was able to hold off the hard charging Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo for the last spot on the podium at P3, making it a very good day for Ferrari as a team. The Aussie native Ricciardo raced very well after starting from a penalty-hampered eighth spot on the grid to come home a competitive P4 in front of his adoring home fans, a very hopeful sign of improvement for the team’s upgraded engine. However, Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, had a scrappy race, overcooking his tires in pursuit of the Haas of Kevin Magnusson, who had passed him with a fine move at the start, and even losing a passel of positions by spinning out at one point. Young Max was able to recover and take advantage of a host of retirements to finish in P6 but the 20-year-old Dutch wunderkind had better begin showing more maturity and poise in this his fifth year in Formula 1 if he is ever going to start realizing his undoubted potential as a threat for consistent podiums.

McLaren made a solid statement that this year will be different than their desultory last three campaigns. Flashing their new Renault power plant in anger for the first time, Fernando Alonso drove like the two-time champion he is for a P5 finish, while Stoffel Vandoorne added to the valuable points haul with a solid P9. The Renault factory team also had an excellent day, with veteran Nico Hulkenberg taking a solid P6 and Spaniard Carlos Sainz fighting off an upset stomach to grab that last point in P10.

Missing out on any glory were Force India, which looks to have taken a step backwards against their closest mid-field rivals, and Williams, which simply looks lost and could potentially be in for an awful season. Sauber was again nowhere despite their Ferrari engines and Toro Rosso looked awful after their switch to Honda (under)-power, both slow and unreliable. Most depressing of all here in Round 1 was the double DNF for Haas. Despite showing pace that should have found Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean in the points, the team was undone done by twin catastrophic pit stops that saw both cars released with one improperly attached wheel each. Ironically it was Ferrari-powered Haas’s fatal blunder that enabled Vettel and the factory team to win the opening round of the 2018 season.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian Grand Prix.

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 58 1:29:33.283 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 58 +5.036s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 58 +6.309s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 58 +7.069s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 58 +27.886s 10
6 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 58 +28.945s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 58 +32.671s 6
8 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 58 +34.339s 4
9 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN RENAULT 58 +34.921s 2
10 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 58 +45.722s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time and half way around the world in Bahrain. Hope to see you the to find out if Vettel and Ferrari’s good luck continues or Hamilton and Mercedes can get back on the top step!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

The long winter break is finally over and Formula 1 is back for its new season and starting once again from the Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne, Australia. There is good news and bad news for the new cars this year. The good news is that the 2018 spec s the fastest yet of the new V6 turbo era. The bad news is that the addition of the driver-protecting halo device has made the cars not only ugly but also ruining the on-car camera perspective. Still I suppose if the Halo prevents another driver head injury like the one that lead to the death of Jules Bianchi at Suzuka in 2016 then it will be worth the rather awful aesthetics. On the other hand I’m not quite sure I see how the Halo will stop small debris from striking a driver’s helmet through the open spaces, as happened to Felipe Massa when a spring hit him at 200mph at the Hungaroring in 2009. But caveats aside let’s find out what happened on the first day of real racing in anger as the 2018 F1 field competed for the pole in Saturday Qualifying in Melbourne!

Hamilton & Mercedes still the ones beat after blistering season debut  pole; Raikkonen outguns favored Ferrari teammate Vettel, P2 to P3; Bottas crashes out of Q3

In Formula 1 the more things change the more they stay the same apparently. On the first qualifying of the 2018 season Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the reigning World Champion, thrashed his Silver Arrow around Albert Park in Melbourne setting a time that no others could match. The result was Hamilton fifth consecutive and seventh career pole in Australia. After all the hype in testing about Ferrari’s potential for dominance when it came down to a mano-a-mano between manufactures Mercedes retained the edge that has propelled them to the last 4 consecutive Constructors’ Titles. Ferrari does appear to have the pace over the rest of the field and Kimi Raikkonen utilized his SF71H chassis the best on Saturday, setting a quick time about 7 tenths in arrears of Hamilton but good enough for P2 and .01 faster than his more heralded teammate, Sebastian Vettel, who slots in at P3 on the grid.

All was not completely rosy for mighty Mercedes, however, as their second driver, Valtteri Bottas, continued to have bad luck Down Under. Hamilton’s Finnish wingman had a lurid, spinning crash when he dropped his tires off track and onto the slippery grass shortly after starting his first hot lap in Q3. His Silver Arrow appeared badly damaged and no doubt Bottas will be starting from the pit come Sunday.

Red Bull once again did not have the sheer pace of the top two teams, which has to be a disappointment for anyone hoping they had made an engine breakthrough over the winter and were ready to seriously threaten Mercedes or Ferrari. Wunderkind Max Verstappen qualified P4 and Aussie Daniel Ricciardo earned P5 but will be penalized 3 positions on the grid at his home Grand Prix for a dubious speeding-under-red-flag penalty in Friday practice. On the flip side American team Haas showed definite improvement to their Ferrari powered chassis and threw down an early claim to be “best of the rest” with Kevin Magnusson qualifying in P6 and Romain Grosjean in P7. That meant, somewhat surprisingly, that both Renault factory drivers will start behind the upstart Haas cars, with Nico Hulkenberg in P8 and Carlos Sainz in P9. The steadily improving Haas and Renault performance could bode ill for last year’s 4th place team, perennial overachiever Force India. On this first qualifying day, at least, they were nowhere on pace, with both their talented drivers out in Q2. Sergio Perez could do no better than P13 while young Esteban Ocon was way back in P15. Newly Renault-powered McLaren did better than Force India as well, if not quite good enough to dent the Top 10 starting grid — international superstar Fernando Alonso was P11 and his Belgian teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was right behind in P12.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian Gran Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:22.824 1:22.051 1:21.164 20
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:23.096 1:22.507 1:21.828 17
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:23.348 1:21.944 1:21.838 20
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:23.483 1:22.416 1:21.879 18
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:23.494 1:22.897 1:22.152 17
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:23.909 1:23.300 1:23.187 17
7 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:23.671 1:23.468 1:23.339 17
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:23.782 1:23.544 1:23.532 16
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:23.529 1:23.061 1:23.577 17
10 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:23.686 1:22.089 DNF 16

Complete qualifying realist available via Formual1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live early this Sunday at 1AM on ESPN2. ABC and the ESPN family of network are F1’s new broadcast partner in the States in partnership with Sky Sports and ESPN will simply utilize the Sky feed complete with their lead British announcing team of David Croft and former racer Martin Brundle. After so many years of David Hobbs and Steve Matchett bringing us F1 this will undoubtedly take some getting used to, though what I heard on Saturday was quite good in its own way.