F1 Australian Grand Prix Review

Charles Leclerc secured his second race win of the season, in the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retired due to a mechanical failure.

Ferrari’s Monegasque driver, Leclerc, has now extended his lead in the drivers championship by 34 points, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell – who is, surprisingly, P2 in the championship.

On the other hand, his teammate Carlos Sainz had a weekend to forget as he beached his F1-75 into the gravel trap on the exit of turn 10.

While it was a great weekend for McLaren as the Woking-based team secured their first double points finish, after a poor start to the season.

Team’s weekend to forget: Aston Martin

Aston Martin will quickly put the Australian Grand Prix weekend behind them after a series of crashes and mechanical failures.

In his first outing in 2022, after a bout of Coronavirus, Sebastian Vettel suffered a mechanical failure in the first practice session at Albert Park. Prior to being slapped with a fine for entering the track without permission. This was a clear highlight of the weekend, as fans watched Vettel zoom around the final sector on a scooter.

However, it was in Free Practice 3 where trouble began for the Silverstone-based team. Both cars crashed out in the final practice. With only two hours between FP3 and qualifying, the mechanics had a mountain of work to do. This, in turn, jeopardised the team’s ability to run in qualifying. But, they were given extra time in Q1 when they released Lance Stroll onto the track and he collected the Williams of Nicholas Latifi, at turn five.

After a five second time penalty for Stroll and another crash for Vettel, in the race, the team walked away with no points. Thus, making them the only team not to score any points in 2022 – at this current moment.

In this new ‘cost-cap era’ of F1 where teams are limited on how much they can spend, Lawrence Stroll’s wallet will be getting tighter, and skinner, from this week.

Team’s weekend to remember: McLaren

After a difficult pre-season test in Bahrain and the poor start to the season, the Woking team’s fortunes may be quickly turned around after they secured their first double-points finish in Melbourne.

With a fifth place finish for Lando Norris (-1 from grid) and a sixth place finish for, home hero, Daniel Ricciardo (+1 from grid), the Papaya coloured team now sit fourth in the constructors standings – just behind Red Bull Racing. This is a four-place jump from Jeddah, where they sat eighth after Norris secured his, and the team’s, first set of points for 2022.

As Mercedes still look to be dragging every inch of performance out of their less-than-optimal package, it seems they will have daily battles with McLaren, who look to be on equal terms in regards to performance. A fight which will only last until the silver arrows find a permanent solution to their problems.

Will McLaren be able to carry that momentum into Imola, for the first sprint weekend of the season?

However, it is worth mentioning, Alpine also had a great weekend and their two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, looked promising in qualifying. Without his crash in Q3, it looked likely he could have started the race on the second row – as a minimum, after he set a personal best first sector and was quickest in the second.

Driver of the day: Charles Leclerc

Could have 2022 gotten off to a better start for the Monegasque driver? Yes, if he won in Saudi Arabia.

Needless to say, Leclerc is putting in world champion-like performances in his rejuvenated Ferrari. In 2020, the team were pegged back after an investigation by the FIA, which saw their worst championship finish in 40 years. Without focusing on a championship fight in 2021, it has helped the Scuderia develop a championship-worthy car for the brand new era of F1.

In the Australian race, Leclerc handled Verstappen’s pressure superbly as he managed to lead the race after both restarts. As a result of maintaining the gap to Verstappen and Perez (after the Dutchman’s retirement), this meant the Monegasque now has a 34 point lead – which is a bigger gap than any time last season (between Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton).

In the process, Leclerc also obtained his first ever grand slam, where a driver secures; pole position, the win, fastest lap and leads from start to finish. He’s now amongst the names of Jim Clark, Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Aryton Senna who have also secured such a feat.

Driver’s day to forget: Carlos Sainz

Mr. Sainz Jr. has definitely seen better days at the Prancing Horse, since he joined the iconic Italian outfit last year. However, in his first outing, in Australia, for the iconic red team only lasted a lap and a half.

The weekend had been fairly steady for Sainz, especially in Free Practice where he finished at the top of the timing board in FP1. But, the Spaniard’s troubles started in qualifying.

The Ferrari mechanics couldn’t start up the Spaniard’s F1-75 during Q3, after Alonso’s crash. An issue with the starter was reported to be the problem. As a result, he couldn’t get out onto the track when he would’ve liked to and qualified P9.

However, the problems didn’t end there as he also had an issue with his steering wheel on the grid, which forced him to use his spare wheel. When it came to lights out, he got a poor start and lost five positions by the end of the first lap. Half a lap later, in an attempt to regain a lost position, the Spaniard lost control of his car, went onto the grass and cut across the track before he became beached in the gravel trap that lined the exit of turn 10.

With a fairly short Grand Prix, it’s highly likely Sainz would want to forget about Australia until next year as the Spaniard described the race as ‘a bit of disaster.’

Credit: Ferrari Media – Carlos Sainz, Free Practice, Australian Grand Prix 2022

That’s it for the article: F1 Australian Grand Prix: F1 Australian Grand Prix Review! Do you agree with our choices, who would you put in our categories? Let us know in the comments!

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