The Australian Grand Prix has not made an indent into its unfortunate record of only one overtake for the lead in its history. However, this did not make for a boring race, there were many fun battles in the midfield to enjoy. Let’s have a look at how all the teams fared…
Mercedes – There is nowhere else I could start, is there? In the 63rd race of his career, Russell managed to score his first podium in a race that was the full distance. The Mercedes seemed closer to the pace today which is more than can be said for Jeddah. Hamilton came home in P4 – I think they can chalk today off as ‘not all that bad’.
Williams – Bizarre is the word I would use to describe their strategy for Albon. All but one lap on the hard tyres and then a switch to softs, it might be bizarre but it was successful – netting him Williams’ first points of the year. Latifi wasn’t quite as successful with P16, at least he finished.
AlphaTauri – Once again a race that was uneventful for AlphaTauri. Points for Gasly in P9 but not Tsunoda in P15. No major battles or incidents, just driving round and round.
McLaren – Possibly the shock of the weekend, McLaren were actually in the points and going quickly. Home hero Ricciardo took P6 but he was pipped by Norris in P5 (British drivers in P3,4,5). At least they’ve made some headway this year – although they are saying that it’s just the track.
Alpine – A tale of two halves for Alpine with Ocon embroiled in midfield battles and taking P7 whilst Alonso languished in P17 (the last of the finishers) after issues with tyre wear – it could have been so different for them.
Red Bull – Another race, another mechanical DNF. The team behind the Red Bull powertrain must have been mortified. The reigning world champion has once again not finished. To add to Verstappen’s disappointment his teammate Perez made it onto the podium.
Ferrari – It seems that a dominant performance from Leclerc is going to be a recurring theme for this season. He took his second win of the season at a serious advantage over his teammate. Sainz did not even manage to finish the race after beaching the car following issues starting on the hard tyre.
Alfa Romeo – Not the most exciting performance from Alfa Romeo with Zhou taking P11 and Bottas in P8. They did manage to gain points from this race but it wasn’t one they will mark as massively successful.
Haas – Where has their pace gone? From a P5 for Magnussen in the first race to P14 in Australia, what has gone wrong there? Schumacher did make some achievement in beating his teammate for P13. Hopefully it is just some dodgy set up and caution that has prevented them from scoring more points.
Aston Martin – A race weekend that they would really like to forget after many, many crashes and repairs. Vettel did not finish the race after contact with the barriers at turn four. Stroll performed slightly better but a five second penalty for weaving meant he had no points from P12.
Do comment your thoughts below.
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