If we expected racing in down under would be exciting, we sure were not expecting this. Just like “down under” already says the race was almost all over the place.
It started with Max Verstappen retiring after the first lap because he had a problem with his car. The exact issue is still not known but the brake malfunctioned and started burning. Carlos Sainz took p1 with Norris and Leclerc right behind. During the next laps Piastri pressured Leclerc and both of them pitted at the same time and kept fighting forward.
During lap 15 and the next people pitted, some namely Perez and Norris and Sainz, who still emerged in p1.
One lap later Hamilton faced an engine failure, forcing him to retire the car which he luckily managed to park up. Still a virtual safety car was employed during lap 17, which some of the drivers used to pit.
At almost half time of the race Sainz kept showing off incredible times, driving one fastest lap after another. The Spaniard managed to gain almost a 5s lead by lap 29, in which also the McLaren were told to switch positions causing Lando to be on the podium spot. Around lap 35 Sainz already gained a 8s lead to his teammate while Norris kept fighting hard to get close to Leclerc in p2.
2 1/2 laps before the chequered flag Alonso and Russell fought for p6 and then in lap 57 Russell went off track causing him to crash badly. Luckily the Mercedes driver is okay. That crash caused a virtual safety car which secured all of the spots in the grid.
Carlos Sainz took the top spot on the podium, followed by his teammate Charles Leclerc on 2 and McLaren driver Lando Norris on 3. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri followed on 4 which marked a Ferrari 1-2 and a McLaren 3-4.
Perez followed on 5, the Aston Martins Alonso on 6 and Stroll on 7, Tsunoda on 8 and both of the Haas, Hulkenberg and Magnussen, on 9 and 10.
Two laps before the end Leclerc also managed to claim the point for the fastest lap. In the overall driver standings the Monegasque is now quite close to Max Verstappen with only 4 points difference and in the constructors standings Ferrari is also only 4 points behind Red Bull.
Overall one can call this race a very dramatic but also very interesting one.
The next race will be in Suzuka in two weeks, also a high speed track, which leaves the question of how the Ferraris and McLaren drivers will do, and, of course, how the race will look, remembering Verstappen will be back on track and more determined than before. We are thrilled already to find it out.
Picture credits:
Official Scuderia Ferrari, F1, McLaren, lnfour & lnfournation Instagram posts
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