Super Sainz Wins for Ferrari as Verstappen Retires at Albert Park
Carlos Sainz, who missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix due to having appendicitis surgery, returned to take a huge victory for Ferrari in a Race where Max Verstappen retired early on. Charles Leclerc completed the 1-2 for the Tifosi whilst McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the Podium.
The Biggest Talking Points
Amazingly, everyone was very well-behaved on the first lap, but on Lap 2, a mistake from Max Verstappen allowed Carlos Sainz to breeze straight into the lead before they even got down to Turn 9. Things ultimately became a bit clearer as to what was going on a lap later as smoke started to come out of the right rear brake of Verstappen and this ultimately resulted in Max having to pull into the pits to retire. Max Verstappen retiring is an incredibly rare thing these days, but there was nothing he nor his Red Bull team could do about it. This meant that the Race was wide open for anyone, with Sainz leading from Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, and home hero Oscar Piastri. There were actually quite a few early pitters in this Race which changed things up a little bit, and this ultimately led to Lando getting jumped by both Charles and Oscar. Shortly after this, a Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes came to a stop meaning another multi-time World Champion was out of the running. This actually benefited another multi-time World Champion in the form of Fernando Alonso as he was able to gain a “free” pit stop and come out in P5 (ahead of George Russell, Sergio Perez, and Lance Stroll).
The Race then sort of got into a little bit of a pattern, with the main fighting coming between Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon for the last points-paying position. Remember, this was pretty important for Albon given he’d taken Logan Sargeant’s car for the weekend. Sergio Perez also managed to clear Alonso and Russell, but he barely put any dent into the Top 4 afterwards. Speaking of the Top 4, Sainz was still in control ahead of teammate Leclerc whilst McLaren made the smart decision to let Norris by Piastri. And then, right at the end of the Race, George Russell, who was in a battle with Fernando Alonso for P6, went off at Turn 6 and ultimately destroyed his car, meaning he was out and the Race had to finish under a Virtual Safety Car. Funnily enough, Alonso has just received a 20-second penalty for that whole incident!
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out three 10’s for today’s Australian Grand Prix and the first one is obviously for Carlos Sainz. Carlos is a special talent who’s had a pretty crazy couple of weeks, let alone months! If Sainz keeps performing like this, any team would be lucky to have him. The second driver I’ve given maximum points to is Lando Norris and my reasoning for this is Lando kept the Ferrari’s (particularly Charles Leclerc) honest throughout the Grand Prix and he fully merited a spot on the Podium. The final driver I gave out maximum points too is Yuki Tsunoda. I've actually gone back and changed this after Fernando Alonso's penalty because I honestly think a P7 in a Visa Cash App RB is mega! I also thought Charles Leclerc did a great job to finish second whilst Oscar Piastri, Lance Stroll, and Nico Hulkenberg can also be pretty pleased with their efforts.
Drivers who had a Shocker
In total, I’ve only given out one 1 for today’s Race, and that 1 is for George Russell. George was doing decently in his Mercedes and was in a good position to have a go at Fernando Alonso, which is why it’s so frustrating and annoying that Russell made a silly error that ultimately resulted in Mercedes leaving the weekend without anything to shout about. I also thought Zhou Guanyu and Esteban Ocon had difficult days, but they weren’t helped by slow pit stops.
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Carlos Sainz: 10
Charles Leclerc: 9 (FL)
Lando Norris: 10
Oscar Piastri: 8
Sergio Perez: 6
Lance Stroll: 8
Yuki Tsunoda: 10
Fernando Alonso: 6
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Kevin Magnussen: 7
Alex Albon: 7
Daniel Ricciardo: 5
Pierre Gasly: 4
Valtteri Bottas: 4
Zhou Guanyu: 3
Esteban Ocon: 3
George Russell: 1 (DNF)
Lewis Hamilton: 5 (DNF)
Max Verstappen: - (DNF)
really well written article, Linus