Unstoppable Leclerc, disaster for Ferstappen at the Australian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc celebrated his second win of the season as he was the absolute dominator at the Australian Grand Prix. The Monegasque Ferrari driver was the first to see the checkered flag at Albert Park in a race that held the lead against his opponents with characteristic ease and impressive pace. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was second while Mercedes’ George Russell climbed the podium in 3rd place. Lewis Hamilton was fourth.

The fight was devastating for Max Ferstappen. The Dutch Red Bull driver was not only unable to follow Leclerc’s pace at some point in the race, but had to give up on lap 38 because his car was smoking. With that, having won the previous GP in Saudi Arabia, the fight in Australia was ruined and he lost significant ground in the title hunt.

In the drivers’ standings, Charles Leclerc is in first place with 71 points, well behind Russell in second place with 37 points. Third is Saint at 33, followed by Perez (30) and Hamilton (28). Max Ferstappen is in 6th place with 25 points.

Where the win was counted

Leclerc’s win at the Australian Grand Prix was judged on Ferrari Monegasque’s pace. He didn’t find it difficult to open up his difference to Max Ferstappen, although he seemed to work better with the waist, but also with the hard eraser. The start of the race was clear. Leclerc and Ferstappen started well, Monegasco easily held their position and the Dutchman followed suit.

Saint’s demolition on the second lap meant that the safety car went into the race early. After his retreat, the situation did not change dramatically. Leclerc opened the dispute, Ferstappen complained about tire wear. Ferstappen and Perez pitted earlier than their counterparts to set the hard eraser as they faced waist gradation issues.

On lap 24, Vettel lost control of the car, resulting in a second safety car. At the restart of the race and with zero differences, Ferstappen started, but Leclerc successfully defended first place. Ferrari had better pace on the hard rubber and Monegasque comfortably widened the gap at around 5.5 seconds. Without the two safety cars, the difference between Ferstappen and Leclerc could be even greater, revealing the Scuderia driver’s amazing pace.

The phase of the game

The fight was devastating for Max Ferstappen. The Dutchman was well behind champion Leclerc, but things got much worse. On lap 38, Ferstappen had to stop his car, which was also smoking.

The Dutch Red Bull driver said there was a strange smell of liquid before he drove off. In fact, he took the fire extinguisher from the judge to put out the fire himself. This was the second time this year that Ferstappen had left the race as his car suffered serious reliability issues, which of course caused him to fall far behind as he won back-to-back titles.

The guide of the day

The Formula 1 audience chose the winner Charles Leclerc as driver of the day. It was a perfectly justified choice. The Monegasque Ferrari driver took almost no chances and easily clinched victory in Australia.

In fact, even towards the end of the game, when Ferstappen was out, Leclerc kept pushing for a faster time. His win at Albert Park was emphatic and showed his intentions going forward. After all, his scoring harvest is a testament to his desire to become an early title favorite.

Alexander Albon deserves a special mention. The Williams driver started last but managed to finish in the top ten and take a point with an amazing strategy of pitting before the finale.

We were surprised

Undoubtedly the management of Ferrari and Leclerc tires. Nobody expected what happened today after the picture of Friday’s free tests: Monegasque and Ferrari F1-75 were able to warm up, keep the temperature and protect the tires how and when they wanted – although RBR and Ferstappen were better at it on Friday . Leclerc’s win wasn’t unexpected, but his journey to get there certainly was.

We were also surprised by the “damage reduction” from Mercedes. With serious problems understanding and regulating the W13, who would have expected George Russell to be second overall and Lewis Hamilton ahead of Ferstappen? Mercedes has the credibility that Red Bull lacks and unexpectedly remains in the headlines – hoping to ‘unleash’ its W13 momentum soon.

Finally, we were surprised by McLaren, who had a double top-six finish after his heartbreaking first two races. The English team have solved some of their problems but claim that the MCL36’s performance increase is mainly due to the car being a very good match for the characteristics of the Melbourne circuit.

You have disappointed us

Certainly Red Bull Racing, who for the second time in three races have faced a reliability issue they didn’t expect – and can’t even explain yet that it might not even be engine related. Also, it didn’t seem as effective as Ferrari at handling either the soft, or what it seemed today, the medium and hard rubber.

It also disappointed Alpine that it doesn’t seem to have the function and depth to rival Fernando Alonso. A possible podium finish went awry due to yesterday’s reliability issues and the team’s unfortunate strategy today – which didn’t help at all, however, due to the timing of the safety vehicles and the risk of starting with the hard eraser.

The only most disappointing team is Aston Martin, which falters after turning from a protagonist into a compass in a year and a half with Lawrence Stroll’s decisions, while the uncompetitiveness of Haas’ three days was unexpected. In Imola, which will have a replacement chassis and the track suits her better, she could return to the fight for average dynamics.

What follows

After three races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, Formula 1 is traveling to Europe for the first time this year. More specifically, the fourth Grand Prix of the year is the Emilia-Romagna GP of Italy at legendary Imola.

The Imola game will take place over the three days of April 22nd, 23rd and 24th. The Emilia-Romagna GP will feature a sprint race for the first time, ie a half-hour race that will determine the rankings on Sunday but will also bring points. The impatience for the GP is great and of course the lights are on Ferrari, who will drive in front of his audience.