Posting this as a reminder of the drivers and their teams:
Here we are in Melbourne, Australia for the 38th running of this F1 Grand Prix, and I can make note that Oscar Piastri is now racing his 2nd race, as last season, it was his first rookie race in his home country. Daniel Riccardo has raced a lot more on this track being the other fellow Aussie on the grid.
Before we get into the the racing, Lewis Hamilton had a LOT to say upon his arrival in Melbourne on a few subjects that should've been in my Locker Room Buzz! <checks notes>
Calls for a ceasefire in Palestine.
Backs F1 Academy President Susie Wolff's CRIMINAL defamation lawsuit against the FIA. Lewis said he agrees with Susie on more transparency in FIA investigations of complaints, and that it's really sad that even today, a woman can can be fired for filing a complaint of whatever misconduct she has experienced. FYI- in France, unlike most othe countries, defamation cases are considered criminal, not civil.
Throws some shade at the behind the scenes drama at Red Bull. Relates to next comment: When asked if he has confidence in FIA President Emerati Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Lewis replied, "(He) Never has." Ouch! Onto the track for P1 (Practice One) 60 minutes of practice! Since we are in Australia, I'm watching the future due to the almost 24 hours ahead of me in the Bay Area! It's nice and balmy on this day, no wind problems on this 14 turn track, and Carlos Sainz minus an appendix, is racing! Everything was going rather smoothly, except for Alonso scraping the floor of his car, but at the 19 minutes to go mark, Williams Alex Albon had a wicked spin out, and crashed into the wall twice (he's ok!) at turn 7 and 8, the two tightest turns on the track. That car is going to need a lot of work to be ready for P2 later on. Red flag is out and with all the debris, we shall see if there is time to get a couple of laps in with all the debris on the track. Red flag lifted , and other than some steering lock troubles, no other issues.
Stuart Park Formula One track- Melbourne, Australia- Gorgeous!
P2 saw in the late afternoon/evening a relatively quiet 60 minute practice. The winds did kick up at the Stuart Park street track, causing several drivers to have steering lock-ups that had them sliding into the grass and gravel, especially on Turn 1 and turns 6-8 and 10-11.
We got some news before P3 today, as Williams has decided that it will switch out Logan Sargent and have Alex Albon drive Logan's chassis, after it was determined that Albon's chassis was beyond repair after the crash in P1. Williams principal said this was a difficult decision, but felt Albon had better times on the Melbourne track before he crashed the car. This is a highly unusual move in F1 racing, and while Logan is sad about the decision, he stated he supports the team wholeheartedly. It should be duly noted that Williams team did NOT bring an extra "tub" (racing slang for chassis), so questions will arise over the why's of that! Oh, and that crash of that car gonna cost Williams about half a million dollars!
P3 chillier Aussie Saturday to start the practice to test out the medium and soft tires before Qualifying. And after 60 minutes of lapping, I've got nothing to report, other than there seems to be a debate amongst he teams on which tyres to use for Qualifying a few hours later! Oh! It is Alex Albon of Williams birthday today, and what a gift he got, getting Logan's car to race after Alex crashed his own car. A note on how Qualifying works: There are three quick races to determine grid position for the GP on Saturday. First quali the last five drivers are cut, second quali again, last five drivers dropped, and 3rd and final quali determines the top ten on the grid and the ever important pole (1st) position. Only 19 cars/racers for this quali, as Sargent is out for the weekend due to the aforementioned car/driver switcheroo. All teams/drivers are using the soft tyre in all three of the qualis the first Q1 laps with the slowest 4 drivers dropped, we had Zhou/Sauber, Gasly/Alpine, Riccardo/RB, and Hulkenberg/Haas.
We did have race control submit to the stewards (judges) of Perez/Red Bull impeding
Hulkenberg on turn 13. Will be reviewed after qualifying.
Fifteen minutes for Q2, and drivers are using a mix of old and new soft tyres to measure tyre/track performance. No drama to report here, other than the shock of Hamilton/Mercedes will be racing in the GP tomorrow at P11! Behind him are Albon/Williams, Bottas/Sauber, Magnussen/Haas and Ocon/Alpine. Quali 3 no major drama, other than who will take P1 for the Grand Prix tomorrow. And for the third straight qualifying, Max VerStappen takes the pole, and again another Ferrari driver will be beside him on P2, the appendix-free Carlos Sainz!
After the race, the stewards DID apply a three position grid drop of the impeding incident mentioned earlier, so I have updated the grid field picture below.
Your driver pole position grid got the Aussie Grand Prix after the Perez WAS assessed an impeding penalty that dropped him three spots to P6.
It's Grand Prix time in Melbourne, for the 37th Australian F1 Grand Prix! But first, a lil' explanation on a term I've been hearing all weekend about this track: "tyre graining", an issue that especially affects the soft compound tires (the ones that have the tightest grip to the track and give you the most speed). Basically the more tyre graining you get during each lap, the more sliding occurs and also degradation.
We have 58 laps in this Grand Prix, and warm weather and light winds. It's going to be a "war of patience" as the first nine drivers are starting with the hard tyres, and the last ten on mediums, all to prevent that tyre graining throughout the race, which is expected to have two pit stops, IF there are no red flags (there was a record THREE red flags last Aussie GP).
Mayhem has occurred at the first turn of the race, so the first thing to keep an eye on. And it's LIGHTS OUT and all the drivers successfully cleared turn 1 without incident. On Lap 3, Sainz was able to overtake VerStappen for the lead, and by lap 5, we found out why, as massive smoke was pouring out of Verstappen's brand new power unit, and had to box (pit stop) as the right rwar brake was on fire! Already drama, as the Flying Dutchman looks like he may not win his 10th Grand Prix in a row! And its official, VerStappen is out of this race a DNF (Did not finish).
By Lap 15, all but current leader Sainz have pitted and also switched to hard tyres, as the slipping and sliding on the mediums has forced teams to make the tyre switch. Gasly of Alpine having a good early race, moving from 17th to 7th!
The drama continues as we get a yellow flag on lap 17 as Mercedes Lewis Hamilton's engine has failed, and race crew needs to get him off the track! That's two high-profile drivers now out of this race!
Not too many lead changes or overtakes since Lap 20, but laps 35 to 40 are seeing several pit stops, including one where the tyre nuts were not coming off, and as the commentator said, "sticky nuts on your wheels are not good!" That got a giggle from me! Sainz still comfortably ahead by 10 seconds of Norris and LaClerc, but Norris is going to have to do his last pit stop soon!
And it has happened! What? Set up the scene: On the last lap, Sainz is leading by 3 seconds over his teammate LeClerc, with Norris breathing down Leclerc's tyres, also in a battle for 6th, George Russell of Mercedes was pushing hard to overtake Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, when on the 57 lap, Russell crashed into the wall! He reported in he is ok, the car, not so much, as the wheels of the car flipped him sideways! Alonso was in violation of the rules by the stewards, and hence dropped two places, from 6th to 8th place.
Race finished with Sainz in first, with Ferrari teammate LaClerc in second, and Team Papaya (McLaren) Norris on the podium at third place, and hometown Aussie Oscar Piastri in 4th! Carlos also won the fan vote for Driver of the Day!
Considering Sainz didn't do ANY workouts, simulators or any of his pre-race routines, just rested, a well deserved win for Carlos, and proof that if your appendix (which i checked is 4.5 pounds in weight) decides its time to go, you CAN win a Formula One Grand Prix! Getting your appendix removed may become the new F1 Ozempic! (Didn't happen to Albon though last year, as his appendix said, "we done", but Albon came back to race, just didn't win. If you want to see the highlights you just read thru, check out TSN's short review of the race in the link below!
Now onto Japan GP in two weeks in Suzuka! After that race, I will post the points standings for both the Drivers Cup and the Constructors (team) Cup!
After race note from Lewis Hamilton : "This (Mercedes car) just doesn't have it to compete."
Lewis, after only 3 races, doesn't sound very happy. Worst start after three races of his entire career!
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