Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Australian Grand Prix

Photo by Andy Hone from Motorsport Images

Three years and one global pandemic later, Formula 1 is finally back in Australia.

This time with brand new cars and a new track layout to improve racing.

It didn’t disappoint.

Here’s this weeks list.

Losers

5. Max Verstappen

Max did nothing wrong all weekend. He was always second best to Charles, but 2nd place is still a great finish this early in the season.

That would be the case if his car actually finished.

A second DNF in three races for Verstappen means he is very far behind championship leader Charles Leclerc. So far behind that he said in an interview after the race that there’s no point even discussing the championship in the cars current state.

4. Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso was so close to putting the damn thing on pole position.

But a horribly timed hydraulics failure led to a crash and him starting 10th.

A god awful strategy by the team found him finishing 17th.

What looked so promising for the Spaniard ended so terribly.

3. Lance Stroll

He finished 12th, which is good all things considered.

But he straight up wasn’t paying attention during qualifying which led to a bad crash, and he weaved multiple times while blocking (which is against the rules and also dangerous) to pick up a 5 second time penalty.

His race was good overall, but those two moments just sort of leave you shaking your head.

2. Sebastian Vettel

Seb is back for the first time since catching COVID, and it just seems kind of sad.

I don’t think Seb has lost his passion for Formula 1, but I think he’s lost his passion for Aston Martin.

His last season at Ferrari, you could tell he was checked out just on the radio.

Last season at Aston Martin, they weren’t really competing for wins but he was still cheerful.

Now? He doesn’t seem to care.

And why should he? That car is terrible.

1. Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz qualified 9th in the best car on the grid and then crashed out two laps into the race while his teammate put it on pole, won the race and got the fastest lap.

Carlos has had a good year so far, but he will want to forget this one as soon as possible.

Winners

5. Esteban Ocon

I feel like the Alpine driver was overlooked all weekend because of how good Fernando Alonso’s pace was.

But while Alonso wound up 17th, Ocon ran a quiet and focused race to finish 7th.

Not bad at all!

4. McLaren

Boy oh boy did McLaren need a weekend like this.

5th and 6th may not be where they expect to be considering the funding and driver talent, but driver Lando Norris even said after Saudi Arabia that the team is very bad in slow corners and Australia could be very tough on them.

They must have spent the next two weeks figuring it out, because they had some very good race pace.

It was night and day compared to Bahrain, let me tell you.

3. Mercedes

I think everyone sort of figured Mercedes would figure it out eventually. It’s Mercedes.

But I don’t think we expected Lewis Hamilton to have the race pace available to pass a Red Bull on pure pace alone by race 3.

Now, Checo got back ahead of Lewis, as did George Russell thanks to a safety car, but it’s a 2nd podium in 3 races for a car we can all agree is third best and yet is 2nd in the Constructor’s Championship.

2. Charles Leclerc

Pole position, led every lap, won the race and got the fastest lap.

Doesn’t really get better than that.

1. Alex Albon

If you don’t know the rules of Formula 1, let me explain that there is a rule where you have to use two different tire compounds.

Meaning you need to pit at least once for different tires.

The race last night was a 58 lap race and Alex Albon, starting dead last after being disqualified from qualifying due to a fuel issue, decided to start the race on the hard tires, which Pirelli say have a shelf life of 40 laps.

Albon drove his Williams all the way up to 7th and had similar pace by the end to the McLaren’s on his hard tires which he had driven for 57 laps.

With two laps to go, he pit for softs and was able to drive away from Zhou Guanyu in 11th to somehow get a championship point despite a very bold strategy.

But fortune does favor the bold…