Melbourne makes a triumphant return to Formula One. A brilliant race at the Albert Park circuit ended with Charles Leclerc winning after DNFs his teammate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ensured the Scuderia driver had an easy ride into the final laps in Australia.
McLaren's joy in Qualifying
Previous Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, crushed their rivals in qualifying in the last race during the 2019 Australian Grand Prix before the pandemic. Three years later, Formula One returned to Melbourne, but this time with other teams dominating Saturday's session. Although complaining about the blinding sun during his fast lap, Leclerc managed to win the all-important pole at Albert Park, leaving Red Bull behind with Max Verstappen second and Sergio Perez third. The main surprise in qualifying was Lando Norris, who started the race from fourth position. The British driver and local hero Daniel Ricciardo qualified seventh. After a disappointing start to the season, the McLaren displayed great pace in Australia, a huge improvement since the start of the season which gave hope for better results on Sunday.
The Silver Arrows took only the third row of the starting grid this time. For the first time since 2014, Lewis Hamilton was without a pole in Australia. Nevertheless, the British driver was still ahead of his teammate George Russell. Esteban Ocon set to start in eighth, while Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso completed the top ten. The Alpine driver was faster than Leclerc’s pole time, but a hydraulic problem caused Alonso to complete his fast lap in the wall. Sainz was haunted by problems in the third qualifying session, especially with the appearance of the red flag from Alonso, meaning the Spanish driver was not able to finish his lap and later the car refused to start. On his last attempt in Q3, Sainz came out with cold tires and sadly, made a mistake.
Another challenging weekend for Sainz
A nightmare weekend for Sainz continued on Sunday. The Spaniard lost the start and had to battle with Mick Schumacher in the struggle for 13th place. However, this was not the end of his bad luck. On the second battle, Sainz in an attempt to overtake the German flew off the track and buried himself in the gravel. No longer able to get back on track, the Spaniard’s race in the Australian Grand Prix came to an end and led to a Safety Car. Before the Ferrari’s incident, we saw a few interesting events occur with many overtakes.
Leclerc made a great breakthrough at the start as Verstappen failed to attack the Monegasque. Perez also not only failed to fight for the lead, but lost his third place as Hamilton immediately passed Norris and the Mexican. Russell also overtook Lando, but the British driver was not able to catch up to Perez. Pierre Gasly slotted himself into ninth, while Alonso remained in tenth position.
The Safety Car neutralized the race for a few laps and as it restarted, the fight continued. Perez was back in third place, easily ahead of the seven-time World Champion, but it was not the last position swap between the Mexican and Mercedes in the race.
Sebastian Vettel's unsuccessful comeback
The race then began to resemble the previous rounds in Australia. Getting used to the new track, the drivers often made mistakes on the newly revamped track. Schumacher missed Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guangyu in the battle for 13th place. Sebastian Vettel, who returned to the championship after a contracting COVID, was not able to avoid a drive on gravel.
Surprisingly, there was no fierce competition in the lead group. Low amounts of tyre wear allowed for one pit stop in the race with Verstappen being one of the first to go into the pits. Perez changed his tyres after two laps, while Leclerc and Hamilton pitted even later. In the end, Leclerc and Verstappen did not change positions, and Hamilton managed to pass Perez. The Mexican was not satisfied with the situation, countering with an attack on the British driver. His risky overtake was successful.
Sebastian Vettel is unlikely to put in such a great race to his credit due to health and car issues. On Friday, the car was limited in Free Practice due to technical problems and on Saturday morning, the car broke. With the race on Sunday, the Aston Martin driver also had an incident. Vettel made a mistake and finished the race in the wall, which led to a virtual safety car. Russell was able to take advantage of that. The Brit pitted and came out ahead of Perez and Hamilton. Alonso was amongst the group of leaders, but the Spaniard delayed his pit stop until the last few laps and sadly was not able to keep in the top ten.
Another Max Verstappen drama
On the second restart, Perez again went on the attack on the Mercedes, but this time on Russell. Russell was able to keep the Mexican behind him for a long time, but Perez eventually broke the British resistance and chased the leaders. Suddenly, Perez's bronze turned into silver as Max Verstappen was off the track for the second time in three races! The team urgently ordered the Dutchman to stop the car, due to the engine which gradually began catch fire. Verstappen’s end to his race paved the way for Leclerc to easily win the Australian Grand Prix. As a result, the Monegasque won his second race of the season, with the additional point for the fastest lap in the race. Charles' opponents for the season are self-destructing as he now holds a giant advantage in the championship. The Ferrari driver is 34 points ahead of his closest rival.
Sergio Perez finished second with George Russell completing the podium in 3rd for the first time as a Mercedes driver. Another surprising fact, Russell holds second place in the championship! Due to the Safety Car, Lewis Hamilton came in fourth as the McLaren duo finished behind with Norris at the helm in 5th and 6th. Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Gasly rounding out the top nine. One of the heroes of the race was the new Williams driver, Alex Albon, who started last and led 57 of 58 laps on one tyre. Making a pit stop on the last lap and though the issue with the fans, Albon finished tenth and earned a valuable point for the team.
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