The last match of this first "hat-trick" of the season, a Melbourne gave many surprises. As many as 8 cars did not cross the finish line, in a chaotic race with 3 red flags, which also sent the FIA into a tailspin, forced to investigate itself. Despite everything, however, the podium was not particularly affected by these episodes, and fortunately, one might add. Max Verstappen's Red Bull is once again establishing itself in Australia, started on pole 3 times out of 4 – considering that before the red flag caused by the accident in Albon, and which led to the second start from the grid, the two Mercedes had already got the better of the Dutchman. Mercedes, without Russell's reliability problem, could have aimed for a double podium. An encouraging sign in view of the next GPs which will take place after a slightly longer break, up to Azerbaijan. Third force in the field Aston Martin which conquers the third podium of the season with Alonso and fourth place with Stroll. There's a lot of meat on the fire, let's see the tops and flops at Fanta F1.
Top
Lewis Hamilton: first podium of the season, as well as a record podium for Lewis Hamilton - as the first driver in F1 history to conquer the podium in 17 consecutive seasons - who seems to have found the motivation to return to fight. You can also see it from the approach with Fernando Alonso at the end of the race. We expected sparks between the two, but there were only splashes of bubbly. Finally a joy for the Fantamanagers who had deployed him at Fanta F1.
Land Norris: finally the first points arrive for McLaren, after a very tight race but which marks the rebirth of the team. Norris collects a series of overtakings and doesn't waste shots. It's a pleasure to see him drive like this. But the most shocking thing after this race is that this sixth place was enough for Lando to collect more points than Charles Leclerc in the constructors' championship.
Lance Stroll: what about Stroll, and the fact that when there's an accident at the start he's always involved, we can't deny the good race he did. A race that led him to finish in fourth place in the third race of the season. Contact with Leclerc is unfortunate, and Stroll could do nothing else to avoid it.
Honorable mention a Max Verstappen which after 12 years brings a strong Red Bull back to the top step of the podium in Australia, but which this time has had a difficult life between the pressing of the Mercedes and the numerous restarts.
Flop
We come to the painful notes, and alas there are many. However, we choose only three, even if the 8 outs weigh a lot on the Fanta F1.
Charles Leclerc: let's begin from the episode which immediately reopened a still fresh wound in the heart of the Ferraristi. Too much confidence, perhaps the enthusiasm led Charles to partially take the wrong path. Bad luck did the rest. What matters are the still dangerously low points in the standings. Sainz is at 20, he at 6. If the first retirement of the season was unfortunately caused by a reliability problem, this was due to an error that is somewhat reminiscent of last season's impatient Leclerc. Too bad, really.
Alexander Albon: we keep talking about mistakes but in this case we do it with Alexander Albon. His accident, extremely dangerous, fortunately ends only with his withdrawal and without physical repercussions. But from a budget cap perspective they weigh a lot, not to mention the Fantamanagers who had deployed him and who found themselves faced with the second consecutive retirement.
Alpine: what a mess guys. Gasly's race was completely destroyed by the penultimate restart after the red flag caused by Magnussen. Both could have scored points but the ardor of the final laps took away every shred of self-respect and team love from Ocon and Pierre. We knew that sooner or later they would throw themselves out, but this is ridiculous. The incident is still below investigation and if the fault falls on Pierre at the end of the fair, he would face a race ban, having accumulated 12 penalty points, and miss the next GP.
Disgraceful mention for the FIA, which falls on its own legs when it comes to handling such dynamics. In the absence of clear guidelines it is not surprising to hear interpretations and suggestions from pilots. They all want to see more clearly but on the other side there is always a wall that hinders things and not a little. The result is a grotesque, and very often deliberately dangerous show. But the problem is celebrating at the wall, right?
