Australia gave us the first crazy game of the season. After 43 races without retirements, Max Verstappen had to give up due to a problem on the RB20 which caused a fire to start in the right rear area of his car. Max's retirement obviously gave a dream to the many pursuers, who saw the possibility of openly fighting for first position. Also thanks to a lackluster Perez. Let's see the tops and flops of the weekend in Australia at Fanta F1!
The Tops in Australia
Carlos Sainz: Life is truly unpredictable. With this sentence Carlos Sainz got out of his car to go and celebrate the victory in Australia. Going from the operating room to the podium in two weeks was unthinkable for everyone. In Melbourne, Ferrari was able to seize the opportunity given by Verstappen's retirement and did so, much to the surprise with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc closing the a truly important double. The Spaniard imposed himself on the group in qualifying and in the race, taking over by force with a tailspin one's personal revenge. A beautiful surprise. Sainz therefore remains the only one to have snatched the top step of the podium from Max Verstappen for a year now. The SF-24 was impregnable, and the Spaniard immediately put the victory in the pipeline, taking it home, leaving aside the considerable physical effort, without too many problems.
Land Norris: First podium of the season for McLaren with Lando Norris who tried to attack the two Ferraris. The internal brawl with Piastri sees him excel. A nice revenge compared to last weekend. The team takes home a nice loot also considering Mercedes' double DNF.
Haas: America beats England on points. With the outing of Verstappen, Hamilton and Russell, opportunities also arose for the lower teams. In this case it was the two Haas cars that occupied the last remaining places, cutting out Alexander Albon in Sargeant's Williams.
The Flops in Australia
Max Verstappen: It seemed impossible and instead the impossible came true. Max Verstappen after 43 races he retired, again in Australia, like two years ago. Giving a nice awakening to the Ferrari fans but a nightmare awakening to all the Fantamanagers who after two races of absolute domination had chosen to trust the Dutchman with their eyes closed. There is little to say in these cases. After the pole position he knew it wouldn't be easy to defend against Ferrari. But the truth is that Max could do little to defend himself in these conditions. Betrayed by his car. Occasions like this are rare but there will still be a way to make up for it.
Sergio Perez: The Mexican received a penalty on Saturday after qualifying and was forced into a comeback race with quite a few problems in tire management. A difficult time for Red Bull who after two races of absolute domination with victories and two doubles had to surrender, leaving the scene and the podium to their opponents.
Lewis Hamilton: The dark period continues for Mercedes. It will be a long season for Lewis Hamilton who had already understood the progress of the weekend after free practice and qualifying. During the race, a problem on the W15 forced him to retire early. However, he would not have had the opportunity to fight for the podium given the forces on the field in Australia. But they are still precious points from a championship perspective, which also vanish after George Russell's mistake, on the gravel with one lap to go. A dynamic that recalled the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix and Russell's accident a few meters from the finish line. Coincidentally, the one won by Sainz too.
