F1. Australia 2023 review

By Chelsea Wintle, Aiden McLaughlin and Gavin Huet

Driver of the day
Chelsea – Sergio Perez did well to move through the field from a pit lane start to finishing fifth, but I really, really enjoyed the Lando Norris/Nico Hulkenberg battle toward the end. Excellent racing, so I’m going to go with Lando, partly in the hope that it blesses him with good fortune in races to come.

Aiden – Lando Norris. As chaos struck all around him, the McLaren driver quietly made his way through the race, starting from 13th and finishing in sixth. Were the McLarens the sixth and eighth fastest cars of the weekend (with Oscar Piastri also performing well)? No, they weren’t, but they stayed out of trouble and picked up the team’s first points of the weekend, and Piastri’s first points in Formula 1. Norris defended strongly against the much faster Red Bull of Sergio Perez and also completed a lovely passing move on the Haas of Niko Hulkenberg. McLaren will be hoping their upgrade package will bring them closer to the top teams in Azerbaijan as they have an incredibly talented driver line-up.

Gavin – Oscar Piastri, the local boy making his home debut. The pressure on him was huge, the hype machine was in overdrive and he was dealing with it all like a seasoned veteran. Starting in 16th and ending in 8th, I think it must be all that baking his grandmother did and had delivered to the team.

Moment of the weekend
Chelsea – Ocon and Gasly coming together. It’s well known that there’s been no love lost between these two for over a decade, and I’ve been keenly watching how they interact as teammates. Apparently, all was friendly in the aftermath, with no Schumacher-Coulthard style garage fisticuffs, just cuddly Instagram videos. They each currently hold four points in the driver standings, so let’s see if they’re as chummy in the second half of the season.

Aiden – Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was given a five-second penalty just before the final restart which meant, with a safety car bunching the pack together, he went from fourth to 12th and out of the points. With Charles Leclerc crashing out on the first lap, it was a miserable weekend for the Italian outfit and in many ways summed up a crazy race-day.

Gavin – Race (re)starts, all of them. With tyre temperature on the start an issue there was always going to be drama(s) on the first corner but it looks like the stewards got the calls right – changes to the regulations meant that restarts were required though the FIA needs to learn that communication is key, tell the teams and tell the fans. Trying to guess what is going on with all that chaos and no communication makes the sport look like amateur hour when it does not need to be. And as for Carlos Sainz saying that any penalty he got should have been served after the race… well Carlos, you and the other drivers said you wanted quick decisions and not to have to wait for a couple of hours after the race, and in-race penalties cannot be changed and you should know that.

Hot take of the weekend
Chelsea – I’ll never be one to pass on a terrible pun, so my hot take is about George Russell’s Mercedes catching fire. Russell had a great start to the race, outpacing Max Verstappen to take the lead on the first lap. After Alexander Albon’s crash, the yellow flag Russell pitted behind suddenly turned red, meaning free pit stops for his competitors. He dropped to seventh before mechanical failure and a flaming behind led to him exiting the race. Pure bad luck for the Silver Arrows, but led to more grumpy discourse about the overuse of red flags. It’s a tough balance to get right, but the FIA followed regulations. Even the Sainz penalty was harsh but fair.

Aiden – Lewis Hamilton will be pleased with second, but I think George Russell would have had that spot, had it not been for bad luck. Firstly, Russell changed tyres on a yellow flag, which looked like a good idea, until the red flag came out shortly afterwards, leaving him stranded in 7th place and allowing those ahead to change their tyres before the restart. Then, having made his way back up to 4th after that restart, he had to retire from the race due to engine failure. Ifs, buts and maybes for sure, but I still think Russell is looking the stronger of the Mercedes drivers.

Gavin – Mercedes are back, though Lewis Hamilton whinging that others are faster than him whilst he sets the fastest lap is a bit laughable. If George Russell had not come to a fiery stop Mercedes would have even more points on the board and would be pushing Ashton Martin, who are also using the same engine, for second place in the constructors championship. Lewis is finding his mojo again and the other drivers should be wary.

Cold take of the weekend
Chelsea – After all the carnage, Max Verstappen went on to win the race, including a too-easy overtake of Lewis Hamilton. The contrast between this year and 2021 is stark – we could at least have hoped for some wheel-to-wheel action back then. That being said, I’d call out anyone who would call this season boring. There’s been an immense amount of action in the first three races alone, along with strange penalties, stranger pits tops, and more realistic podium contenders than we’ve seen in years. If you think F1 is boring, you’re not watching very closely.

Aiden – Cold take; cold tyres. Pirelli have some work to do. The tyres and track simply didn’t gel and all drivers struggled to get their tyre temperature up over the weekend. The lack of grip certainly contributed to a messy race all round with yellow and red flags galore. It may have meant extra drama, but driver safety supersedes that.

Gavin – Ferrari are at the back of the pack. Qualifying pace is decent, but race pace and tyre wear is far behind Red Bull. Coupled with errors, bad luck, whatever you want to call it, there are points not being scored. It looks like nothing has changed on that car since the opening rounds in 2022, it is just not competitive. LeClerc and Sainz must second guessing a couple of life choices.

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