In the closing stages of the Melbourne race, Hamilton was starting to close in on team-mate George Russell, who had got ahead of him to run third thanks to a well-timed safety car. As the pair ran around unchallenged from behind, Hamilton said on the radio: “You guys put me in a really difficult position.” […]
Tag: F1
F1 stewards suggest review of safety car protocols after Schumacher near-miss
During a safety car period in the Albert Park race, onboard footage from Mick Schumacher’s car showed the Haas driver making a dramatic swerve to the left on the main straight while trying to avoid Yuki Tsunoda, who had braked in front of him. The Japanese driver was in turn trying to stay clear of […]
Autosport Podcast: F1 Australian GP Review
With a late retirement for title rival Max Verstappen, Ferrari took their second victory from three rounds to continue a strong start to the season. Sergio Perez finished second ahead of George Russell, who was a big gainer under the second safety car, but had to hold off a charging Lewis Hamilton to the flag. […]
Ricciardo buoyed by improved McLaren pace in Australian GP
After a difficult start to the season for the McLaren squad there were signs of significant improvement across the Albert Park weekend. Lando Norris topped Free Practice 3 and was fourth fastest in qualifying, three spots ahead of Ricciardo. The pair then spent the majority of the race running in formation, Norris leading Ricciardo, as […]
Pace would have “fallen off a cliff” trying to fight Perez
Russell sat fifth during the opening stint of the race at Albert Park before pitting under the safety car to leap up to third ahead of both Red Bull driver Perez and team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Russell was instructed with 20 laps to go not to fight Perez for third place as he needed to manage […]
Alonso to race with injured thumbs after Australian GP qualifying crash
The Alpine driver says the impact left him with sore thumbs, but he insists he will be OK for the race. Alonso was on a lap that might have earned him pole position in Q3 when a hydraulic failure towards the end of the lap pitched him off the road and into a tyre barrier. […]
Bottas blames wing choice for ending streak of Q3 appearances in F1
Bottas was left disappointed after his exit in the second qualifying segment at Albert Park ended his record of consecutive Q3 session appearances at 103. The Alfa Romeo driver, who started the first two races of 2022 with his new team in sixth and eighth positions, could manage only 12th place in Melbourne. Bottas admitted […]
FIA can “check my arse” in F1 fireproof underwear clampdown
Amid concerns that drivers had got slack with their race wear, which could compromise their protection in fiery crashes like that suffered by Romain Grosjean at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, new F1 race director Niels Wittich said that he would get tougher on the matter. Wittich informed drivers during a lengthy meeting on Friday […]
Missed starting set-up put Haas on back foot, says Magnussen
Following consecutive Q3 appearances for the team in Bahrain and Jeddah, Magnussen failed to make it out of Q1 at Albert Park and only managed the 17th fastest time, while team-mate Mick Schumacher was the slowest in the Q2 session and will start 15th. But rather than the performance being a concern that the team has lost […]
How Alonso’s F1 DRS campaign found Alpine some speed in Melbourne
For some teams, the removal of the fourth DRS zone made no immediate difference. But for others – notably Aston Martin – it led to some last minute scrabbling around to change the car set-up to suit, triggering a chain of events that led to a disastrous Saturday for the Silverstone team. How the loss […]