John N
Even as the drivers take to the newly remodeled circuit to fight for glory for pole on Sunday, here are some areas to watch when the action gets underway at Albert Park.
- Leclerc vs Vesrtappen
Two races into the season, it’s already clear that Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen are going to be battling for the F1 drivers’ title in 2022. Both showed their prowess in the first two races: In Bahrain, Leclerc and Verstappen raced wheel-to-wheel for the lead, and it was only a failed engine stopped Verstappen from winning. In Saudi Arabia, they competed in one of the greatest racing duels ever seen before Verstappen, ultimately beating Leclerc to the finish line. We’re in for another epic battle on Sunday, after all.
Leclerc qualified on pole position – Ferrari’s first since Kimi Raikkonen qualified on the top back in 2007 – with Verstappen starting alongside him in P2. Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been suffering from heavy porpoising on the straights, but both Ferrari drivers said their main concern is how “unresponsive” the car feels after qualifying.
All three of Leclerc’s F1 victories have come from pole position, but Red Bull – with Perez in P3 – will be encouraged because the winners of the last four Australian Grands Prix have come from second or third on the grid. Either way, we look for another chapter in this fascinating rivalry between these two exciting young drivers.
- McLaren is back in the chase.
Formula 1’s bold new era has not been kind to McLaren, who were looking to continue their upward push on the grid after encouraging seasons in 2019, 2020, and 2021. But the opening two races of the year have been difficult for the Woking team, with neither Lando Norris nor Daniel Ricciardo making it into Q3 in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, and Norris’ seventh-place finish in Jeddah their only points on the board so far. In Melbourne, however, both drivers showed great pace, with Norris setting a time just under one-tenth ahead of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton in P4 and Ricciardo in P7.
- A weekend to forget for Aston Martin.
This weekend marked Sebastian Vettel’s return to the track after missing the opening two rounds of the year due to isolation due to covid infection. Still, it didn’t get off to a good start after his Aston Martin ground to a halt out on track in the first practice, with the team unable to fix it in time for FP2. The morning session was temporarily halted when teammate Lance Stroll’s car shed bodywork, which flew into the path of other cars that were attempting to pass. Things then got worse in final practice when Vettel and Stroll crashed, causing significant damage to both cars. Stroll’s was fixed in time for qualifying, but he crashed again after colliding with Nicholas Latifi at Turn 8 in Q1, which earned him a three-place grid drop for the race – although he was already last, having failed to set a time.
The resulting red flag delay enabled the mechanics to get Vettel’s car fixed in time for one flying run at the end of the session, but the German – having had barely any track running in practice – could do no better than P18.
It caps a miserable weekend for the team in green so far – not helped by two fines for Vettel already: one for riding a scooter around the track on his way back from his FP1 crash. A second for speeding in the pit lane when he finally made it out for that Q1 run – and they will need a healthy slice of luck if they’re able to score their first points of the year on Sunday.
- More Overtaking Expected
There were just ten on-track passes at the last Australian Grand Prix in 2019 in the race. The year before, there were only five – and in 2017, just two. The event in Melbourne is a popular one on the calendar, but the narrow track has meant overtaking isn’t easy. But for this year, the organizers have tweaked the circuit to allow better racing and more opportunities for passing.
Five corners have been significantly widened and had camber changes – including Turns 1, 3, and 6 – while the chicane in Sector 2, which made up the former Turns 9 and 10, has gone. Instead, it’s now a long, sweeping, flat-out run down to the new Turn 9, allowing the drivers to follow more closely at high speed.
With three DRS zones as well, there are high hopes that the trend of fewer and fewer passes in recent races can be reversed.
