F1 Report Cards: Australia 2022

The F1 paddock was Down Under for the first time since 2019 (we’ll forget that the 2020 shambles ever happened) at a revamped Albert Park. A record-breaking 419,000+ fans packed the grandstands, this mostly in McLaren Papaya to support home favourite Daniel Ricciardo. They witnessed a respectable return to racing for Australia.

A number of drivers and teams had really good or really woeful weekends, so we best get into it! Here are the report cards for round 3 of the 2022 season:

Top of the class:

Charles Leclerc – Qualifying: 1^st | Race: 1^st (+FL)

After that narrow defeat to Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia, Leclerc was keen to return to the top step of the rostrum, and he did so in formidable fashion in Australia.

Topping two of the three practice sessions and being two tenths clear of Max in qualifying left Charles pristinely placed on Sunday. He pulled clear of the pack quite quickly, and barring a small error on the second safety car restart, victory never looked in doubt.

What most struck me was not only how comfortable Charles was during the race, but how keen he was to be setting fastest lap times. Rather than cruising to the chequered flag, he seemed set on getting that extra point. Willing to risk it with a pitstop despite being just over 20 seconds clear of second-place Perez. Ferrari didn’t fancy taking that risk, so they didn’t pit.

His fourth victory was in little doubt, and a first career grand slam and Ferrari’s first since Fernando Alonso at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix is the icing on top of a very large cake for the Monegasque. In three races he already finds himself 34 points clear of second place, and the momentum is firmly with Charles. The rest of his season looks promising, although he himself seems cautious still.

Alex Albon – Qualifying: DSQ (originally qualified 16^th) | Race: 10^th

Carrying over a three-place grid penalty from the clumsy clash with Lance Stroll at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Albon was going to start near the back anyway. But I don’t think he planned to be starting last because of his Williams team not putting enough fuel in the car.

Nevertheless, Albon plodded along on an outrageous strategy that saw him complete the first 57 laps of the race on the hard tyres. He then pitted with 1 lap to go and took the chequered flag in P10, claiming Williams’ first points of the season.

Not only was the strategy utterly bonkers because it involved ignoring obvious windows to pit under VSC and two safety cars, but Albon actually had really strong race pace on Sunday. He was a comfortable P7 before completing the mandatory pitstop, holding behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Which was widely believed to be the third-best car this weekend.

The result won’t end Williams’ car troubles which are seeing them linger at the back of the grid, but it will certainly give the Grove squad some confidence heading into Imola.

Mercedes

George Russell – Qualifying: 6^th | Race: 3^rd

Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 5^th | Race: 4^th

The Silver Arrows will be pleased with their visit Down Under. They may have lost their pole streak dating back to 2013, but jumped at the opportunity to grasp a podium at the start of the 2022 season.

After a nightmare time in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Mercedes definitely took a step forward, maybe not in raw pace but certainly in race trim, as the car looked much better. The fact that Lewis was able to close to the DRS range of the Red Bull of Pérez in the first stint will be positive news to take forward.

It was George who prevailed thanks to a fortunate Safety Car that allowed him to make his first stop to jump ahead of both Pérez and Hamilton. He slipped behind the Mexican but then took advantage of Max Verstappen’s retirement to take his first podium for the Silver Arrows. Meaning he finds himself P2 in the Championship. I don’t think many people predicted that in pre-season testing.

Lewis would follow home in P4 and again displeased with the timing of Safety Cars (definitely have no idea what race he could be relating to), but the 7-time Champion looked far more comfortable in qualifying and the race than he did in previous weekends.

They may not have the optimal package, but it’s a testament to the Silver Arrows that they find themselves P2 in the Constructor’s Championship despite having a car that has often been fourth-best in 2022. Mercedes are still in touch with reality, they still have an uphill battle to haul themselves to the front as Red Bull and Ferrari prepare upgrades for the next round.

Honourable mentions:

McLaren had a well-needed return to form as Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished 5^th and 6^th respectfully. Considering the Woking squad were scrapping in Q2 in Saudi Arabia, a second-row slot for Lando was particularly good work.

Whilst Ricciardo was slightly off Norris’ pace, the Australian driver had the stronger race pace as he found himself less than half a second behind as the chequered flag fell. He’ll also be relieved to take some points away from his home race after the bad luck he had experienced in previous editions.

Also making the list are the Albert Park changes, because they did improve the racing product. Was it the best race I’ve seen? No, but it was respectable in my humble opinion. I’m glad the FIA dropped the fourth DRS zone between turns 8 and 9 before FP3, but it was refreshing to see some overtaking in a modern-day Australian Grand Prix. It’s far from perfect, and there are still some minor changes I’d like to see, but there were some entertaining battles up and down the grid. One of my highlights? Pérez’s overtake on Hamilton around the outside of turn 9 was pretty neat.

The struggle bus:

Aston Martin

Lance Stroll – Qualifying: DNQ | Race: 12^th (despite time penalty)

Sebastian Vettel – Qualifying: 18^th (promoted to 17^th due to penalties) | Race: DNF

The struggle bus will need to be upgraded to a plane to justify just how diabolical Aston Martin’s weekend was. They leave Australia as the only team that has yet to score any points in 2022, a very expensive repair bill and light on spare parts.

Sebastian Vettel returned to the cockpit after his Covid infection forced him out of the first two rounds of the season – and he arguably had the worst weekend of his F1 career. Car failure in FP1 and the now infamous fine for taking a scooter for a whizz on the track, crashing out on the exit of turn 10 in FP3 and only making qualifying due to his teammate contributing to a red flag incident.

He may have got into qualifying, but Seb would then pick up a fine for speeding in the pitlane. His race also only lasted 23 laps before dropping it off the kerbs at turn 4 and spinning into the wall, that after previously running through the gravel at turn 11 earlier in the race. At least there are many rounds to go, but this will undoubtedly leave Vettel questioning his future.

I am also utterly baffled at Lance Stroll’s performance drop off; I have previously defended the Canadian because he matched up pretty well with Sergio Pérez as Racing Point teammates in the first three-quarters of the 2020 season. From there he’s slid back through the pack and has seemingly lost all situational awareness, being involved in a number of incidents where he just…turns in on other drivers. There is no other explanation for it. The crash with the Williams after turn 5 in Q1 was embarrassing and did significant damage to Latifi’s car, so the 3-place grid drop was the bare minimum.

He may have fared a bit better in the race to run in the points, but later dropped out of them as his aggressive strategy failed to materialise. Plus he angered Pierre Gasly (for weaving) to which he received a five-second penalty and Valtteri Bottas (for forcing him off the track).

The plight of Aston Martin is certainly an unwelcome wake-up call for Lawrence Stroll’s investment. Maybe it shows that endlessly throwing money at projects doesn’t always guarantee results. I for one would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the team debrief, but don’t envy the hardworking crew members who will no doubt be sitting through some uncomfortable conversations.

Carlos Sainz – Qualifying: 9^th | Race: DNF

The Championship standings are quite deceiving, because the Spaniard has not had a brilliant start to the season. He may have graced the podium with his presence twice already, but hasn’t been a challenge to teammate Leclerc yet.

He’ll be keen to forget this round. Qualifying was outside of his control due to ill-timed red flags and his car failing to fire up, meaning he was left down in P9. However, the lap 2 spin across the grass, track and gravel of the turn 9/10 chicane was entirely his own making. Beaching the Ferrari on the exit ensured Carlos’ 17-race points streak was over.

Here’s hoping the return to Imola and the support of the home fans can boost Sainz to bounce back quickly, otherwise he could find himself playing second-fiddle to Charles.

Red Bull Powertrains

Another case of the Championship standings being quite deceiving. No doubt Red Bull were second-best at Albert Park and the team were heading for a pretty respectable 2-3 finish until Max Verstappen had to retire with a suspected fuel leak on lap 39. This is the second time in three weeks that the Dutchman suffered a DNF outside of his own control.

The number of failures that Red Bull and AlphaTauri have suffered already this season is alarming, 4 DNFs and 1 DNS in 3 races will be raising serious questions about the now-internal powertrain project. The situation has already left Max downbeat about defending his title, already sitting 46 points behind leader Charles Leclerc, which is a higher gap than Max was able to establish over the entirety of 2021, and we’re only 3 races into the season.

Write Red Bull off at your peril, because they are a team full of engineering geniuses, but there will be a lot of soul-searching at Milton Keynes to find some reliability fixes quickly. There is certainly raw speed, but reliability is something I would recommend if you’re looking to secure another championship, reaching the chequered flag does help when you want to score points.

Dishonourable mentions:

It really pains me to put Fernando Alonso here, because there was so much potential to put the Alpine somewhere in the front two rows of the grid before a hydraulics failure caused him to crash at turn 11. The veteran was nearly 2 tenths up on the sectors Charles posted for his pole time, although the Scuderia was vastly superior in the final sector.

Even during the race, Alonso didn’t do much wrong, but safety car timings and poor strategy from Alpine meant that starting on the hard tyres was fruitless in the end. What needs to be said, however, is that he failed to manage fresh medium tyres when there were points on the table. Which does land him on the struggle bus (or plane). Finishing last of the classified runners will be a bitter pill to swallow for Fernando.

Also joining this list are Haas. Qualifying looked to be a very good stomping ground for the team on Saturdays until now, yet KMag was knocked out in Q1 and Mick wasn’t able to get higher than 15^th. Both made mistakes in the race, but it was Mick leading home his teammate in 13^th and 14^th respectively. Of course, cars are going to deal with different tracks in different ways, but the drop off from the first two rounds to Australia was surprising if not concerning.

A hefty report cards to read whilst the paddock enjoys a break before returning to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Imola now has a permanent place on the calendar until 2025, after being a replacement round for the last few years, and will be kicking off the European leg of the calendar. So we won’t be needing those early alarms for the next few months.

Lights out at 2pm UK time on Sunday the 24^th of April. We also see the return of the Sprint Qualifying format, which I’m sure will continue to divide the fanbase. Tune in to see if anyone can stop the Scuderia from tasting champagne from the top step of the podium on home soil.