2024 Australian Grand Prix | 8 talking points

1. Sainz might have won anyway

That was certainly the view of Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez after Sainz put in a superbly dominant display to score his third grand prix victory.

Ferrari was bang on the pace around Albert Park, with Sainz leading Charles Leclerc to line up on the front row. Sure, Verstappen had pulled out just what he needed when he needed in Q3 to take pole position, but Red Bull’s weekend hadn’t been anywhere near as convincing as we are used to seeing. And in the race, the world champion was under pressure from the start. Indeed, Sainz swept around the outside of Verstappen on the way into Turn Nine on the second lap, before Verstappen was forced to call it a day two laps later. How their battle would have played out can only be imagined, of course, but Sainz sure looked convincing as he scored an untroubled victory.

The win makes him the only driver other than Verstappen to have won a grand prix in more than a year. And of course, it comes in the wake of Ferrari choosing to sign Lewis Hamilton for 2025 and drop the Spaniard, who doesn’t yet know who he will drive for next year. Talk about proving a point just when he needed to.

2. Ferrari one-two – but let’s not get carried away

Charles Leclerc was magnanimous in accepting he was second-best on this weekend as he saw off Lando Norris’s challenge to deliver Ferrari a sweet one-two – the best result for the Scuderia since the opening race of 2022 in Bahrain.

But is it a sign that Red Bull and Verstappen have a genuine title battle on their hands? That would be much welcome and surprising given how Verstappen and Red Bull started 2024 in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. But one swallow does not a summer make. The Albert Park circuit has thrown up form anomalies before and cannot be judged a reliable guide to what we’ll see at other circuits from here on in.

Suzuka is next up, following the Japanese GP’s move to spring, and it seems likely Red Bull will hit back on a demanding track that tends to play to its downforce-laden strengths. Still, how refreshing to see the world champions come under such pressure. This was a great Ferrari performance, whatever the circumstances.

3. Brakes put on Verstappen’s run

The tell-tale smoke from the right rear of Verstappen’s Red Bull was the first sign. By the time he trailed into the pits a small fire had broken out as a caliper caused the brake to bind to the disc. Was it mechanics’ ‘finger trouble’? Suggestions after the race were of bolts not having been done up properly following a post-qualifying check – although Red Bull said it needed time to investigate properly.

If it was human error, well, that’s just motor racing – and even a great team such as Red Bull can be prone to the odd moment of weakness. But not often. Verstappen had gone an amazing 43 races without a non-finish and was on course in Australia to equal his record set last year of winning ten grands prix in a row. He’ll just have to start the run again now.

4. Piastri unperturbed by team orders

McLaren took great encouragement from its performance in Australia, even if Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri just lacked that last bit of performance to take on Ferrari. Norris outqualified his local hero team-mate but fell behind when running longer to the first pitstop. Back on track and with fresher rubber, he was clearly faster and Piastri – to his credit – didn’t blink when the team told him to cede so Norris could have a crack at Leclerc. The British driver fell short in his quest but had the consolation of claiming his 14^th podium – thereby moving beyond Nick Heidfeld for the unwanted record of scoring the most in F1 without having won a race.

Piastri’s lack of histrionics over the call, even though it compromised his bid for a cherished podium at his home race, was a mark of the young man. Norris had outqualified him and was quicker in the race, so it really wasn’t a problem. McLaren is blessed to have these two.

5. Pérez powerless to step up for Red Bull

In the wake of Verstappen’s troubles, his team-mate noticeably wasn’t there to pick up the pieces. Pérez had played the reliable tail-gunner in the first two rounds, but here the Mexican was a little underwhelming. He lost a place on the opening lap to George Russell and at least recovered to finish fifth – but given the pressure he faces to convince Red Bull of his worth beyond this season, such a showing wasn’t really enough. All that said, a helmet visor tear-off getting stuck in his floor was said to have robbed his car of significant performance – up to 0.2 seconds per lap.

This early in the campaign, on a weekend when Red Bull clearly struggled in a way we’re not used to seeing, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt this time. But he really needs to step up his game at Suzuka and beyond.

6. Alonso punished for Russell crash

In the closing stages, Russell found himself chasing down Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin for what would have been sixth. But the battle ended abruptly on the final lap when Russell ran off into the gravel on the outside of Turn Six, his Mercedes hitting the Turn Seven wall and ending up on its side in the middle of the track. A Virtual Safety Car was called, meaning the race finished under caution.

It had appeared Alonso was slower than Russell expected into Turn Six and the thought occurred the Spaniard had brake-tested the Brit in his defence of the position. The stewards took a look at it and decided the evidence was enough to warrant a punishment for what it labelled was “potentially dangerous driving”. Alonso was handed a drive-through penalty which because he couldn’t serve it, was converted to 20 seconds added to his race time. That dropped him to eighth behind team-mate Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda in seventh, the Japanese seemingly responding well to inevitable mounting verbal pressure laid on by the ever-direct Helmut Marko.

Alonso disputed the penalty and felt he was driving tactically in his defence, not dangerously. But Aston Martin won’t protest the call, so he’ll just have to live with it.

7. Double points for Haas

Major kudos in Australia for Haas duo Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, who both added to the former’s hard-earned point in Jeddah with three more for ninth and tenth at Albert Park. The performance and result only enhances the positivity at Haas following a dire 2023 and shows well for new Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, who replaced the high-profile Guenther Steiner back in January.

8. Embarrassment for Williams

To make it sweeter, Hülkenberg and Magnussen got the better of Alex Albon to earn their scores and open up what could be a valuable early gap over troubled Williams, Sauber and Alpine.

Williams in particular found itself in an uncomfortable spotlight when Logan Sargeant was benched so Albon could race his car, after the Thai driver’s heavy practice crash. Favouring its quicker driver was logical. But for Williams to be forced to make the call at all, without a spare chassis to call upon, was the real indictment of just how far this once-mighty team has fallen.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images