Six things we learnt from the 2019 Australian GP
“To whom it may concern, f*** you,” said Valtteri Bottas over the radio on his slow-down lap following a dominant Australian Grand Prix victory. Expletives are hardly his usual style, but the Finn has plenty of fire beneath that cool, mild-mannered exterior. And the criticism he has faced in the wake of his winless 2018 season has clearly festered.
Bottas can be forgiven for the out-of-character blast, in the wake of a huge, potentially game-changing performance. What a perfect way to answer those who think he’ll drive his way out of his Mercedes-Benz seat by the end of this season. The “wingman”, as boss Toto Wolff infamously labelled him last year, certainly flew in Melbourne.
The winning drive was the first of a few key talking points to be raised in the first Grand Prix of 2019. Here’s what we learnt in Albert Park.
1. Hamilton is facing a threat from within – again
Could this be a repeat of 2016, when Nico Rosberg surprised everyone – especially Lewis Hamilton – by beating his team-mate to the world championship? It’s way too early to answer that question. But if Bottas can maintain his new-found level of form, Hamilton will have another uncomfortable intra-Mercedes fight on his hands.
Bottas was beaten to pole position on Saturday, but on Sunday he made the better start and simply drove into the distance, taking the flag more than 20 seconds up the road from his five-time world champion team-mate. He even nabbed the point for fastest lap – a welcome new element for 2019 – to ensure maximum points.
Floor damage subsequently found on Hamliton’s car offered some explanation to his lack of pace. But overall the Finn deserves huge credit for a performance that was surely the best of his four GP wins so far – and his first since Abu Dhabi in 2017.
2. Ferrari isn’t as strong as we thought
“Why are we so slow?” Sebastian Vettel asked over the radio, with more than a hint of irritation during the Grand Prix. His team didn’t have an answer, and Ferrari will leave Australia hoping Albert Park will prove to be a red-herring, as it has in the past, as a gauge on season form.
The reds’ lack of pace through practice, qualifying and ultimately the race was certainly the biggest surprise in terms of form, following Ferrari’s stellar winter testing showing. Pundits had even predicted after Friday that the team appeared to be sand-bagging and would only show its true hand on Saturday during qualifying.
Nope. The team was just slower than expected.
Vettel’s lacklustre race, in which he was passed on track by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, only intensifies the importance of the next round in Bahrain. As for team-mate Charles Leclerc, he dutifully followed fourth-placed Vettel home in a career-best fifth, adhering to a team request not to challenge, having almost been inadvertently forced off by his team-mate on the first lap.
Leclerc versus Vettel wasn’t much of a story this time, but the signs are it will be at some point this year – and possibly soon.
3. Red Bull was right to choose Honda
Yes, we’re only one race in, but Verstappen’s professional drive to third for Red Bull, delivering Honda its first F1 podium finish of the hybrid era, offered some early vindication for the team’s decision to ditch Renault for the Japanese manufacturer’s power.
Verstappen even had Hamilton in his sights until a trip across the grass and, at least in his hands, the Red Bull appears to be a match for Ferrari. Let’s wait and see on this one. Bahrain will offer more of an indication of the true top-three pecking order.
4. Ricciardo’s Renault challenge will be as tough as predicted
A penny for Daniel Ricciardo’s thoughts as Verstappen crossed the finish line. Again, it’s only one race down, but a flutter of doubt about his decision to quit the team for Renault would be understandable for the Aussie right now.
He certainly endured a miserable home Grand Prix. Pipped in qualifying by his new team-mate Nico Hülkenberg by one hundredth of a second, neither Renault made it through to Q3 on Saturday and lined up in 11th and 12th.
Off the line, Ricciardo attempted to squeeze inside Sergio Perez’s Racing Point, took to the grass and was unlucky to lose his front wing on a drainage gutter. He was later called in by the team to retire.
It will get better for Ricciardo – of course it will. But natural instinct not to feel a pang of regret will begin to grow unless he can pull together a decent weekend soon.
5. Haas is top of ‘Division Two’ right now
Sixth and seventh on the grid for Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen ensured the new-look Haas team is officially ‘best of the rest’ behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari after round one.
The race didn’t go to plan for Grosjean, who for the second year running suffered a poor pitstop. Apparent damage to the left-front wheel nut forced him out in a case of deja-vu, but Magnussen put in a typically aggressive performance to make sure of sixth and leave Haas heading to Bahrain fourth in the early constructors’ ranking.
The close midfield scrap that characterised 2018 has clearly carried over to the new season. It’s going to get intense, even if the gap to the top three appears as gaping as ever.
6. Worries for Williams are only increasing
In contrast to Ferrari, winter testing sadly doesn’t appear to have given a false impression of form for the troubled Williams team.
On a personal level, Formula 2 champion George Russell performed well on his debut, easily outqualifying his team-mate Robert Kubica – but the pair were anchored to the back of the grid, Russell’s qualifying time a desperate 1.3sec slower than the next-best car of Carlos Sainz Jr.
In the race, the Brit persevered to bring his Williams home two laps down in 16th, with Kubica a further lap back in 17th after being another to lose his front wing early in the race. The feelgood factor for the Pole’s remarkable return from injury is already on the wane.
Next up is Bahrain at the end of the month. Expect the desert race to spring more questions, and perhaps the odd answer, on the big talking points of a new season still full of tantalising promise.
Photography by Motorsport Images.