Seeing Friday practice at Albert Park today, made me wonder how on earth we survived without coming here for 3 years. The atmosphere on a Friday was something we never normally see, other than at Silverstone or Monza, and the backdrop is as beautiful as ever. The track isn’t bad either!
The might of Ferrari right now is something to behold, that car is a thing of beauty, and goes as well as it looks. Their extra downforce compared to Red Bull should really help them here, on this tight twisty track. If that wasn’t enough, the team has brought a new diffuser for this race, although it is unclear if it worked as intended. Either way, they are the clear favourites for the weekend. Sainz has stepped up his game this weekend it seems, which could make it a fascinating weekend for the intra team rivalry. My guess is that Charles will still have something special when it matters, but it could be close.
Red Bull continue to hang on to the coat tails of Ferrari. The number of straights at Jeddah really made up for their other issues, and hid the deficit they had. That being said, with the chicane in the middle sector being turned into a long flat out straight, it could bring them closer to Ferrari once again. Verstappen showed promise in practice, yet you could see he was pushing the car more, and risking more in those laps. Perez just needs to be in that top 4 really, although coming off of his first pole, he will be a threat.
Are Alpine the 3rd best team this weekend? Honestly, I still think Mercedes didn’t fully show up in practice, but the French team looks to have found the right window here, and is getting stronger with each race we go to. They will likely be fighting the Mercedes, Alfa Romeo’s, and maybe McLarens.
Whilst Alpine are improving every weekend, Mercedes is going the other way, it is unclear if it is track specific, or underlying issues. The porpoising is seemingly less of a problem, instead, the fixes they made are what is slowing them down. This is going to be a telling few months for a team so used to winning, as to how they regroup, and fight back. The good news for them, is that Russell and Hamilton will extract the maximum out of the car at each race weekend.
As I mentioned before, Alfa Romeo, in the hands of Bottas at least, could well be in the fight with Alpine for 5th or 6th. The Finn did have some issues negotiating Turn 1, but he wasn’t the only one. McLaren are another team on the up as the season progresses, and Daniel will be pleased that it continued going into this weekend. He deserves to score some points this weekend, after the year he has had. However, I fear that Norris may have him covered in the team, which will call into question his future yet again. In Jeddah, their race pace was so strong, and with tyre wear looking high, it could play right into their hands here too.
AlphaTauri are a bit of an unknown, as in practice they too seemed to be in that battle for 5th on back in the midfield, yet, I don’t have the same confidence they will be able to be that far up in qualifying or the race. On the other hand, we know that Gasly can do some special things, so it would be foolish to completely rule them out. Haas have joined Aston Martin and Williams at the wrong end of the grid. This is a worry, although Albert Park is known to be an outlier in the season, so it isn’t a disaster yet.
It may have taken us 3 years to get here, but it could be worth the wait. As with a capacity crowd, an intense 2 team battle up front, and a colossal midfield fight, the third instalment of this season could be just like the first two. Oh, and did someone say a threat of rain on Sunday, on a tight street circuit, with a new surface, and new wet tyres!
-M
Meaning of Motorsport 