Tag: AustralianGP

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Moto3: Öncü Wins Down Under

Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) snatched glory away from pole sitter Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) on the last lap to win the Australian Grand Prix. Aussie crowd favourite Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) took a brilliant 3rd place, rounding off the podium.

There was heartache for Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) after such a commanding performance at the front. Fernandez crashed out of the lead with 6 laps to go. Teammate Jaume Masia finished down in 8th place, with Masia now with just a 4 point lead to Sasaki in the championship as we head to Thailand next weekend.

Image Credit: Red Bull KTM Ajo

AS IT HAPPENED

The conditions were the worst they have been all season for the race at Phillip Island. On the sighting lap, Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team), Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and last week’s winner Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) all crashed en route to the grid. Spare parts were rushed to the grid to make sure they all started the race.

Fernandez could not of dreamt of a better start, moving from 9th on the grid to almost take the lead from Sasaki during the first lap. Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), from 6th, also had a great start and was up into 3rd after turn 2.

Championship leader Masia and Öncü were both sat behind, watching the battle in front. Masia was up into 6th place from 13th on lap 1.

We crossed the line with pole sitter Sasaki leading from Fernandez in 2nd, Veijer 3rd and Kelso in 4th. Into turn 1 and Fernandez took the lead for the first time in his career, up 8 places as we started lap 2.

Yellow flags lit up at turn 4, as David Alonso (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) lost it under the brakes. He was 4th in the Moto3 championship and 29 points behind Masia before the race. Alonso was ok though, as Fernandez looked to break away at the front.

On lap 4, Alonso re-joined the race as Öncü went by Sasaki and up into 2nd. Fernandez had a 1.189 second lead at the front. Home favourite Kelso was in 4th. Title contenders Holgado and Masia were in 11th and 13th respectively as we approached a quarter of the race distance.

With 14 laps to go, Öncü set the fastest lap of the race. The rain seemed to ease off at this point, as Öncü led the group behind to catch Fernandez, now just 0.434 seconds ahead as they crossed the line.

With 10 laps to go, Fernandez was just 0.388 seconds ahead of Öncü in 2nd. Fernandez was inch perfect at this point in the race and seemingly in full command at the front. Special mention should also go to Lorenzo Fellon (CIP Green Power) who started the race in 24th place and, with 10 laps to go, was running in 8th. Championship leader Masia was unable to make any progress in the race and was seemingly stuck in 10th, with fellow title rival Holgado running way down in 16th at this stage.

Down the start straight and Sasaki blasted by Kelso to go back up into 3rd. Only 8 laps to go now and still any of the leading group could take the victory here in Australia.

Öncü then gifted Sasaki 2nd place coming out of Miller corner, and nearly lost the rear. Öncü, only a few corners later, had another scare and lost a place to Kelso. Öncü went from 2nd to 4th on lap 15.

As we headed into the final part of the Grand Prix, Fernandez continued to dominate, posting the fastest lap of the race. Fernandez now had a 1.043 seconds gap to Sasaki in 2nd.

Disaster struck for Fernandez with 6 laps to go. He went down at turn 11 which was a huge blow after such a superb performance. Sasaki was then promoted into the lead of the race and the top of the championship standings as things stood at this point.

5 laps to go, Öncü and Kelso exchanged fastest laps as Sasaki led at the front. Sasaki was keen to pull away as Öncü was back up into 2nd place passing Kelso into turn 1.

With 3 laps to go and Sasaki and Öncü pulled away from Kelso who looked to settle for 3rd place. Kelso is 9.918 seconds clear of Veijer in 4th. Title contender’s Masia was running in 8th and Holgado in 13th place.

THE LAST LAP

Öncü was not giving up the fight for the win and was right up behind Sasaki as we started the last lap of the race.

Down the hill where Andrea Iannone head butted a seagull in 2015, Öncü barged his way into the lead of the race into turn 10. It was a brilliant block pass on Sasaki and yet another last lap winning opportunity squandered for the Husqvarna rider.

It was heartache for Sasaki but a brilliant performance. Home favourite Kelso finished on the podium in 3rd. The front group were outstanding in the conditions today. The leaders finished over a minute ahead of Holgado who finished down in 13th place.

We continue this triple header in Thailand next week at the Chang International Circuit. The Moto3 championship standings are all change once again, with Masia leading the championship by just 4pts to Sasaki in 2nd.

Race Classification

Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP

Feature Image Credit: Red Bull KTM Ajo

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Moto2: Wild Weather Suits Winner Arbolino

A drama-filled weekend on Phillip Island resulted in a change in time for the Moto2 race due to the strong winds and heavy rain predicted.

After being the pacesetter for all the qualifying sessions, Fermin Aldeguer set the Moto2 lap record in the second qualifying session, after breaking it in practice three. His time of a 1:31.888 was 0.4s ahead of his countryman Aron Canet. He was joined by Alonso Lopez on the front row.

Joe Roberts had a brilliant qualifying session, putting his Italtrans Racing Team bike at the head of the second row alongside championship leader, Pedro Acosta, and Jake Dixon. Tony Arbolino, second in the championship, qualified in eighth place.

The weather on Phillip Island was cold, rainy, and windy and this resulted in the riders struggling to keep warm on the grid. That was, if the riders made it to the grid.

Acosta crashed on the sighting lap at turn four and even with the help of the marshals was unable to get the bike restarted. Due to this, he had to start the formation lap from the pit lane and the race from the back of the grid.

Canet got a good start from the middle of the front row and was able to take the lead from Aldeguer however the Beta Tools SpeedUp rider took the lead back at the southern loop. Arbolino was able to get past almost all the riders in front of him to end up in second place at the turn three.

Lopez was able to recover from his poor start and was leading the race until he had a big crash at turn four which meant that the riders had to weave around him. Following this, Sergio Garcia was at the front of the field.

Acosta improved from 31st place to 26th after the first lap.

Arbolino passed Dixon for third place on the second lap and Sam Lowes was sitting patiently behind his countryman, looking to get past. On the second lap, the Italian rider was the fastest rider on the circuit.

At turn one on lap three, Darryn Binder crashed and Zonta vd Goorbergh also crashed on the same lap at turn four. His teammate, Barry Baltus also crashed at the same corner on the same lap.

After leading for a few laps, Garcia crashed at turn eight on lap four. Lowes crashed at turn ten on the same lap.

By lap five, there were yellow flags out at all sectors due to all the crashes that had occurred. Dixon went down at the southern loop, keeping the yellow flags out in the first sector.

Arbolino had extended his lead to 11.380s from Aldeguer due to setting laps three seconds faster than the rest of the field. He was unstoppable at the front of the pack.

Mattia Casadei crashed at Miller Corner, causing another yellow flag.

By lap six, Acosta had made it into the top ten following his back of the grid start and Izan Guevara made a double overtake on Alcoba and Chantra.

On the ninth lap, Celestino Vietti crashed out of thirteenth place and following this, a red flag was called due to the weather conditions. The race was not restarted, and half points were awarded because two-thirds race distance was not completed.

This meant that Arbolino took the win in the horrific weather in Australia from Aron Canet and Fermin Aldeguer. Pedro Acosta was able to improve from his back of the grid start to finish in ninth place.

Feature Image Credit: Tony Arbolino on X (@TonyArbolino)

AUSTRALIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, PHILLIP ISLAND – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 16m 22.970s
2 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 16m 38.058s
3 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 16m 38.584s
4 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 14m 58.401s
5 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 14m 59.122s
6 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 14m 59.124s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 14m 59.908s
8 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 15m 3.659s
9 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 15m 8.067s
10 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 15m 9.110s
11 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 15m 9.263s
12 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 15m 14.974s
13 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 15m 17.292s
14 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 15m 17.379s
15 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 15m 18.900s
16 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 15m 29.599s
17 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 15m 38.590s
18 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 15m 42.647s
19 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 15m 42.945s
20 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 16m 3.249s
  Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) DNF
  Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Mattia Casadei ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) DNF

 

 

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Moto3: Stunning Sasaki Pole in Australia

Feature Image Credit: Husqvrarna - Polarity Photo

Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) was back to his best in qualifying to take pole position here in Australia – the first pole position for Sasaki since the Sachsenring weekend way back in June.

Home favourite Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP), to the delight of the home crowd, qualified on the front row in 2nd. “Full gas” was the message from Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) as he took his first ever front row start, qualifying in 3rd.

AS IT HAPPENED

Qualifying 1

Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) were the surprise names in the Q1 session. Holgado was under a mountain of pressure to stay in the championship fight with Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) and Sasaki.

As always here at Phillip Island, the conditions could have turned at any moment but it thankfully remained dry for the session. The battle for a top 4 spot, and to progress in to Q2, got under way with Holgado leading the pack out onto the circuit.

Ryusei Yamanaka (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) was quickest after the first set of flying laps. Holgado was just getting warmed up to the fast paced circuit and immediately got up into the top 4 on the next flying lap.

With 8 minutes left of the session, Holgado was quickest with Yamanaka 2nd, Filippo Farioli (Red Bull KTM Tech3) in 3rd and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) in 4th.

 

Ortola, with just 20 seconds left of the session, crossed the line with one last effort to get through to Q2 remaining. He was red through sector 1, but came out of the Miller corner, at turn 4, and nearly lost the rear. The team looked nervous, but Ortola just managed to save his weekend and scraped into the top 4 to get through to Q2.

The top 4, and going through to Q2, were Holgado, Yamanaka, Farioli and Ortola.

Qualifying 2

The battle for pole position commenced and the Husqvarna riders stayed in the pits as the rest of the field poured onto the circuit. Sasaki wasn’t keen to tow his rivals round in qualifying.

Teenage rookie sensation David Alonso (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) was on provisional pole as the first batch of flying lap times were posted. However, this didn’t last as Sasaki posted a time nearly half a second quicker to take provisional pole with 7 minutes left of the session. Sasaki was ahead with a lap time of 1:36.654. Alonso was 0.492 seconds behind, in 2nd. After their first runs, Sasaki’s title rivals of Masia and Holgado were 8th and 17th respectively.

Home favourite Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) put in a stunning lap, splitting Sasaki and Alonso, and moved up to 2nd place. He was onto the front row of the grid with 2mins left of the session.

Masia was in 9th place and left the pits with just 90 seconds to spare for a final attempt at pole. This would end up being a big mistake from the championship leader, as he left the pits without enough time on the clock to go for pole position. Masia will have to start tomorrow’s race from 13th on the grid.

It was all change in the starting order as the riders came through to finish the session. Nepa took his first ever starting row qualifying in 3rd place. Last weekend’s winner Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) heads up the second row in 4th place.

Sasaki, with a blistering lap, takes pole position here in Phillip Island. Sasaki has been missing for a few weeks with below par qualifying performances. Today though, Sasaki was back to his best with title rivals Holgado starting 11th and Masia 13th tomorrow.

Last season here in Australia, Holgado crashed out on lap 2, Masia finished down in 15th and Sasaki narrowly missed out on a podium finishing in 4th. Will it be a similar story tomorrow?

Starting Grid

Image Credit: MotoGP

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Guevara crowned Moto3 champion with victory in Australia

Izan Guevara has been crowned Moto3 World Champion after taking victory on the Australian Grand Prix!

After a tough outing in Thailand two weeks ago, Guevara came to Phillip Island hoping to get back on the podium, with the chance to wrap up the title early well within his grasp.

Qualifying for the Spaniard ended with a seventh-place result, meaning there was work to do on Sunday to get to the front.

The race began with damp areas present around the track, but not enough to force the riders on to the wet tyre, with slicks being the choice for all.

Guevara quickly made his intent clear from the start: to get to the front. As the lights went out it was Garcia who took the lead early on ahead of Diogo Moreira and pole-sitter Ayumu Sasaki.

Sasaki made a move for the lead on the third lap as Garcia dropped to third behind Ivan Ortola who had made a good start to find himself in second during the early stages.

Meanwhile the champion in waiting was still on the move, quickly getting up to second on lap four with an impressive move past both Moreira and Garcia, with his eyes firmly set on the lead.

By the eighth lap an exciting battle for first emerged between Garcia, who had taken first a few laps prior, and Guevara.

This battle went on for the rest of the race, with Sasaki and Deniz Öncü joining the fight.

The race went right down until the final lap, with the four riders separated by almost nothing!

Guevara had the pace to find a couple of tenths over his rivals, and crossed the line as winner ahead of Öncü, Garcia and Sasaki, crowning him champion!

With that, Guevara can now breathe a sigh of relief as he heads to the final two rounds of the year with the title already wrapped up.

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Worth the wait!

Qualifying:

Marc Marquez was back with his incredible skills at saving his Honda from crashing, once again during the qualifying.

It was Jorge Martin (Ducati) who pipped him to the post to take his 3rd pole this season and an all-time lap record (1:27.767), with Marquez following closely behind him. Finishing the front row was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and the other championship contenders Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro behind him, in 5th and 6th.

Claiming pole. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

If qualifying was anything to go by, we were going to be in for a treat on Sunday.

Race:

Rain had poured during the night, but it was glorious sunshine that greeted everyone at Phillip Island in the morning. This race had been 3 years of anticipation and audiences were excited to see what was in store:

Lining up on the grid Bagnaia appeared to have trouble with his start device, he just about managed to sort the issue before lights went out. When the lights went green, it was Martin who led Marquez and Espargaro into turn 1. Bagnaia went backwards to 4th place but by turn 2 he was up to 3rd, passing one of his championship contenders.

Home-Hero, Jack Miller (Ducati) started to carve his way through the pack and on lap 2 of 27 he had made his way up to 6th, passing Alex Marquez (Honda) and Luca Marini (Ducati) in the process. His championship hopes weren’t quite done with yet.

Marini fought back on ‘Miller Corner’ (having been named after Jack during the weekend). Miller soon took the place back though, knowing he couldn’t let the championship leaders get away. By lap 3 he had managed to also pass Espargaro to sit behind his teammate. Would team orders come into play?

The answer is no – Miller passed Pecco to take 3rd a lap later. But Pecco was having none of it and fought back.

Meanwhile, behind them Quartararo lost another place to Marini but seconds later Fabio made a mistake and was forced to go onto the grass verge, entering back into the race in 22nd place, behind his teammate Franco Morbidelli.

While this was all happening Alex Rins (Suzuki) had taken fastest lap and was up into 7th place behind Marini. He soon passed him to take 6th. Rins was seemingly on a charge. Not content with his new spot, he soon took another one, this time from Espargaro in 5th. Could he make it to the podium?

With 22 laps still to go Martin led Marquez and Bagnaia.

Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

All eyes were on Suzuki-man Rins as he caught Miller by surprise, claiming his spot too (for 4th) and on lap 8 he also passed Bagnaia for 3rd. Could he manage to conserve his tyres to make it to the end of the race after pushing so hard? Only time would tell.

Miller seemed to be in the wars as Espargaro passed him for 5th (and took fastest lap), on lap 9. Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) also managed to push Miller back to 7th. Alex Marquez tried his luck too but instead he hit Miller from behind, narrowly avoiding hitting Marini as well, sending them both into the gravel, on ‘Miller Corner’ ending both their races early. (It was later confirmed that A. Marquez would get a long-lap penalty next round for ‘riding in an overly aggressive manner’).

Checking Miller is okay. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Back at the front of the race Rins and Bagnaia had a tussle for 3rd with Bagnaia being the victor this time round.

By lap 10 Fabio had made it up into the points positions (15th) but on the next lap on turn 2 he made a mistake and crashed out of the race, taking zero points at Phillip Island. Has the dream for a second championship gone?

On the same lap Rins managed to pass Bagnaia and Marquez. Martin then led Rins, Marquez and Bagnaia into lap 12.

Rins was clearly up for fighting for the win and on lap 14 he saw his opportunity to get into the prime position, taking 1st from ‘The Martinator’ smoothly. While positions were being swapped behind him – Bagnaia passed Marquez and Martin and then Marquez also passed Martin – he had gone from 1st to 4th in only 2 turns.

Marquez was the only rider though to have taken a gamble with a soft rear tyre. Would the gamble pay off?

Martin soon lost yet another place, this time to Bezzecchi and in-front of him Bagnaia had had enough of watching Rins and had taken the lead. On the next corner Marquez also followed suit and passed Rins.

With 13 laps to go Bagnaia led Marquez, Rins and Bezzecchi. How much more drama could there possibly be? If crowds weren’t on the edge of their seats already, they soon would be:

Such close racing – Bagnaia, Rins and Marquez. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Just 11 laps until the end and Rins seizes his opportunity to pass Marquez for 2nd and Martin passes Bezzecchi back. Blink and you would miss the action!

Martin had found his second wind and managed to also pass Marquez for 3rd but lap 19 Marquez got his spot back and brought Bezzecchi with him, who managed to also claim a position from Martin, pushing him back to 5th. On the next lap a battle commenced between Bezzecchi, Marquez and Martin. Bezzecchi managed to claim Marquez’s spot and Martin also passed him, but Marquez fought Martin off to keep 4th. While back at the front Rins had managed to claim first position.

With only 8 laps to go Rins now led Bagnaia, Bezzecchi and Marquez.

So much action on track, no-one knew where to look!

Yet there was still more to come:

Bagnaia powered past Rins on the start-finish straight to re-take the lead and to start lap 21. Rins then got swallowed up by both Bezzecchi and Marquez to go back to 4th. The same thing that had happened to Martin moments ago.

With 6 laps to go Rins and Marquez fought for 3rd but it ended with Marquez going wide and Martin passing through, sending Marquez back to 5th. Could he still put up a fight with his soft rear tyre? If there was an issue with the soft tyre Marquez was ignoring it as he soon passed Martin back for 4th.

Bezzecchi seemed to be in trouble with Rins, with 3 laps until the end on turn 2 Rins managed to make his pass stick and was soon hunting down Bagnaia again. Meanwhile Marquez had also passed Marco to take 3rd. Marquez wasn’t letting Rins get away – they tussled for 2nd place, but Rins won.

Last lap:

Bagnaia led Rins, Marquez and Bezzecchi over the line but Rins passed Bagnaia shortly after and Marquez followed him. Could Marquez make the pass to snatch victory?

No, he couldn’t – Alex Rins took the chequered flag for a fairytale win for Suzuki. Followed closely by Marquez and Bagnaia.

Top Ten Finishers:

1st

A. Rins

2nd

M. Marquez

3rd

F. Bagnaia

4th

M. Bezzecchi

5th

E. Bastianini

6th

L. Marini

7th

J. Martin

8th

J. Zarco

9th

A. Espargaro

10th

B. Binder

It was such a close race between the top ten racers. But it was all about celebration: Rins became the 7th different winner this year, Marquez took his 100th premier class victory and Bezzecchi became Rookie of the Year!

Rookie of the Year. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Top Four in Championship:

1st

F. Bagnaia

233 points

2nd

F. Quartararo

219 points

3rd

A. Espargaro

206 points

4th

E. Bastianini

191 points

We have certainly missed Phillip Island these past 3 years – but wasn’t it worth the wait?!

 

 

(Featured image: courtesy of: Moto GP website). 

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Australian GP Qualifying Report

For round 3 of the 2022 F1 World Championship the F1 circus rolls into Australia for the first time since the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic struck. After 2 great opening races and the 3 practice sessions of the weekend it looked as though it was going to be another battle between RedBull and Ferrari with maybe a McLaren and an Alpine thrown into the mix.

Charles Leclerc at Albert Park, image courtesy Pirelli media

Q1 began with doubts over whether the Aston Martins would be involved after their crashes in FP3. The first drama of the session was brought to us by Nicholas Latifi who went for his now customary spin (who needs Mazepin), he recovered and continued on his way. With just over 10 minutes into the session and with everyone apart from the Astons having set a time Stroll exited the pitlane after some excellent work from his mechanics. Unfortunately he decided to drive into Latifi before he could set a time wiping both out of the session. This caused a red flag which ironically helped out his team mate who’s car was now repaired.  There was now a crazy race to get to the front of the queue for a one lap qualifying dash. The track seemed to have got a little slower after the red flag as no real improvements were made.

The session ended with Verstappen fastest with a 1.18.580, just 0.254 ahead of his team mate Perez. Out in Q1 were Albon in the Williams, Magnussen in his Haas, Vettel after getting just one lap in the whole session in his repaired Aston Martin, Latifi and Stroll.

Q2 was delayed further by another Williams of Alex Albon stopping on the track at the end of Q1. Once the session got up and running it was Verstappen who led the cars out. He immediately went quickest again from his team mate Perez. A few minutes into the session and Fernando Alonso joined the party pipping the second RedBull. Perez however had stayed out and went quickest just a few minutes later. The Mercedes cars were still having issues and were at least three quarters of a second off of the quickest time, however Lewis Hamilton seemed to find some time to set the quickest first sector of the session so far, unfortunately for him the rest of the lap wasn’t so good. With 5 minutes remaining the Ferraris bolted on some fresh soft tyres, it seemed that even the Ferraris were suffering from porpoising this weekend and it looked to be slowing them down a little, Sainz went P3 on his first lap on fresh rubber, He was immediately  beaten by his team mate Leclerc who moved up to P2. The session came to a close with Perez fastest with a time of 1.18.340, just 0.129s ahead of Carlos Sainz in second.

Out in Q2 were Mick Schumacher who impressively outqualified his more experienced team mate, Zhou in the Alfa Romeo, Tsunoda, Valteri Bottas in the Alfa who failed to reach Q3 for the first time since he left Williams and Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri.

And so we moved to the Q3 shoot out for pole position. The sun was setting and was causing most of the drivers issues with both Leclerc and Hamilton asking for new helmets with darker visors for the session. Once again the World Champion was first on track.

He set a blistering pace with a 1.18.3 however had a lock up on the very final corner, giving him quite a bit of time to be found in the second run, again Perez then went quicker as he looked to have had the upper hand this weekend just like in Saudi a few weekends ago. Leclerc then took the top spot just as Fernando Alonso looked to be on a scintillating lap before he ended up in the wall with a suspected hydraulic issue preventing him from downshifting. The session was red flagged to have Alonso’s stricken Alpine removed from the gravel trap. Unfortunately for Sainz this meant his time wouldn’t count as the red flag appeared just as he was about to cross the line.

The session restarted with 7 minutes remaining on the clock. The two Mercedes were first out, as they seemed to need to do 2 warm up laps to get any performance from the soft tyres. Hamilton moved up to P5 and was then beaten by Russell who moved to P4. Verstappen then improved to go P1 but was then beaten by Leclerc with a sublime lap in the Ferrari, once again the Monagasque had secured pole position with a time of 1.17.868 just 0.286s ahead of the Dutchman..The top 3 was rounded out by Perez in the second RedBull who will be joined by Lando Norris on the second row.

Next up were the 2 Mercedes locking out row 3 with Lewis Hamilton in front of George Russell, then came Ricciardo in the second McLaren alongside Ocon in the Alpine, ninth and tenth were the 2 Spaniards, Carlos Sainz who’s best time was lost due to the red flag and then Fernando Alonso in tenth.

Tomorrows race should be another tactical bout between RedBull and Ferrari but with the changes made to the circuit this year hopefully the battle will be on the track, something which hasn’t happened in the recent years at Albert Park. Round 3 looks like it could live up to the hype of the first 2 rounds of the season.

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2019 Australian Grand Prix Driver Ratings

The first round of the 2019 Formula 1 season is complete – here we look at Australian GP driver ratings:

Valtteri Bottas – 9

Sunday was near perfect, with a lightning start allowing him to jump his team mate and from then he just went off into the distance, getting an extra point for fastest lap as well. He wasn’t necessarily the winner we expected from pre-season testing but he was without a doubt the driver of the day.

2019 Australian Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images

Lewis Hamilton – 7

Hamilton is well known for having the Saturday pace which generally puts him in good stead for Sunday, but he was beaten fair and square during the race. Still, he’ll take the podium along with the equal record for the most poles at one circuit.

Max Verstappen – 8

Verstappen put in the best performance for Honda in the whole of the hybrid era with his podium finish. He managed his tyres well and made an easy move on Vettel. A mistake at turn one hindered a late attack on Hamilton, but he will leave Melbourne with a smile on his face.

Sebastian Vettel – 7

Vettel had a solid start and was quick in the first stint, attempting to attack with an undercut which ultimately didn’t work. You can guarantee an investigation will be underway at Ferrari to figure out how they ended up 57 seconds behind the winner.

Charles Leclerc – 6

A great start by Leclerc but he was rather ambitious to attempt a move on his team-mate which could have ended in tears. Unlike his team-mate, he was slow in the first half of the race but fast in the second, and caught up to Vettel before being told to hold position. He showed he had speed in Q2 but the Ferrari doesn’t seem to be the package everyone thought.

Ferrari Media

Kevin Magnussen – 8

Magnussen was best of the rest in Australia, with solid pace and what seems to be the fourth quickest car. It was a better result than last year with no faulty pitstops, even if he was outqualified by his team-mate.

Nico Hulkenburg – 7

It was another result in a familiar place for the German. He started 11th so had free choice of tyres, which benefitted him in the race as he got the move on a few other drivers.

Kimi Raikkonen – 8

Raikkonen did exceptionally well considering where the team was last year, with a very aggressive package seeming to suit him well. He got the car into Q3 and kept that momentum going into Sunday.

Lance Stroll – 7

Stroll always raises eyebrows due to how he got into the sport, but in the race he showed he was fully deserving of the seat at Racing Point as he was in the thick of it all weekend. He scored the team’s only point, having some great battles whilst keeping the car clean.

Danil Kvyat – 6

A good return to the sport, ignoring a mistake at turn three. He was ambitious to run the hard tyre and defended well from faster cars behind, taking his car deeper into the race and allowing him to overcut the majority of them for the last point.

Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Pierre Gasly – 4

Australia will be a race to forget for Gasly. A mistake on Saturday by the team cost him dearly and he spent most of the race staring at Kvyat’s rear wing, unable to get past even on the softest tyre.

Lando Norris – 7

It was a great Saturday from Norris, but an early stop in the race in reaction to others put him in traffic. He was unable to pass Giovinazzi for several laps and just missed out on the points. Expect big things from Norris this season.

Sergio Perez – 5

It was an off-day for the Mexican on Sunday as he was classified down in 13th. He got caught up in the midfield battle which let others overcut him. The car looks great though, so there will be plenty more opportunities for him.

Alex Albon – 6

Despite being the first to spin this season in similar circumstances to his incident in testing, Albon did a good job. He matched Kvyat for outright pace on Saturday but was just caught up in the ever-so-tight midfield squabble. A good Sunday debut.

Antonio Giovinazzi – 5

The returning Italian was a pain for most at Melbourne, stuck on a confusing strategy with his tyres were ruined, and becoming a replacement for the infamous ‘Trulli train’. He showed true grit in terms of defence but not a lot of outright speed, though this is only his third ever race in F1.

George Russell – 6

Russell blitzed his much more experienced team-mate, but that’s not saying much considering Kubica is really the only competition he has due to Williams being so far behind the others. He finished his debut race and hopefully get in the mix, sooner rather than later.

George Russell (GBR) Williams Racing FW42.
Australian Grand Prix, Sunday 17th March 2019. Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.

Robert Kubica – 3

A race to forget and move on from for Kubica. He hit the wall twice on Saturday and then hit Gasly at turn one on the first lap of the race. Williams will have collected some data though, and Kubica will get quicker and quicker throughout the season.

Romain Grosjean – 7

Another pit stop failure resulted in early retirement for the Frenchman, after being on course for a good points haul. A long delay in the pits pushed him down the order, and he then had to stop the car on track due to a ill-fitted left-front tyre.

Daniel Ricciardo – 5

For the first time in Melbourne in the turbo era, Ricciardo failed to get through to Q3 on Saturday, and his race – his first for Renault – was pretty much over in a few seconds when he pushed wide onto the grass and broke his front wing. He decided to retire the car.

Carlos Sainz – 4

Sainz was beaten by his rookie team mate on Saturday comprehensively, and was the first to retire on Sunday. Because of the nature of the track he had been unable to make up much ground prior to the retirement. He is a fighter though, and will be back for Bahrain.

 

[Featured image – Wolfgang Wilhelm]

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What goes around comes around

Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel are in party mode, after an unexpected victory in the first race of the 2018 season in Melbourne.

The German driver, qualified third, behind his team-mate and the 2017 world champion, Lewis Hamilton. The Italians took a risk and split the strategy between the drivers, Kimi Raikkonen pitted on lap 21, switched from ultrasofts to softs, Mercedes called Lewis Hamilton into the pits right after Kimi’s stop. Sebastian Vettel, remained on track for some extra laps, on the 25th lap Kevin Magnussen pitted from the fourth position, a few meters after Kevin re-joined the track, forced to step aside and park his car due to an error during the pit-stop.

A couple of laps later, Romain Grosjean pitted for a fresh set of supersofts tyres, but he copied his team-mate exact footsteps, Romain parked his car and retired from the race, for the same reason as Kevin Magnussen, loose wheels, after the pit-stop. The wheels on both cars were not being placed correctly before the nuts were tightened.

The only difference between Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, retirement, was the Grosjean’s car could not be easily recovered, hence the VSC deployed followed by a safety car.

During the VSC period, Sebastian Vettel pitted, that gave him a 10 second advantage over Lewis Hamilton. The German, re-join ahead of the Mercedes and he was leading the race. Hamilton pushed hard, after the SC, to catch and pass Vettel, the British champion was very close to Vettel’s Ferrari, but a small driving error cost him time and he also lost pace in the final laps of the race.

Sebastian Vettel celebrated a second consecutive victory in Australia and started the 2018 year with the same way he did in 2017.

A poor strategy, cost the chance to Red Bull to be competitive and score a podium in Australia. Both Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen started the race on supersofts, Verstappen and Ricciardo qualified fourth and eighth respectively. A three place grid penalty was given to Daniel Ricciardo for failing to slow down for a red flag, during free practice.

The Dutch, was not quick enough to challenge the two Ferraris in the opening lap, at turn one on the tenth lap, Max spun his Red Bull and lost places. He was unable to recover, as he was also facing unbalance issues caused by the damaged floor on his car.

Daniel Ricciardo wanted to finish on the podium in his home race, after the retirement of the two Haas, the Australian was fourth behind Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, had to defend his position as Daniel was on his tail for most of the time in the final laps of the Grand Prix.

At the end, Ricciardo finished fourth and Max Verstappen sixth, behind Fernando Alonso.

Double point finish for McLaren

For the first time since 2014, McLaren scored points in Melbourne. The fifth place that Alonso took matched his best ever result in three years with Honda power. McLaren, couldn’t imagine a better start, Alonso and Vandoorne scored 12 points combined in the opening race of the 2018 season.

Furthermore, Fernando Alonso had the pace to hold back a Red Bull and he finished ahead of Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes.

The outcome of the race affected by the VSC and Haas retirements, personally I was impressed with the pace the American team showed in the first laps of the Grand Prix and I would like to see them racing until the chequered flag.

It is still too early to judge, but I will take the risk to say that Asia will play a key role in the championship. If Ferrari has learnt from their mistakes, this year will be very interesting till the final chequered flag.

 

 

 

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