F1 2022: Australia

A return to Albert Park for the first time since 2019! It’s hard to believe that the likes of Norris and Russell had only raced at this circuit once in F1 before this weekend. A lot of the scheduling this weekend wasn’t terribly UK timezone friendly, so I wasn’t keeping my eye on the live action (I was asleep!).

Vettel was finally back on track following a lengthy period out with covid, however he wasn’t very lucky when he left the garage: a shunt in FP1 ruled him out for FP2 and FP3, he received a fine for using a marshall’s scooter, and then only just made it out for qualifying due to the mechanics working rapidly during the red flag in Q1. Alonso was unlucky in qualifying as he was on a lap that was set to challenge for pole position, before colliding with the wall ending those hopes. It was Leclerc who came out on top on Saturday, with the two Red Bulls directly behind.

Carlos Sainz didn’t have a good start to his Sunday at all, retiring his Ferrari after just one lap after beaching it in the gravel and was unable to get it going again. A few safety cars, deployed to allow marshalls to clear debris, played into some driver’s hands as they were able to pit and bunch up the pack. Vertsappen’s mediocre start to this season continued after he was forced to retire with some sort of mechanical issue. Leclerc extended his lead at the top of the standings after obtaining his first ever grand slam: pole position, fastest lap, and the win. I will always remember his second ever victory: Monza 2019, I was there and the atmosphere from the Italian tifosi was absolutely unreal.