Last Updated on March 23 2024, 1:37 pm

Red Bull Racing were not the dominant force down under in Melbourne that many had expected prior to the third round of the 2024 Formula One season. Lando Norris topped the time sheets in practice one, while Charles Leclerc was quickest in the following two and in qualifying Carlos Sainz led the charge for Ferrari in the first two sessions.

It was only as the top ten shootout for pole position began when Red Bull finally came to the fore. Both of Max Verstappen’s runs in Q3 were good enough for pole position as Sainz brave effort for the Scuderia was finally trumped by just over 0.25 seconds.

 

 

 

Perez 3 place grid drop

Sergio Pérez was penalised after qualifying was completed for blocking Nico Hulkenberg at the start of Q1. Checo now sees his hard earned P3 start suffer a three place grid drop for the Grand Prix.

All appeared rosy in the garden for Red Bull and Max Verstappen who now starting at the front in Melbourne attempts to equal his own record of ten consecutive F1 race wins. Yet Max has been battling with understeer all weekend as Red Bull are still learning about their 2024 creation which was more a revolution than evolution from its predecessor, the RB19.

However, with the longest ever Formula One season stretching far into December, the teams are becoming already aware of how their restricted parts allocation is shaping up. F1 rules allow up to four engines per driver this year and the number of exhaust systems is increased to eight. Any further components used attract an immediate grid penalty and clearly with just two rounds of 24 this year completed, the drivers are looking to be using their first set of components.

But it now appears that in practice one the Dutch world champion made a mistake which may have far reaching consequences and an eventual penalty. Max ran wide hitting a raised kerb leaving the Red Bull garage with a repair job but now it appears the problems may be much worse for Verstappen.

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Verstappen fits new engine 

Ahead of Saturday running, Red Bull elected to fit a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, generator units and an exhaust system – which in fact was already the second on Max car this year.

It appears the mistake and subsequent floor damage was far more reaching than initially suspected. Fitting an entire new propulsion system to their car before the third Grand Prix of the season will indeed be of a concern to both Red Bull and Max. Of course Red Bull will attempt to repair the damage components in an effort to ensure Max is not left with just two spare ICE’s for the remainder of the year, but if this is not possible, Verstappen will almost certainly fall foul of the rules at some point and be forced to take a grid penalty drop.

Verstappen told assembled media after the session he had found a silver bullet at the end of Q2: “I think so far this weekend, it has been a bit tough to find a good balance in the car. Even throughout qualifying, Q1, Q2, I didn’t really feel like fighting for pole.

“But then we made some little tickles on the car, and that seemed to help me in Q3 to really push it to the limit. And both of my laps, I felt quite happy with it. There’s always things that you can improve, but overall, I’m very satisfied with the performance.”

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Better racing expected in Australia

Tyre degradation has been the talk of the paddock since the cars hit the street circuit in Melbourne. In by gone years the race in Victoria has often been a less than thrilling affair from a strategic point of view, with teams deploying more often than not, just a one stop strategy. But this year Pirelli have gone more aggressive on their tyre compound choice.

The entire dry weather range is a step softer than in previous years, which means the teams will most likely be forced into a two stop strategy for tyres.

Alex Albon when asked about the tyres he had saved for the race joked about the soft tyre that is was good for “about two laps” when the cars are in full race trim and brimmed with fuel. Lando Norris also spoke about the extreme degradation and how that would play out in the race.

On the long run simulations which take place during practice two when the circuit is most representative of how it will be on race day, Ferrari appeared to suffer less degradation than even Red Bull who have been the masters of building a car kind to it tyres for some years.

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Ferrari look good for a win

Sergio Pérez completed the long run simulation for Red Bull and was clearly concerned when asked about the tyre wear. “I think the degradation was not optimal in that long run, so there’s some work to do, and we’ll build on that.” said Checo after FP2.

Leclerc’s pace even impressed the often implacable Dr. Helmut Marko who said: “In the long runs, they were impressive. As far as we’re concerned, our set-up isn’t great yet.”

Whatever the silver bullet Red Bull found at the end of Q2 certainly worked given Max then blitzed the field to claim his 35th pole position by over a quarter of a second.

Ferrari will hope their recovering Carlos Sainz who starts alongside Max will be able to endure the 58 laps of the upcoming Grand Prix, as he is their best hope of a race win given his team mate Charles Leclerc could only qualify fifth.

Williams “sack” Sargeant

 

 

 

Sainz causing ferrari headaches

Without a drive for 2025, Carlos Sainz has been impressive so far this year. He had the beating of his ‘favoured’ team mate in Bahrain where he came from behind Leclerc to take the final step on the podium behind the Red Bull pair.

Again Sainz was looking good in Jeddah to repeat the feat only to be stricken over night before qualifying with appendicitis and was rushed to hospital for an emergency operation.

With Hamilton out qualified by his team mate for the fifth consecutive time, Ferrari must be concerned they have shipped out a driver who may prove better than both who will don the Maranello red overalls and compete for the Scuderia next season in 2025.

Hulkenberg claims Haas “is too weak”

 

 

 

Woeful Hamilton “doesn’t know what he’s talking about

Lewis Hamilton looked as despondent as he has in his seventeen year log career in Formula One. The Mercedes star driver claimed he felt “the least confident” he has with Mercedes’ W15 finished just 18th quickest on what he described as “one of the worst sessions for a long time” in Melbourne.

Lewis looked equally poor in both the qualifying simulation runs as well as in the race pace runs he completed. He complained over the pit lane radio that he “felt something wrong” with his W15 Mercedes car…. READ MORE