Max Verstappen’s run of nine consecutive Formula One Grand Prix wins came to an abrupt end as his right rear brake caught fire. The RB20 was already in trouble when sitting on pole position, brake temperatures rising meant Verstappen was unable to make his usual first lap dash to break the gap of one second to his nearest pursuer.

Carlos Sainz was all over the back of the Red Bull car and when on lap two the rear right break caught Max out in turn 7, the Ferrari driver used his overspeed to ease past the world champion into turn nine.

 

 

 

Hamilton curt interview

If Red Bull felt they had a poor weekend, Mercedes go away from Melbourne with nothing, following an early exit from Lewis Hamilton with an engine failure and a huge last lap crash for George Russell as he closed in on Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton started the race on the soft tyre hoping to make up several places off the line. Yet Lewis was only able to make up a single place on lap one and then had to suffer the extreme tyre degradation, being the only driver in the pack at the front on the red tyre.

Whilst Hamilton did not suffer too much from his surprise decision to start on the red tyre, it was all for nought as on lap 15 car 33 ground to a halt with a loss of power.

“The engine seized. It just disappeared out of no where… It was a split second thing,” Hamilton explained to Sky in a curt interview.

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“A massive gap”

Lewis was then asked about his comments on the radio when he was passed by Sergio Pérez.

“There’s a massive gap,” emphasised Hamilton. “I think they have a second on us. I mean he was on fresh tyres, but yes just the way he pulled away down the straight – same as last year.”

George Russell is awaiting the outcome of a stewards enquiry into the incident which saw him crash out on the final lap. Mercedes are apparently alleging Fernando Alonso brake tested their driver, causing him to lose control of his W15 into the barrier.

Of course Hamilton will have been pleased to see the car he will be driving claiming victory at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz was dominant from the moment he took the lead from Max Verstappen, even the usually quick Charles Leclerc could not match the pace of his team mate who went on to take the chequered flag first.

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Kravitz on Hamilton/Wolff disagreement

But its going to be a long season for Mercedes and Hamilton who is ever quickly becoming yesterdays man for the silver arrows F1 team. Further there appears to be a rift developing between Toto Wolff and Lewis who were almost in counter propaganda mode during the Grand Prix weekend.

The Mercedes team boss has been talking up the potential of the W15 encouraging the team that the car is a potential race winning machine this year.

Speaking on the notebook, Sky F1 reporter outlined the disagreement between the two saying: “Toto Wolff – he still believes that this car (W15) is somehow going to get there but clearly, I don’t think Lewis Hamilton believes it.

“I think Lewis Hamilton thinks it’s cursed with the same bad handing characteristics in the rear of the car that last year’s car – and the car the year before it – had as well. And clearly this car is still not right.”

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No ‘golden goodbye’

Kravitz claims Wolff has told him personally that he believes the team will turn things around and challenge for race wins this year.

“But Lewis pretty much wrote off this year’s world championship. Lewis made the point himself that he is now 43 points off Max Verstappen after just two races, he has eight points and Max has 51. It might not be the golden goodbye to Mercedes before he goes to Ferrari.”

Hamilton is now without an F1 race win since December 2021 and if Lewis is right, his last year with Mercedes won’t bring that run to an end. Russell will take comfort from the fact he has now out qualified his team mate in the past five consecutive events and as Hamilton explains, George is just more at home with the car.

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Mercedes slip to fifth place

“It’s just a flat feeling,” Hamilton said. “It’s not great. I’m less consistent than George. He is doing a better job with the car. Three qualifying sessions in a row he has out-qualified me.”

“He’s just seems to get on a lot better than I do. I’m just trying to keep my head above water and continue to realise it could be way worse.”

Whether the dispute between Wolff and Hamilton will grow as the season continues is yet to be seen, but the Mercedes boss has a difficult year ahead as his team slipped behind Aston Martin in Melbourne and is now fifth in the constructor standings.

Hamilton almost accused his team of going through the motions when he concluded, “I think for everyone in the team, when so much work is going on throughout the winter for everybody, you come in excited, motivated and driven, and then you’re with the mindset that you’re going to be fighting for wins. And then obviously that’s not the case. And then you’re like, ‘Okay, maybe second, third’. No, it’s not the case, and it cascades a bit further down. And you just go through the motions. It’s challenging.”

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Wolff breaks silence on legal battle with FI

Susie Wolff, a prominent figure in motorsport, has launched legal proceedings against the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) in a recent development. The case has attracted considerable attention, not least because it is backed by her husband, Toto Wolff, the team principal of the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

At the end of the 2023 Formula One season, the world of motorsport was engulfed in controversy and speculation after the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) announced an investigation into Susie Wolff, a prominent figure in the sport, over allegations of a conflict of interest.

This development has not only attracted considerable attention, but has also cast a shadow over the integrity and transparency within the sport’s governing bodies and its associated teams, not to mention a possible black mark against Toto Wolff himself…. READ MORE