F1 | Australian Grand Prix 2022, the podium of the promoted: Leclerc, Albon, Russell / Perez
Charles Leclerc. And who else. Victory, pole position, fastest lap in the race, always leading the Grand Prix, had he raced the Amstel Gold Race he would have won that as well and if he had time left he would also score in City-Liverpool. What do you mean in front of a Grand Chelem? The only flaw is the restart from the second Safety Car, where he collects a bit of dirt and puts himself alone in the corner against Verstappen, but keeps him at bay with unperturbed ease. Then there is the car. But that is also there for Sainz. And 38 points of advantage in three races on a Mr. driver (who made a mistake yesterday, but he remains so) perfectly tell the monstrous start of the season of the boy with the 16. There were those who compared him to Alesi, but on the other hand someone he preferred Jean to Schumacher, so all right.
Alex Albon. Fifty-seven (57) laps on the same tires. A proof from Ironman, more than an F1 driver. And he improves, like the wine, so much so that the fastest lap finds him on lap 54: 1: 22.589, which considering the car and the age of the tires is a great ride. Extreme strategy by Williams, who is doing great with the C2, even if she doesn’t know why. I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to go long in Imola again.
George Russell and Sergio Perez. Theoretically second guides, both ahead of the captains who four months ago had offered the most exciting season of recent years. Sure, Verstappen is more jinxed than Donald Duck, while Russell is one of the miraculous ones of San Sebastian from Heppenheim. But Checo and George are always there and are giving feedback. The former is closer to Max in the race and in qualifying, and with a little more luck he could even win. The second still finishes ahead of Hamilton. Waiting to see them fight on equal terms, with no Safety or crooked qualifications in the way, Sir Lewis begins to give signs of nervousness.
F1 | Australian Grand Prix 2022, the failed podium: Vettel, Sainz, Alonso’s last lap
Alonso’s last lap. Not to mention the ridiculous incident between Lance Stroll and Nichwallas Latifi (did Canada not give us Villeneuves at one time?), I will focus on what Alonso does on the last lap. Unlucky weekend for Nando, in fact, he doesn’t go among the failures but his final lap. After a heavily ruined race, he goes to the pits and changes the set of medium tires. I am not saying that he stops only to try the fastest lap (otherwise he would have asked for the soft ones), but in fact he touches him and the track engineer tells him what the time to beat is (1: 20.9). At the last round ago 1: 20.846, the second best overall time trial. Leclerc (who for some time had opened on the radio stating that he wanted to defend the fast lap, perhaps not from Nando) at the last print the 1: 20.260 which gives him the bonus point. Why did Alonso risk taking it off? I understand the anger of a black weekend, but what did it have to prove? Could it be strong? Even the stones know this. Could the car go fast? Okay, but he is not fighting for the World Championship and he would not have taken the point anyway, being out of the top-10.
Carlos Sainz. Unlucky on Saturday, very guilty on Sunday. The events of the weekend get into his head. Perhaps some psychological trick of the rivals, certainly yet another problem behind the wheel does the rest. He gets nervous, goes into trouble, makes mistakes and maybe he already throws a World Cup: recovering 38 points from this Leclerc, on the same car, is less likely to beat Brazil in ’70 with Mazzone’s Ascoli, and then Ferrari would be masochistic to take points away from Charles after 15 years of lean.
Sebastian Vettel. At nearly 35, the judgment is almost final. He rests on the level of the car: if the vehicle goes fast, he gets motivated and gives his best; but at the first crack he sees, he darkens. And the bigger she gets, the less he reacts. It happened in Red Bull in 2014, in Ferrari and now also in Aston Martin, where the paradox is that the reserve Hulkenberg goes faster than the owners, who instead make beginner mistakes. One of the many oddities of a team and a dysfunctional marriagein which Seb went to the worst team to flourish and the team took the worst driver to overcome the difficulties.
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