A Carlos Sainz applause must be given, for many reasons. To behave like a gentleman on and off the track, out of respect for Ferrari despite a farewell almost upon us. But also for getting one vittoria a Melbourne no fuss, after Verstappen was forced to say goodbye with his right rear brake on fire. For Spanish that ofAlbert Park it is the third success of his career: he took it with strength, pride and by setting a frightening pace, even though he was still recovering from the appendix operation that forced him to miss the Jeddah Grand Prix. At the end of the race he struggled out of the car: the pain was still there, but it was put aside by an unparalleled performance for everyone. Even for a sad one Leclercwho had to settle for second place – for Ferrari the double was missing from the 2022 Bahrain GP – chivalrously admitting Sainz’s victory: “Today it was too fast, I never thought I would reach it.” But his face was all a program.
Leclerc, sad second. Verstappen hadn’t retired for two years – Yes, the Monegasque did not react with great joy to second place. Especially because his teammate has always been ready to leave Maranello forward without fuss, while he suffered too much after the first pit stop to put on the hard tyres. Sainz flew to the finish line, managing to take the second victory granted by the crumbs left by Verstappen in the last two years: Singapore last year, now Albert Park. The world champion retired, after reaching the finish line for 43 consecutive races. It hasn’t happened for two years, since the 2022 Australian GP, when he was forced to withdraw due to a power unit problem. Pérez he finished 56 seconds behind Sainz and this shows how in Red Bull one driver (Verstappen) is an alien while the other is much more human. Even if in Melbourne the feeling of many, not too far-fetched, is that the Red had much more, even than the Dutch. Always a car fast and constant, more reliable than the RB20. An excellent sign of the comforting work that team principal Vasseur is doing together with the team to recover lost ground.
Ferrari, is it the right choice to have said goodbye to Sainz? Now he deserves Red Bull – But if we are finally seeing a good Ferrari on the track again, one wonders if theGoodbye of Sainz is right. Hamilton is disappointing in his results, is currently without motivation and is a distant relative of the driver from three years ago. Sainz, on the other hand, flies as soon as the car is there, and it’s in the best moment of his career, even if he has too often been unfairly underestimated. He found himself ahead of Leclerc in the standings in 2021 (in his first year at Ferrari), he suffered from the change of car with the new technical regulation introduced the following year, but he worked and grew, taking three applause victories (considering also Silverstone 2022). The hope now must be to see him on board one competitive car. Maybe right in Red Bull, to take revenge after the unhappy years in Faenza with Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) characterized by Sparks with teammate Verstappen. The Spaniard would find the Dutchman again. Pérez, on the other hand, has his contract expiring at the end of the season and the team can no longer afford a driver like him, always forced to recover to get as many points as possible. This is why taking Sainz would be the right choice.
The others: Mercedes disaster, excellent McLaren – Beyond the Red domination and a very distant Pérez, the Melbourne GP says that the McLaren is in front of Mercedes e Aston Martin. Third and fourth went to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who was forced to the team order and give way to his British teammate, disappointed in his soul and voice for not having taken the podium in front of his home crowd. For Mercedes, however, the race was a real disaster: Hamilton was out at the start, Russell destroyed the car against the barriers on the last lap. A good day for Aston Martin, who finished with Alonso and Stroll in sixth and seventh place. Even though the Spaniard was summoned by the stewards for a possible “brake test” against Russell. The accusation, launched by the Englishman, is that “Nando” braked for 100 meters in the stretch between turns 6 and 7, thus sending him out. For the Racing Bullcon Yuki Tsunoda, the first points of the season (and of history, if we consider the change of name of the team) have arrived. The Haas of Hulkenberg (9th) and Magnussen (10th) were also good. Bad Alpine, Sauber and Albon’s Williams, which raced with Sargeant’s car (who remained out of the GP) without however scoring points, finishing 11th.
2024-03-24 08:25:25
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