The weather in Melbourne is wetter than expected, having an impact on practice and qualifying for round 3.
Q1: PER locks up, runs across the gravel and beaches the Red Bull without setting a time
Q2: NOR runs wide but rejoins ok; he ends up P13
Q3: ALO on provisional pole but he’s beaten by HAM and then ultimately VER goes top
As the clock hits zero, it’s VER, ALO, HAM, STR on the front two (provisional) rows
SAI P3
RUS P2
HAM P3
Grid: VER, RUS, HAM, ALO, SAI, STR, LEC, ALB, GAS, HUL, OCO, TSU, NOR, MAG, DEV, PIA, ZHO, SAR, BOT*, PER*
PER was given the ok to race despite not meeting the 107% lap time
*PER and BOT will start from the pit lane
Pit lane is open; drivers can do a practice start at pit exit before heading to the grid
After ALO’s penalty in Saudi Arabia and OCO in Bahrain, the grid boxes have been made a little wider so hopefully no more penalties for starting out of position
A lot of smoke from VER’s car as they start the engine
VER leads everyone away on the formation lap
Everyone on medium tyres except GAS, OCO, ZHO and BOT on the soft, and DEV, SAR and PER on the hard compound
Are ALO and STR starting on scrubbed sets?
PER and BOT still wait in their garages
As the grid forms up, PER and BOT head to the end of the pit lane
01/58: RUS sneaks past VER into Turn 1
HAM past VER too
LEC spins and into the gravel at T3
Safety Car deployed because LEC’s Ferrari is stuck in the gravel trap
02[SC]: OCO heads into the pits; hard tyres go on
ZHO, SAR, PER and BOT all pit too
Replay of LEC’s spin shows he turned in across STR and they made contact
Race control have decided no further action on LEC/STR contact
VER complaining HAM pushed him wide in T3 (on lap 1)
03[SC]: SC in at the end of this lap
04: Clean restart
VER closing on HAM already
05/58: RUS, HAM, VER, SAI, ALO, ALB, STR, GAS, HUL, TSU, NOR, MAG, PIA, DEV, OCO, ZHO, PER, BOT, SAR; out: LEC
06: DRS enabled
VER fastest lap 1:23.104
07: ALO f/lap
ALB off at Turn 7
SC deployed
08[SC]: RUS pits; hards go on; rejoins P7
SAI pits too
Replay shows ALB lost the rear into T7, spun around, across the gravel, tags the wall and lost his front wing
There’s a lot of gravel all across the track
Red flag – race suspended because of the debris on track
09 [Red flag]: everyone returns to the pit lane
That’s effectively a free pit stop for HAM and VER
One moment HAM is complaining that not pitting last lap was putting him at a disadvantage, but now it’s RUS who’s lost out
Race will restart in 10mins
Track workers are busy sweeping up all the gravel
Expect everyone to restart on the hard tyres
Replay onboard with STR shows gravel peppering the Aston Martin as he passes ALB’s incident
Race control confirm it will be a standing start
09[SC]: SC leads everyone round to the grid
HAM, VER, ALO, STR, GAS, HUL, RUS, TSU, NOR, PIA, SAI, DEV, OCO, PER, ZHO, BOT, SAR, PER, BOT, MAG; out: ALB, LEC
Radio from VER complaining HAM is more than 10 car lengths behind the SC (but the rules say the first car behind the SC “may” fall more than 10 length behind)
The midfield was backing up; a few people had to brake hard and one cut across the gravel to avoid an accident!
Restart procedure is under investigation
10/58: ALO makes a good start but VER elbows him
RUS has passed HUL for P5
11: HAM, VER, ALO, GAS, RUS, STR, HUL, TSU, NOR, SAI
SAI inside NOR to steal P9
12: DRS enabled
VER reeling in HAM
VER around the outside of HAM and takes P1 into Turn 9
13: VER f/lap 1:21.994
RUS closing on GAS; takes P4
STR closing on GAS now
15/58: VER, HAM, ALO, RUS, GAS, STR, SAI, HUL, NOR, TSU
VER has 3.3sec lead over HAM
SAI inside STR for P6
PER squeezes past MAG for P14
16: No further action on the restart procedure
17: Radio for ALO telling him to push HAM
18: ALO has DRS behind HAM
Fire from RUS’ engine! He’s parked it at pit exit
Virtual SC deployed, pit lane closed while marshals extinguish RUS’ Mercedes
19[VSC]: VER, HAM, ALO, GAS, SAI, STR, HUL, NOR, TSU, PIA, OCO, PER, ZHO, MAG, SAR, BOT, DEV; out: RUS, ALB, LEC
VSC ending
20/58: PER looking for a way to pass OCO for P11
23: PER takes P10 from PIA … and then easily past TSU
24: SAI harrying GAS, but STR has DRS behind SAI
Radio from HAM saying he doesn’t think the hard tyres will last to the end
25/58: VER, HAM, ALO, GAS, SAI, STR, HUL, NOR, PER, TSU, PIA, OCO, ZHO, MAG, SAR, DEV, BOT; out: RUS, ALB, LEC
VER f/lap 1:21.843
SAI inside GAS to take P4
OCO all over PIA’s rear wing, so PIA looking to pass TSU
26: OCO takes P11
27: OCO now past TSU for P10
29: PIA around the outside of TSU for P11
Half distance
30/58: VER, HAM, ALO, SAI, GAS, STR, HUL, NOR, PER, OCO
VER almost 8sec clear of HAM
SAI has GAS and STR with DRS behind him
VER f/lap 1:21.772
32: SAI still under pressure from GAS and STR
33: PER f/lap 1:21.456
Looks like there may be another pit stop for quite a few cars, but which compounds do they have available?
34: Radio for HAM telling him the gap to ALO is 1.2s; HAM thinks ALO is on a different strategy; Bono says Aston Martin won’t want to stop because of the tyres they have left
35/58: VER, HAM, ALO, SAI, GAS, STR, HUL, NOR, PER, OCO, PIA, ZHO, TSU, MAG, SAR, BOT, DEV
BOT takes P15
MAG takes P13 from TSU
37: Mercedes have confirmed RUS’ fire was a power unit failure
SAR pits; switches from mediums to hard tyres
38: VER f/lap 1:21.403
HAM f/lap 1:21.400
39: VER f/lap 1:21.319
40/58: VER, HAM, ALO, SAI, GAS, STR, HUL, NOR, PER, OCO
HAM f/lap 1:21.315
41: VER f/lap 1:21.078
VER now 10sec clear of HAM
42: VER f/lap 1:20.986
43: PER f/lap
44: PER inside NOR for P8
45/58: VER, HAM, ALO, SAI, GAS, STR, HUL, PER, NOR, OCO, PIA, MAG, ZHO, TSU, BOT, DEV, SAR; out: RUS, ALB, LEC
PER up to P7 as he passes HUL
46: ALO has been told his tyres are ok and he can attack HAM
47: ALO f/lap 1:20.690
48: VER weaving on the main straight – does he have a problem?
No, replay shows he ran wide in the penultimate corner – it cost him 4sec but he’s still 7.5sec ahead of HAM
PER f/lap 1:20.643
49: NOR looking at making a move on HUL
A late defence by HUL
50/58: VER, HAM, ALO, SAI, GAS, STR, HUL, PER, NOR, OCO
VER f/lap 1:20.342
51: NOR has another look but HUL defending quite hard
52: NOR makes the move again and this time takes P8
ZHO closing on MAG
53: MAG has lost his right-rear wheel – the wheel is still on the track
Yellow flags for the wheel but why no SC?
54: PER f/lap 1:20.235
SC deployed – that decision took too long
55[SC]: Replay shows MAG ran wide and clipped the wall
BOT, PIA, ZHO pit
Radio from HAM reporting a lot of debris on track
Red flag
SC leads everyone back into the pit lane
That gives the teams the chance to put fresh tyres on – expect a lot of soft tyres for the restart
Replay of team radio for VER and ALO being told of the red flag; both sound surprised but the debris is spread across the track
There won’t be any DRS because it’s 2 laps after the restart (so laps 57 & 58) before it’s enabled
56[SC]: SC leads them around to the grid
Everyone on soft tyres
VER takes his spot pointing clearly right, towards HAM
Order is VER, HAM, ALO, SAI, GAS, STR, PER, NOR, HUL, OCO, PIA, ZHO, TSU, BOT, SAR, DEV; out: MAG, RUS, ALB, LEC
57/58: VER cuts across HAM, as expected
VER leads into Turn 1, followed by HAM
SAI tags ALO, spinning the Aston Martin
PER cuts across the gravel
There’s more contact at the back of the field
OCO and GAS are both in the wall
STR into the gravel at Turn 3
Red flag
Surely they won’t restart the race now, but there’s confusion about whether the result is the order from the previous lap
Restart procedure under investigation
Replay shows SAI braked late, hit ALO, spun him around, and ALO was almost immediately on the radio telling the team to make sure the stewards follow what they did at Silverstone i.e. use the previous lap’s positions as the result – how can that be your first thought after you’ve just spun into the wall? Amazing!
GAS ran wide and when he rejoined presumably unaware that teammate OCO was on his inside
SAR ran into the rear of DEV, putting them both in the gravel trap at Turn 1
It’s ridiculous that some drivers are still sitting in their cars in the pit lane, because no-one is sure what happens next
Yet another FIA fiasco! (Michael Masi was there but he’s not to blame this time)
How can the result be so unclear? What a shambles!
If they go out behind the SC, there’s no more racing – they’ll just cross the finish line and the order will be VER, HAM, SAI, HUL, TSU, NOR, PIA, ZHO, BOT, PER, ALO, STR, GAS, OCO, DEV, SAR… but (about) half those cars were stuck in the gravel or too damaged to continue
No doubt there will be teams arguing for a particular decision based on what’s best for them, but that’s why the FIA ought to have made the rules clear – it’s not rocket science to write clear rules – only the FIA can make such a dog’s dinner 🙁
Race control have announced the restart order: 1, 44, 14, 55, 18, 11, 4, 27, 81, 24, 22, 77
Well that seems like the worst possible decision, so I’m not surprised it’s the one they’ve made – what a joke!
Why not just announce the race will not restart and the result is the order at the end of lap 56?
Now they have to shuffle the order of the cars in the pit lane and get them ready to go again … just so they do a procession around one lap
Oh, and now they’ve announced a 5sec penalty for SAI for causing the collision with ALO – I thought the precedent was not to penalise racing incidents on the first lap?
But given the cars will be unable to pass, they’ll all just bunch up behind SAI and try to be within those 5secs
58[SC]: SC leads the remaining cars out of the pit lane
Order is VER, HAM, ALO, SAI*, STR, PER, NOR, HUL, PIA, ZHO, TSU, BOT
VER takes the chequered flag in yet another controversial race, although this time it doesn’t involve him
HUL has stopped on the cooldown lap… leading to another red flag!
Provisional result: VER, HAM, ALO, STR, PER, NOR, HUL, PIA, ZHO, TSU; BOT, SAI* (*due to 5sec penalty)
Well I’m sure this will be “provisional” for a while as there are bound to be protests from Ferrari (for SAI’s penalty) and Haas (for the whole restart fiasco)
Of course the protests that were lodged by Haas and Ferrari have been dismissed … because that’s about the only way in which the FIA are consistent
[2023 calendar and driver line-up]
