At last, Ferrari have come back with a decisive first and second place, this at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Carlos Sainz was in top form all weekend despite recovering from an appendix operation, finishing just 2.5 seconds in front of his teammate, Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen was unlucky to have a brake problem on his car from the start and a small fire inside the right rear wheel caused him to retire.
It was a two-by-two situation with the McLarens Mercedes in third (Lando Norris) and fourth place (Oscar Piastri).
The latter had earlier been asked by the team to let Norris through as his (Norris’s) car was quicker on the day.
Sergio Perez, in his Red Bull, was next up in what was a slightly disappointing race for him.
In the sixth spot came Lance Stroll, unusually quicker than teammate Fernando Alonso, in eighth position.
In seventh place was Yuki Tsunoda after another good drive in his Red Bull Honda.
The two Haas Ferrari cars then followed, with Nico Hülkenberg ahead of Kevin Magnussen in ninth and tenth places respectively.
The Japanese Grand Prix will follow in two weeks where I think a few updates on the cars may arrive.
We will see whether Red Bull are true to what was earlier stated regarding a modification to their air intakes and follow with interest other teams upgrades.
There is also a rumour that Carlos Sainz may replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull by the end of the year.
Japan’s Suzuka circuit is very technical with a large number of high-speed corners and I expect Ferrari to perform well there.
It should be another very close race with both McLarens also very much in the reckoning.
See you on the other side of the Sea of Japan.
Drivers:
1 Max Verstappen 51
2 Charles Leclerc 47
3 Sergio Perez 46
4 Carlos Sainz 40
5 Oscar Piastri 28
Teams:
1 Red Bull 97
2 Ferrari 93
3 McLaren 55
4 Mercedes 26
5 Aston Martin 25
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