SAINZ SHOWS WHY HE ISN’T READY TO SIGN ON...
Ferrari ace pounces on a rare misstep from Red Bull Racing.
Two weeks after his appendectomy, Carlos Sainz delivered a brilliant performance in Melbourne to record his third grand prix victory and to underline his credentials for a Formula 1 lifeline next year. It was an impressive display of gritted determination, in which his usual physical preparation was replaced by days resting in bed.
Despite the soreness, Sainz had the measure of Charles Leclerc all weekend and headed home his Ferrari team-mate by just over two seconds at the flag. McLaren’s Lando Norris accompanied them on the Australian Grand Prix podium in third.
Surely, with victory in Albert Park, the 29-year-old Spaniard has done enough to convince any potential recruiters he doesn’t deserve to spend next year hunting for employment in the Job Centre…
Them’s the brakes
It’s a rare sight to have a podium without any Red Bull drivers spraying the bubbly. Max Verstappen’s two-year finishing streak came to a sudden end only three laps into the race. Right from the off, the poleman was complaining of a loose rear end and unusually hadn’t put one second over the opposition after the opening lap.
On the approach to Turn 9 on lap two, Sainz passed Verstappen with aid of DRS and looked much more comfortable in the lead than the Dutch driver. Starting the third lap, blue smoke began to emanate from the Red Bull’s right rear. From the moment the lights went off Verstappen’s brake was locked in place, making it feel as if he was driving with the handbrake on. He pitted with the wheel on fire, to register his first non-finish in 43 races.
Thereafter Sainz eased away from second-placed Norris and was able to nurse his tyres for longer than the chasing pack. Afterwards there was a heated debate in the Albert Park paddock over whether Sainz would still have been victorious in the Victorian state capital if Verstappen hadn’t retired.
When fifth-placed George Russell pitted early from the medium to hards
(on lap nine) that led to both Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri stopping a lap later to cover off a potential undercut by the Mercedes man.
The side effect of that strategy was that when Norris made his eventual stop six laps later, he had fallen behind his teammate and Leclerc. To the disappointment of the 132,106 Melburnians packed into the Albert Park venue, on lap 28 McLaren asked Piastri to let Norris pass. In the final stint he closed up on Leclerc and the British driver might have been able to pass him during the second pitstop. Sainz, though, was in a league of his own.
“If I was being honest, I think we missed out a little bit on an opportunity to be P2 today,” said Norris after the race. “The lap we were going to undercut [Leclerc] he boxed. So you always wonder what happens if we did it one lap earlier.”
And as for the team instruction,
Norris was quite clear on the switch with Piastri: “I was a lot quicker and I would have overtaken him anyway.
You just don’t want to delay the process of that happening. The longer I spent behind him the worse it was making my chance of catching Charles.”
For the record, Norris’s third place finish means he has now overtaken
Nick Heidfeld as the driver with the most podiums in F1 (14) without achieving a win.
Last-lap drama
Behind the top four, Sergio Perez finished fifth for Red Bull after a race-long duel with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. But the Mexican’s outright pace was compromised after picking up floor damage earlier in the race. Alonso benefited by pitting under a Virtual Safety Car – which was deployed on lap 17 when the power unit in the back of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes suddenly cut out. The seven-time World champion had struggled all weekend. He was one of three drivers to start on the soft tyre, and later described his first three races of 2024 as “the worst start to the season” he’s ever had.
Mercedes’ misery was compounded when George Russell lost control of his car at Turn 6 on the final lap of the race. Russell ran a long middle stint and pitted for fresh hards 12 laps from the flag. He was hunting down Alonso for sixth when he corrected a slide, careered across the gravel and hit the wall on the outside of the bend. As the rear wheel went underneath the car, it pitched him up on two wheels in the middle of the circuit.
On the radio he was desperately calling for a red flag, but whether he knew the rulebook would ensure a result would go to lap 57 on count back, thereby guaranteeing the points despite his mistake – or if it was for his genuine safety – only he will know. He didn’t look in immediate danger as race control quickly called a Virtual Safety Car and everyone carefully negotiated their way around the up-ended Mercedes and circulated under caution to the chequered flag.
The tricky T6-7 section had caught a number of drivers out during the weekend, most notably for Alex Albon in Friday practice. After jumping over the outside kerb, he’d hit the wall on the other
“I don’t need to race to prove my worth”
Carlos Sainz
side of the track at Turn 7, and by putting a hole in the tub of his Williams, it meant his chassis was out for the rest of the event.
Team principal James Vowles then had to make the uncomfortable decision to give Albon his team-mate Logan Sargeant’s car and withdrew the American driver from the race. He argued it was the team’s best chance of scoring points.
But in the final classification, Albon was 11th, behind a Haas double-points finish (the team’s first since Austria 2022).
Following Russell’s shunt, the stewards looked at the driving of Alonso who had been running immediately in front of the Mercedes. In the event, they penalised the Spaniard with a 20s time penalty and three licence points for “potentially dangerous” driving.
Was it dangerous or not? If Russell had lost control of his Mercedes after suddenly getting caught out by the dirty air of Alonso’s Aston, was that the Spaniard’s fault? Would a penalty, or indeed the incident even have been looked at had Russell not have crashed?
After speaking to both drivers and reviewing in-car video and telemetry, the stewards gave a detailed summary of their decision based on Article 33.4 which states: “At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.”
Alonso admitted that he did approach Turn 6 on the final lap differently to previous laps, lifting earlier to ensure a better exit. His telemetry showed that he did so 100 metres earlier than any of the previous 57 times. He also braked slightly earlier, downshifted, then accelerated and upshifted again before the apex of the corner. But the stewards noted this manoeuvre created “a considerable and unusual closing speed between the cars.”
They continued: “Should Alonso have the right to try a different approach to the corner? – yes. Should Alonso be responsible for the dirty air, that ultimately caused the incident? – no.
“However, he did choose to do something, with whatever intent, that was extraordinary,” continued the stewards, which in Melbourne included Johnny Herbert. “He drove in a manner that was at the very least ‘potentially dangerous’given the very high-speed nature of that point of the track.”
Alonso was penalised then, while the Australian Grand Prix finished under caution for the second year running.
Recovery mode
The final thought must go to Sainz who confirmed that he is still “without a job for next year” as he revealed his programme of returning to fitness in the lead up to this race.
“I started doing what I could to speed up the recovery, with the wounds and scar tissue. I spoke to doctors and other athletes and put together a plan. I went to hyperbaric chambers twice a day for one hour and used an INDIBA machine which uses electromagnetism to heal wounds.
“Nine days ago, I was about to catch the plane to Australia and I was still in bed, I could barely use my abdomen. I thought ‘this is not going to happen.’ But when I landed here, the feeling was a lot better. The second week of recovery improved a lot, even Alex Albon told me this. So I was a bit stiff but only until the last stint I was perfectly fine.
“I think everyone knows more or less what I’m capable of doing. I don’t race to prove to people my value,” continued Sainz. “I race to prove that if I’m given a [competitive] car, I get it done and
I can be up there.”
Was Melbourne a turning point or a blip? Is Ferrari able to keep up this challenge to Red Bull’s dominance? Will these rare moments of infallibly for the World champion continue?
And finally, will Carlos Sainz find a job in F1 next year?