5 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM MELBOURNE

Ferrari are the real deal Formula One has become so accustomed to watching Mercedes win that the predictability of their dominance has become a turn off for many fans. So to see Ferrari not just match them but beat them, too, is precisely what this new era required. Of course this is only one race, and it is worth noting that Vettel should have won here last year but for a dodgy strategy call. But the resurgence of the Prancing Horse should hopefully provide us with the ingredients for a scintillating season. New year, same old Mclaren While Ferrari are back on top of their game, the same cannot be said for another of Formula One’s finest constructors. Fernando Alonso and team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne failed to finish, although the former was on course for a miraculous point before his suspension packed up. “I was driving one of my best races,” Alonso, the double world champion, said. “But we are last in terms of performance. We need to be more competitive soon.” Weekend to forget for Palmer Jolyon Palmer headed into his second season full of hope, but the 26-yearold from Horsham crashed in practice before qualifying last – an eye-watering 3.3 seconds adrift of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in the same Renault machinery – and then failed to finish the race. Palmer rose to 14th but a brake issue forced him to call it quits on lap 18. Palmer is in need of a quickfix before the next race in China. Home is not where the heart is Daniel Ricciardo completed a mammoth 18 hours of media commitments in just one day last week, such is Australia’s love for their home hero. But his weekend never got going. He crashed in qualifyinging and then stopped en route to taking up his position on the grid. Red Bull managed to get him in the race – two laps down - but he retired with a mechanical issue. “For all these things to happen at my home race, that’s probably the most frustrating thing,” he said. Is the new F1 an improvement? The first race race since significant rule changes and with American owners Liberty Media in charge. New chairman Chase Carey and Ross Brawn and Sean Bratches – the sporting and commercial executives – will be pleased a Mercedes did not win but it was hardly a thrill-a-minute spectacle. It seems the extra downforce and increased airflow makes it harder to follow cars and harder to overtake. There were few overtakes of note but it has always been hard to pass at Albert Park. The acid test will come in China where there were a record number of overtakes last year.