In the Australian GP, Ferrari made the best race of the season by keeping up with the Mercedes and Fernando Alonso, but did not capitalize on the mistakes of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Gp d’Australia full of twists and turns for one race direction which left a lot perplexed, and for the three red flags. To impose itself Max Verstappen who, in addition to conquering his first victory in Melbourne, consolidated his leadership in the world championship. Behind his back Lewis Hamilton that after having had to surrender to his rival, he managed to precede Fernando Alonso who, after the decision of the marshals, climbed the podium for the third race in a row. Instead another negative race for the Ferrari, but this time more due to the demerit of the drivers than of the car. If on the track he confirmed the progress in the race pace, the errors of Charles Leclerc at the go and of Carlos Sainz in the finale, they send her home with zero points.
Beyond the controversial ending, for the Ferrari the positive signals come from the race. Despite contact with Stroll who immediately knocked out the game Leclercthe red flag that forced Carlos Sainz upon the comeback, SF-23 gave signs of revival. The ease with which the Spaniard got back in the running for the podium confirmed the improvements in aerodynamic efficiency and open DRS of the Ferrari. Another positive aspect was the pace held by Sainz similar to that of Alonso, and better than Hamilton’s, when the gap was very large in Saudi Arabia. This was possible at the work done after Jeddah a Maranelloand it is also important in view of the updates foreseen by Baku. Precisely for this reason the regrets for the bad qualifying, the mistakes of Leclerc in the first lap and Sainz on the third restart are growing, because with a clean weekend Ferrari could have been the second force.
As for the Red Bull even if, as in the whole weekend, he didn’t dominate like in the first two races, the feeling was that he was very conservative, and he didn’t reveal his real potential. Verstappen after a bad start in which he lost two positions, taking advantage of Mercedes’ decision to call Russell back to the pits, he regained the lead. Indeed the Red Bull once again he demonstrated his superiority over his rivals on the forehand, which allowed Verstappen to easily overtake on lap 12 Hamilton. The Dutchman immediately stretched despite not pushing 100% and squeezing the ball RB19telling himself that he has a pace three tenths faster than his opponents.