There are only new faces among the Melbourne favorites

Formula 1: the Australian GP closes two years of pandemic and the circus will be sold out

the case

Formula 1 returns to Melbourne after two years of pandemic, but it seems like yesterday so much happened quickly. Friday 12 March 2020, a hot day at the end of summer becomes a symbolic moment of international sport: after a night of discussions between teams and organizers, the FIA ​​cancels the Grand Prix a few hours before the start of free practice because there is a mechanic among the mechanics. it is a case of contagion. The public who began to walk through the gates of Albert Park are invited to return home. He will also miss the 2021 appointment, despite the bubble that F1 will carry out (and which will teach) to stop the virus without interrupting the championship.

Let’s go back to the present. The Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the season after the two stages in the Middle East, definitively closes a dark interlude. Formula 1 rediscovers the sold out and free all that mean normality and spectacle. Sebastian Vettel missed the start of the season due to Coronavirus. “If we have no symptoms, you have to let us go,” claims the German driver. He has his reasons: a positive verdict between now and the end of the season could be decisive for the outcome of the championship. In 2020, a statement would not even have been conceivable. That day in Melbourne, Vettel himself and his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen left the circuit even before the race was canceled. The virus exists today, it induces respect without causing fear anymore.

Since the beginning of Covid, F1 has changed masters. Max Verstappen stripped Lewis Hamilton of the scepter of world champion, while Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took away the role of challenger. None of the three has ever won on the Albert Park circuit, but the favorites are them, together with Sergio Perez, fourth in Jeddah two weeks ago after a pole position, a race leading and a safety car that came out at the worst moment. The Australian circuit has undergone a deep make-up that has made it wider and faster. Leclerc said clearly that he would have done without it (“our car would have been better on the old track”), while Verstappen appreciated the news: “There have been significant changes that will favor overtaking, which is always positive”. A few words that prepare a new chapter of the challenge, after the duels in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Ferrari maintains a cautious attitude. Red Bull seem to have a small advantage in performance, even if they have to recover the points lost in the double retirement of the opening race.

The single-seaters will not be modified. Trips outside Europe prevent planning developments before returning to the factory. Ferrari will be the same fast car in the corners but not as brilliant on the straight, the exact opposite of Red Bull. As team principal Mattia Binotto repeats, “to get a precise idea of ​​the championship we need to see the first four or five Grand Prix”. Imola is on the horizon, but first there is an important job to be finished in Melbourne. Leclerc, Verstappen and teammates have just begun to warm up. –