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Instead, Carlos Sainz brilliantly controlled events Down Under and beat Charles Leclerc for a Ferrari double, showing few signs of struggling despite undergoing appendix surgery just two weeks ago.
Although Sainz’s victory grabbed the headlines, there were many other moments that defined the race in Melbourne for each of the 10 teams – all of whom experienced varying fortunes throughout the 58 laps around Albert Park.
So, without further ado, let’s rank each team’s performance in Australia.
1.Ferrari
Could it be someone else? The Prancing Horse arrived in Australia with a car that could genuinely threaten to claim the fastest qualifying time, although a couple of final lap missteps from Sainz managed to derail that chance in Q3 as Verstappen claimed a third pole in 2024. But Sainz was fiery early in the race, smelling blood ahead of him as Verstappen began to deal with a brake problem that ultimately took him out of the race.
It was a clinical campaign from then on. Although Leclerc had a few moments where he appeared to be in the race for victory, his balance around Albert Park was not as balanced as Sainz’s and instead focused on ensuring that the Maranello team be able to lock the first two positions on the podium. by Lando Norris of McLaren. It went rather well, allowing Fred Vasseur’s team to move within four points of Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.
2.McLaren
Glimpses of strong pace throughout testing suggested McLaren would be in the hunt for a top five finish, so a podium would have been a welcome demonstration of their performance in Australia. Norris held on bravely to Sainz in the early stages before the Spaniard began to pull away at the front, but earlier stops from Leclerc and teammate Oscar Piastri cost them two places thanks to their undercut.
But Piastri dutifully let Norris pass as the Briton put Leclerc under pressure, believing he could have had the pace for second if the race had gone a little more favorably. Piastri overcame a small off-road moment a lap before his pit stop, but was clear enough of the Sergio Perez-Fernando Alonso battle behind him to ensure he hadn’t cost himself, as well than at McLaren, a 3-4.
3. Aston Martin
Opportunism gave Alonso a chance to threaten a top-five finish, when Aston Martin called to stop him for a play of mediums in the middle of the Lewis Hamilton-produced virtual safety car on lap 17. Despite his efforts to ensure his tough final stint was not compromised, Alonso made Pérez’s race much more difficult and managed to stay with the Mexican throughout.
Lance Stroll was also strong throughout the weekend, recovering from his amateur crash in Jeddah to have a real advantage over Alonso in qualifying. The Canadian eventually gave way to his veteran teammate at the checkered flag, but maintained a good pace to ensure he was firmly entrenched in the points.
4.RB
In a race that gave the bottom five teams the opportunity to score much-needed points, RB took the initiative best thanks to Yuki Tsunoda’s flawless run to eighth place. The Japanese once again demonstrated a clear advantage over Daniel Ricciardo during qualifying and, unlike Jeddah, maintained his position in the top 10, thus ensuring the Italian team a good collection of points.
Ricciardo struggled again, failing to double RB’s pleasure with a 12th place finish, but Tsunoda’s four-point collection gives the team a significant boost in the battle for the lower constructors’ standings.
5. Haas
Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen combined magnificently in Jeddah to give Haas their first point of the year, and have since added three more to their tally as the two both relied on Alex Albon to take out the Williams driver out of the top 10. Like Alonso, Hülkenberg stopped below the leading VSC to overcome a modest 16th place start – and Haas changed drivers to make the most of the German’s average tires.
Hülkenberg battled with Albon and, when the pair made their second stop, the 36-year-old overtook the Anglo-Thai driver to move into the top 10. Magnussen also overtook the Williams to move up to 11th rank. , who became 10th after Russell’s late-race shunt. On a day where RB made good progress in the points, this was a much-needed result for Haas.
6. Red Bull
Thanks to Perez, Red Bull retained its position at the top of the Constructors’ Championship – but Max Verstappen’s 4th lap retirement significantly slowed its run. The team was in poor shape until Q3, where continued adjustments to the RB20’s settings transformed their weekend, but the Dutchman failed to convert it into a third victory in 2024 thanks to the expansion brake lights which turned out to be terminal.
Sergio Perez was not particularly in the running during the race, losing a place to Russell at the start; The fact that he was drawn into other battles showed that he was not exploiting his car advantage sufficiently. Even on clear days he failed to stop the Ferraris and McLarens, leaving him a distant fifth. It’s not a particularly vintage day for the Milton Keynes team.
7. Williams
Overall, bringing Logan Sargeant out of his car for Albon despite the latter’s shunt in FP1 was probably the right decision, given the Anglo-Thai gave a good account of himself over the rest of the weekend. Melbourne ultimately presented a missed opportunity to score, but Albon was a lone ranger in the fight against the Haas duo and was therefore outmatched in terms of pace and tactical latitude.
Still, his proximity to the points vindicated Williams’ difficult decision, even if it was a decision he had to make underlines the work that remains behind closed doors.
8. Alpine
An expected result given the problems which remain mainly present on the A524, even if misfortune rather befell the two drivers throughout the race. Esteban Ocon almost suffered the same fate as Verstappen with a right rear brake problem before a tear managed to fish out his brake duct, lengthening his second pit stop and relegating him to the back of the field .
Pierre Gasly made another misstep coming out of the pits and was given a five-second penalty for his troubles, but had been sufficiently ahead of the two Saubers behind him to remain 13th at the finish – the car of late virtual security has perhaps spared its blushes somewhat. Ocon’s appearance in the second quarter hinted at tentative progress, but there is still plenty of work to do to turn the year around.
9. Sauber
It happened again. Oh, and again. Despite changes to pit equipment to reduce the chance of slow, repeated stops, lightning struck twice. Valtteri Bottas received the first slow stop during the first phase of the pits, and Zhou Guanyu received the second during the following series of stops.
This continued misfortune in the pit lane significantly compromised the team’s race, which was all the more unwelcome given the opportunity to score points thanks to the usual top 10 contenders dropping out. however, did not automatically drop the team to last place in this ranking. , suggests that things can get much worse…
10. Mercedes
In terms of pace, Mercedes was somewhat behind its top five rivals; Russell did well to place the car seventh on the grid, but Lewis Hamilton showed the W15’s vagaries with his Q2 exit. Both drivers started well enough and Russell got ahead of Perez, but Hamilton’s decision to start on softs probably didn’t have the impact he had hoped.
That proved moot when the elder Briton’s engine shut him down, while Russell lost a place to Alonso and spent the final laps trying to get revenge on the Aston Martin driver. He put him into the wall, apparently in response to Alonso slowing at Turn 6, to ensure Mercedes made the 24-hour flight back to the UK without scoring points from Australia.
Watch: F1 Australian Grand Prix 2024 Review – Ferrari From Top to Bottom
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