Breaking Down Australia.
- Richard Baxter
- Mar 19, 2019
- 3 min read
The 2019 Formula 1 season has officially begun. Not the greatest of races, but it was a fascinating start to the season, and I’ve made a lot of observations.
First of all, Mercedes are right up there on a par with Ferrari. Hamilton said during testing he believed Ferrari were about 5 tenths of a second quicker. Yet in Australia it was really the other way around. The big questions that come from this, will the rest of the season go Mercedes way? And is that the true pace of the Ferrari?
Looking at the overall picture I believe not. The nature of the Australia circuit, being partly a street circuit, and the lack of running it has all year round results in it being a very ‘green’ track; it takes time for it to rubber in to give the cars optimal grip. Ferrari seemed to struggle in these conditions, but I don’t believe it will last. Once we get to more purpose built race circuits – like Bahrain and China coming up next – I think their car will suit it more and we will have a real challenge at the front.
My next observation involves Red Bull, not for the obvious reasons with getting a podium finish with their Honda engine, but because of their driver Pierre Gasly. He really didn’t impress. He had a very poor qualifying and started towards the tail end. During the race he didn’t really show any pace finishing just outside the points. Red Bull is one of the top teams, and he really needs to show his pace to warrant having the seat. The team are going to need him to produce results and, in the world of Formula 1, if he doesn’t his time at the top could be short lived.
There also seemed to be a lot of surprise amongst the media as to how much the top drivers really cared about achieving the extra point for fastest lap. But why should we be surprised at all? These are racing drivers; they want to prove they are the fastest and will do whatever they can to do so. I’m sure the FIA were chuffed seeing this, as it basically ended up with a race within a race, which added extra excitement to the finish.
The 2019 cars also stood out to me in Australia. Whilst overtaking was difficult, I believe this was mainly due to the nature of the circuit, it’s clear to me that with these cars it is much easier to follow. We had a train of cars at several points during the race, particularly towards the end of the race, with drivers fighting for the lower point’s places. Again, when we get to more purpose built circuits, where it’s easier to overtake the midfield battle is going to be terrific! Just look at the timing screens from practise and qualifying, the midfield are incredibly close, there is definitely some hard racing to come.
Finally, and as I’ve already mentioned a train of cars, in a little bit of a throwback to the last Italian racing driver in Formula 1, we saw the return of the Trulli Train. This time with his compatriot Antonio Giovinazzi. With his tires fading during the race he drove brilliantly defensive with several cars queued behind him trying to overtake. Maybe going forward we can name it the Tonio Train?
There seemed to be a lot of negativity after the first race of the season, but it isn’t justified. Don’t judge the season or the changes after just one race. The season is long and has plenty more to give; it’s going to be incredible.
Keep following the NRF1 podcast for all the latest opinions, talking points and discussions throughout the season.
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