FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2024 - Melbourne....Race.... ▄▀▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS ▄▀▄▀▄▀

Agreed!

I like Alonso too. However what he did I find despicable. It’s fine to say George should have had his head up, but this is F1 racing, not hockey. Things can go BAD in nanoseconds during regular racing conditions. To expect a cheap, meaningless and dangerous move from a Mazepin would remain reprehensible but at least somewhat anticipated given his racing IQ. From Alonso, there’s no excuse. It’s not gamesmanship, it’s chicken and if wants to play that game he needs time away from the track to have his head examined. Maybe three or four races worth. Or longer.

Personally, I don’t buy into the myth that ‘all’ the greats need a certain lack of morality to win. There’s thankfully a decent list of greats who often drove past their own limits to win without ever incorporating a duplicitous requisite.

 

Damage is often the excuse when a team just misses their setup terribly.

 

From lap 25 laps it seems..
Before this and driving in free air he was often 1seconds off the leader’s pace.

 

Not sensing Charles was really going to win this based on this report:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-sainz-could-have-won-f1s-australian-gp-even-in-a-verstappen-head-to-head/10591566/

If Leclerc was going to have a hope of beating Sainz, he’d have to get Norris out of the way first. The proliferation of higher-speed corners heightened McLaren’s performance over the likes of Aston Martin and Mercedes, putting both Norris and home hero Piastri well into the mix.

But Sainz dropped that trio with moderate ease, telling the team that he was intending to “open the gap and go long”. Leclerc, frustrated behind Norris, opted to stop at the end of the ninth lap and Piastri followed him, leaving the front two to go deeper into the race on their opening set of mediums.

When Norris stopped at the end of lap 14 for the hard tyre, this handed Leclerc and Piastri an undercut advantage and the Briton dropped to a net fourth place. Sainz kept going for another two laps before making his hard-tyre switch, coming back onto the field with a solid lead – albeit one nearly wiped out by a virtual safety car: Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes had given up the ghost at the end of that lap and crawled to a stop just after Turn 10.

Upon the lap 18 restart Sainz’s lead over Leclerc had briefly fallen to below a second, although this was restored as the ex-McLaren driver had more room to manoeuvre with his younger tyres. Thus, the delta between the two Ferraris grew by about half a second per lap, as Leclerc admitted that he had not done a particularly stellar job of managing his first set of hard tyres.

 

Now its this? It did affect the floor apparently--

Perez’s Australian GP compromised by tear-off stuck in RB20 F1 car floor
Sergio Perez’s Australian Grand Prix outing was compromised by a visor tear-off hampering the aerodynamic performance of his Red Bull RB20 Formula 1 car.

 

In this case, it was true. Perez had a tear up visor stuck under his car, ruining the aero.

 

The pace at which he was catching Sainz was rapid. I was following the times closely when they were showing a stupid battle for ninth instead. The fact of the matter is that there were orders to hold position and not engage. Leclerc immediately fell back afterwards. Finishing 2.36 seconds ahead is not vastly superior race pace.

 

I though there was a rule forbidding drivers to throw their tear off visors ?

 

I didn't like the new Ferrari livery at first but they sure look better in the winner's circle baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Also, I see on TV plenty of rubbish, wrappers, plastic bags, etc ... on different circuits
Just how all that stuff ends up there, assuming that the tracks are cleaned and inspected before each race ?
Does the attending public litters the track ?

 

Peroni… Sainz DQ. Not sure if real Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

... and here we go

 

Not to mention the appendix comment. Come on guys!

 

Obvious goof, and a pretty clever one at that.

 

6 days early

 

Since his brilliant winter test analysis about the SF24 I don’t listen to him anymore ..

 

That was pretty intense looking kapluey coming down the pit lane.

 

I believe it was the tire exploding w collateral damage.

 

Not gonna lie, I loved every second of it. Great for the sport.

 

You can imagine the degree of friction and the heat caused by a blocked brake pad in a F1 running at speed.
It's no surprise the caliper caught fire, affecting everything around, disc, wheel, tyre, bodywork, etc ...
From Craig Scarborough's report, I would point the finger at a dry break connector, faulty or badly fitted.