Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix: Russell deflates Ferrari's 'rebellion'

Sports writing (EFE).- British George Russell (Mercedes) proved the forecasts right and won the first Grand Prix of the season of FFormula 1 in Australia, deflating the surprise factor of the Ferraris, who managed to take the lead in the first part of the Albert Park track, with Italian Kimi Antonelli finishing second and Monegasque Charles Leclerc completing the podium.

You may be interested in: Piastri leads the second practice of the Australian GP and surpasses the Mercedes in Melbournee

At the other end of the race, Madrid native Carlos Sainz struggled with his Williams, going through the pits up to three times to manage his single-seater due to reliability problems, finishing 15th, while Asturian Fernando Alonso, after a near-abandonment on the fifteenth lap, went back on track to do a 'mini-test' with the Aston Martin before retiring definitively. Despite this, the Oviedo native allowed himself the luxury of giving a small nod to his particular mastery by sneaking into tenth position at the start, exciting at times given the fragility of his car. The Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto was one of the pleasant surprises of the day with his Audi, finishing ninth, while the Argentinian Franco Colapinto (Alpine) reached the finish line in 14th place and the Mexican Checo Pérez (Cadillac) finished 16th.

The McLarens

The cross of the day was exemplified by the vns, with Oscar Piastri abandoning even before starting and Lando Norris suffering in fifth place with the continuous harassment of Max Verstappen, another of the victims in Australia who at least managed to take pride, since his teammate, the Frenchman Isack Hadjar, was another of the drivers who had to abandon on the oceanic surface.

The landscape of the new Formula 1 that has just started leaves the first and interesting conclusions: overtaking is multiplied, especially in the first part of the race; the scenario drawn by the batteries and energy savings suppose a real lottery in the particular duels and the survival mode once again takes center stage in the great circus of four wheels.

From the warm-up laps, the first surprise of the day jumped out, when the local hero, Oscar Piastri, had to retire after stepping on one of the circuit's kerbs with the rear wheel and crashing into the barriers. And in the output, with all the changes stipulated for the current season, the unknowns arose. The first was cleared by Charles Leclerc who, starting in fourth place, showed that the Ferraris go like a missile at the starts, placing himself in the lead from the first lap while Hamilton was third. Russell's Mercedes could barely hold onto second place, Antonelli dropped to sixth, and Lindbland surprised with the initial fourth place, even surpassing Lando Norris, fifth in the first turns.

Fernando Alonso

For his part, Fernando Alonso pushed his usual 'miracle' after the start lights went out and reached tenth place, something unheard of for all the problems that his Aston Martin has with the power unit, while Carlos Sainz started twelfth. From then on, and with the new energy-saving axiom, Leclerc and Russell kept overtaking each other lap after lap while Hamilton tried to make the tires last between them, an atypical scenario for what the drivers were used to in recent years.

In fact, in a wayward move by George on the Monegasque driver, allowed Hamilton to fully latch onto the two race leaders on the ninth lap, while Antonelli regained fourth position and closed the gap. In parallel, the intermediate zone became a hornet's nest and Alonso kept losing positions with the well-known handicap of the engine, going from 10th to 16th position while Sainz was 14th. Already on lap 12, Hadjar suffered a breakdown in his car on one of the straights, abandoning the race and producing the first Virtual Safety Car of the championship, while the Argentinian Franco Colapinto was penalized with a 'pit and go' after race direction confirmed that he had jumped the start. Almost all the drivers pitted except for the Ferraris and Verstappen, who wanted to go against the grain in the strategy due to the continuous incidents on the track. In fact, three laps later, after the retirements of Hulkenberg and Hadjar - without ignoring Piastri's previous departure - Alonso seemed to be next, whose car couldn't take it anymore after 15 laps. However, the man from Oviedo would return to the track several minutes later - already on lap 26 -, obsessed with getting to know his ungovernable Aston Martin better, thinking more about the next Chinese Grand Prix, even though he was ten laps behind the penultimate of the race, in this case his teammate Lance Stroll. Already in lap 18, the Valtteri Bottas incident occurred, being the next to retire with his Cadillac and causing the second Virtual Safety Car. In this improvised window, several drivers took the opportunity to go to the pits. The Mercedes were still holding on to the second row and Verstappen - already sixth - continued his particular comeback in no man's land after overtaking a more than 'rebellious' Lindblad. Leclerc would end up pitting on lap 25, taking the lead a Hamilton who hadn't been seen in such a situation for a long time, with Russell behind and Antonelli already far away. However, the Briton, who also needed to change tires urgently, saw his compatriot overtake him before making his stop. The Monegasque, meanwhile, rejoined the race in third position just ahead of Lewis and Norris survived with difficulty in fifth place while reckoning with the aggressive pace of Verstappen, who was gradually reducing the differences.

Checo Pérez

In the middle of the race, a carbon fiber piece from Checo Pérez's Cadillac caused the third -and short-lived- Virtual Safety Car, at which moment Lando Norris headed for the pits. By lap 35, Alonso's particular test with his car ended, with Stroll accompanying him in the garage, who, however, would carry out his own test shortly after, given the complex situation in which the Silverstone team finds itself. As battles multiplied in the anonymous race zone, Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto held ninth place with his surprising Audi, while Argentinian Franco Colapinto withstood the attacks of Madrid's Carlos Sainz for 14th place, at the same time that Mexican Sergio Pérez closed the list of survivors at Albert Park. With ten laps to go, the Mercedes were taking the lead over the Ferraris, with the battle at the top between Norris and Verstappen, where 'Mad Max' kept sharpening the distance over the Briton, literally attaching himself to his slipstream. Behind, Sainz headed to the pits for the third time, this time to change the front wing, giving a breather to Colapinto who already seemed anchored in his position. The dizzying intensity of the first stretches of the race deflated in the final laps like a soufflé, leaving the outcome somewhat more lackluster. Verstappen lacked the final breath to overtake Norris, the only incentive left in the race, while Russell euphorically headed for the finish line with the victory and Mercedes' one-two finish in the bag.