Australian Grand Prix Recap
When you think of Australia, many people’s thoughts jump (no pun intended) to kangaroos. But this past weekend, the eyes of the racing world were on Melbourne, Australia.
Formula 1 headed to Australia last Sunday in what was a great race. It was a dominant effort by Charles Leclerc as he picked up his second win of the season, with his first win coming in Bahrain. Both of those wins have come in the last three races, and he also had a second-place finish back in Saudi Arabia.
Sergio Perez came in second, and third through fifth were George Russell, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
Leclerc led all 58 of the race’s laps and with the win now increases his lead in the championship standings to 34 points. There weren’t really many issues for Leclerc in holding his lead, as his lead of Verstappen was almost ten seconds wide.
While Perez finished second, it was a distant second to Leclerc. Perez did help his team Red Bull secure some points by finishing second behind Leclerc. With this win, it looks like Leclerc is the real deal. His success has also helped propel Team Ferrari.
Sebastien Vettel made his return to the track after missing the first two rounds this season with COVID-19. But, in Vettel’s first race back he suffered a race-ending crash and cited that his Aston Martin was “too much of a handful” for him.
The aforementioned Leclerc maintains the lead in the F1 standings with 71 points. George Russell sits in second with 37, and three, four and five are rounded out by Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton in that order.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though as Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team dealt with some mechanical issues in the race. Those issues were present early on as Verstappen’s goal throughout the race was to limit any more damage that could occur. He did have a strong showing, but it did end prematurely for him.
Even though he raced better, Hamilton was still frustrated with his finish and performance on the day. He also wasn’t happy with his pit crew, citing that they put him in a “difficult position.”
Looking ahead, the next race will be the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, Italy. The race is scheduled for Sunday, April 24 at 9 a.m. and you can watch it on ESPN.
Jake Starr is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jas7954@psu.edu.
