Talking points ahead of the Australian Grand Prix
Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Formula 1® is back at Albert Park … and there's a host of on-track talking points to consider as the eyes of the F1® world focus on Melbourne.
It's the question that's on everyone's lips two races into the 2023 Formula 1® season – what can stop Red Bull Racing, after dominant back-to-back 1-2 finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia?
Mercedes driver George Russell said after Bahrain that the reigning world champions will "win every single race this season", but as our Australia pre-race talking points explain, history and Melbourne might have something to say about that…
Can Red Bull cure its Albert Park curse
Sometimes the stats just don't make sense. Red Bull Racing has a history where winning has become expected, especially since 2009 when Sebastian Vettel won the team's first race in China. But for all of that success – six drivers' titles, five constructors' crowns, 94 race wins – Australia has been Red Bull's kryptonite, Vettel's 2011 victory the team's sole success Down Under.
It's not just the team, either: Albert Park is one of only two circuits on the calendar for the majority of Max Verstappen's career where he's never won (Singapore is the other), while Sergio Perez has one podium finish (second last year) from 10 visits. If Russell's prediction is to come unstuck, history suggests that this race might be where it happens.
Can Ferrari paint the town red?
Season 2023 has been a trying one so far for fans of the Scuderia – their highest-placed finisher in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (Carlos Sainz) was 48 seconds behind Verstappen's winning Red Bull at Sakhir, and 35 seconds – a margin minimised by a mid-race safety car – behind race-winner Perez in Jeddah. Which makes the return to Melbourne one that will provide comfort the length of Lygon Street, and beyond.
In 25 previous races at Albert Park, no team has won more times than Ferrari's nine, including Charles Leclerc's imperious win from pole last year while leading every lap and setting the fastest lap – a rare grand chelem (grand slam). If the Monegasque, in particular, is to get himself back in the game this season, a podium – minimum – has to be the aim.
Alonso aims higher
You have to go back to 2014 to find the last time Fernando Alonso had two podiums in the same season; he has two in the first two races of 2023, after storming drives in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for Aston Martin, the second of those third places his landmark 100th podium result. Alonso being Alonso, there's no chance he'll be content with that haul of surprise silverware …
As the newest member of one of F1®'s most exclusive clubs – only Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher have managed 100 career podiums before him – Alonso has a realistic shot of adding to his sole Australian Grand Prix success, which came in his second title-winning season for Renault in 2006. On outright pace, Aston Martin is no match for Red Bull … but if Verstappen or Perez falter, the ageless Spaniard will undoubtedly be right there to pick up the pieces. It's 156 races since Alonso last won (Spain 2013), but the two-time champion – 42 in July – has already shown this year that numbers mean nothing.
More DRS means more passing
Australia 2023 features a world-first; the Albert Park Grand Prix circuit will feature a fourth DRS Zone this year, between Turns 8-9 on the 14-corner layout. It's the first time an F1 circuit has featured more than three DRS Zones, so if you have a need for speed, you're in luck; the cars are expected to hit 340km/h this year. Should the 58 laps proceed without a safety car intervention, there's a chance this year's Grand Prix could be the fastest ever held in Melbourne. Last year's race featured 27 overtakes throughout the field; we're betting that number is a lot higher this time around.
Piastri targets points
It's been grim viewing for McLaren fans so far this season – the team is one of two (along with AlphaTauri) not to score points in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while Oscar Piastri (19th) and Lando Norris (20th) sit at the foot of the drivers' championship after two races, Norris the only one of the pair to spend a lap inside the points all season (three laps in Bahrain). But there are – if you look – small green shoots of a revival for one of the sport's most popular teams.
Piastri made Q3 in Saudi Arabia last time out and was desperately unlucky that a tiny touch with Alpine's Pierre Gasly necessitated a first-lap pit stop and new front wing; Norris was even unluckier, the Briton breaking his own front wing and needing to pit after running over the debris from Piastri's car. Norris was an excellent fifth in Melbourne 12 months ago, while Oakleigh boy Piastri will think of nothing better than scoring his first F1® points in his backyard – as his manager Mark Webber famously did back in 2002.
The FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023 will be on Network 10 and Foxtel/Kayo. See our What time does the 2023 Australian Grand Prix start in Australia article for timings.
