We are gearing up for the third Formula One race of the season, down under in Australia, after the first free weekend following two blockbuster Grand Prix in the Middle East. Max Verstappen coasted to victory in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but there has been plenty more drama behind the scenes at Red Bull.
Team principal Christian Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing in a lengthy team investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour on the eve of the new season, but his accuser is said to have been left angry at the decision and has appealed the verdict.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has not endured the ideal start to his final season with Mercedes before leaving for Ferrari. He has claimed seventh and ninth in the first two races respectively the finger is starting to get pointed over who is to blame for the disappointing opening races.
There are plenty of storylines to follow ahead of the Australian Grand Prix and we aim to keep you updated with all the latest news this week as we build up to the race.
in 6 hours10:51 Jack McEachen
Doubts cast on Lance Stroll future
Former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan has claimed that Aston Martin and owner Lawrence Stroll need to “think” about Lance Stroll’s place in the team.
Team owner Lawrence Stroll installed his son in the seat alongside Fernando Alonso, but the 25-year-old has consistently been outperformed by his team-mate.
“Lance Stroll, he doesn’t qualify well enough, maybe creeps into the top 10 If he’s lucky, but Alonso was always quicker than him,” Jordan said on the Formula for Success podcast.
“So, I’m at a confusion. How does Lawrence Stroll go out and get the best technical people worldwide and make his team into a consistent race-winning team?” Jordan pondered.
“Either Lance has to move up a scale and really get himself together and continually finish on the podium, and then people will totally believe in what he’s able to do.
“But at the moment, his results are not good enough. And I think he’s (Lawrence Stroll) going to have to think about this once and for all.”
in 5 hours09:52 Jack McEachen
Mercedes listen to Lewis Hamilton plea
Mercedes are set to make “fundamental” changes to this season’s car after Lewis Hamilton bemoaned a difficult start to the campaign.
The Brit called for “big changes” after a ninth-placed finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin is planning to deliver just that.
“We started to converge back in the general direction of where we came from arriving there,” Shovlin said.
“But the learning of it is just that when you change things you can see the differences. So one car making changes, you can see how it performs run to run.
“We can also look at the global performance of the two cars but fundamentally the limitations that we had in qualifying and the race, they were broadly the same for both.
“So it’s telling you it’s not a small difference, it’s not a tiny bit of camber or a spring or bar here and there. It’s something more fundamental that we need to dig into and understand.”
in 5 hours09:08 Jack McEachen
Ferrari and Mercedes sent Max Verstappen warning
Max Verstappen’s rivals have been told that the Red Bull driver is not even competing at maximum capacity so far this season.
The Dutchman has won the opening two races of the season at a canter, but Johnny Herbert believes that there is more to come.
He told RacingNews365: “My only little worry is that I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Max this season, because he doesn’t need to show it.
“That’s the worry, that he still has something in his back pocket where he can go: ‘OK, you think you’re closer? There’s another couple of tenths.’
“I think that’s probably the only thing that’s going to be a little bit more of a headache for Charles (Leclerc) and Ferrari, and for when Carlos (Sainz) comes back, because (Verstappen) is so comfortable in the car and they are in total harmony together.
“It is still a very rare thing to see someone so at ease with his driving in the car and we still haven’t seen the best of Max anyway.
“I know there’s been all the chitchat over the advantage [Red Bull] have and all the teams have said: ‘Well, they’ve done a better job.’
“That’s all it’s down to – they’ve done a much smarter job than everybody else, but there are smart people in Ferrari that I think can challenge.
“Can they challenge for the Championship? That’s probably the biggest question but I’m not sure they’ll be able to do it quick enough to stop Max going on to win another one.”
