Third victory in as many races for Red Bull? The winning team in the previous races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, is the great favorite of the Australian Grand Prix of Formula 1where Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari fight from behind to surprise.
At the popular Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, much loved by the drivers and which should attract more than 400,000 spectators this Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull will be looking for a new double -first and second place-, as in the two first dates of the 2023 season.
His car is the fastest and most competitive, so the rest seem doomed to look for the crumbs left by the team based in Milton Keynes (United Kingdom).
Before a long cut of four weeks due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull is facing a great opportunity to already put a significant distance on its pursuers, who are relying on this month-long break to improve their cars and reduce the disadvantage.
When does the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix take place?
Qualifying will be on Saturday at 2 AM, while the race will take place on Sunday at 3 AM
Two-time world champion Max Verstappen approaches this Australian stage in better condition than the previous one in Saudi Arabia, where he had stomach problems before and during the competition weekend. Despite this, he was able to achieve a second-place finish in the race after starting just fifteenth on the grid due to a transmission problem he suffered during qualifying.
Verstappen hinted that he is not fully recovered from this health problem and that he hopes that the month-long break after Australia will allow him to recover all his strength.
Before that, he will try to break the ‘curse’ in Melbourne, where he never won and where he only got one podium (2nd in 2019). Last year, the Dutch driver had to retire after the engine of his car caught fire.
“Although it hasn’t given us great success in the past, I’m looking forward to getting back to that great circuit where I love to drive,” said Verstappen. “I hope we have a beautiful race this weekend. We have to go to the essentials and be consistent. The team hasn’t won here since 2011, so we’ll see what we can do,” he said.
Red Bull’s main competitors do not approach this Grand Prix in the same way. The Aston Martin team, surprisingly second at the start of the season behind the untouchable leader, will try to confirm the good impressions from the Middle East, where they achieved two podium finishes thanks to veteran Fernando Alonso.
“We are approaching this Grand Prix with confidence and we hope to continue with our momentum. The car has responded well on two very different circuits but we are keeping our feet on the ground”, stressed the Asturian driver, world champion in 2005 and 2006.
How to watch Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix
They broadcast Fox Sports through their cable signal and ESPN through the Star+ platform.
The weekend in Saudi Arabia was encouraging for Mercedes, which hopes to continue its progression.
“The progress made in Saudi Arabia is encouraging. We got some good points and, above all, we continue to learn and understand our car. The gap with the best is still significant and we aspire to reduce it,” said Toto Wolff, skipper of the German team.
Ferrari, for its part, will try to get its head out of the water after a start to the course to forget. In Saudi Arabia his performance was better than in Bahrain, but the road still seems long for the ‘Scuderia’.
“We know what we have to work on. It will be about doing what we can to get closer to them (Red Bull). We are determined and motivated to find our best level,” Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s Monegasque driver, said on Thursday.
Also this Thursday, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) also indicated that the places on the starting grid of this Grand Prix will be widened by twenty centimeters, after the controversies over the penalties for Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin ) due to a bad situation at the start in the first two races of the season.
Source: Ambito
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