The resume' just got a lot better, and it was already good - Australian Grand Prix, Formula 1 2024

Wooo boy, what a great race! Especially if you are looking for something new and different, and not the same old Bullish march to the podium. And even better if your name is Carlos!

Photo credit - Ferrari

What a performance by Carlos Sainz, and Ferrari. They had their cars absolutely dialed in for the race, and took the one two podium. Spectacular race for Sainz from the get go with his short but effective battle with Verstappen. If Verstappen's brake didn't lock up and knock him out, it may have been a good battle for quite a few laps. The Ferrari looked just that good. Hopefully it means the gap to the front between the two teams is closing a bit, but Red Bull certainly still have the edge, and it will be an interesting storyline heading to Suzuka.

Great results for Mclaren as well taking 3rd and 4th with Lando getting to do his champagne spike on the podium once again, and not knocking over any trophies this time. The high speed, twisting circuit of Suzuka is really going to be an excellent proving ground for Ferrari, Mclaren, and Aston Martin, and just how much closer they are to the front. And with Max getting knocked out of the Australian GP, it's tightened things up for both the driver and constructors championships.

But where oh where is our beloved Mercedes crew? Engine failure for Hamilton, and a once again end of race mishap for George. This time though it wasn't his fault. A little brake check from Alonso put him almost into the back of the Aston Martin and caused him to crash. Lots of discussion about the harshness of his penalty (20 seconds). A bit much? Maybe, but it was a dangerous maneuver, and obviously resulted in Russell losing control. These cars are going fast, and even if the driver lifts and doesn't tap the brake pedal, they slow down rather fast as well. Not like they got glaring brake lights letting the driver behind know when they are slowing down. But regardless of that incident, the Merc team is just a mess right now. The car isn't right, specifically on the Hamilton side of the garage (which was to be expected, see previous posts about catering to George). But even George was having issues this past weekend. Are the issues insurmountable? No. Can Mercedes fix them? Maybe. From the Hamilton and Russell interviews, they are speaking of issues that are continuations from the past two seasons really.

So what needs to happen? James Allison, the teams Technical Director needs to crack the whip, and crack it hard and loud. Something is fundamentally not right with the aerodynamics working with the reimagined suspension in my opinion. It's almost a push pull dynamic to where they are fighting each other on set up. Not the greatest thing to have happening if you are trying to prepare for different circuits. Ideally you have a nice marriage between both, so that come each race weekend, its a matter of wing choice, and slight adjustments to the suspension to find the right amount of downforce. So far they haven't gotten any wing choice to work fluidly with their suspension, and it creates a terrible bounce and unsteady feeling going into the corners. The car needs to ride like its on rails, and it just isn't. Suzuka is going to brutal for them if they don't get it figured out.

It's on to Suzuka where Verstappen, Norris and Piastri reigned supreme last year. Will it be another good weekend for Mclaren? Or will Ferrari take their momentum into Japan with this earlier edition (was September) of the Japanese Grand Prix?