For the third Formula 1 Grand Prix in a row, controversies off the track are threatening to overshadow the almost predictable action on it. News this week ahead of the Australian GP that the FIA\u2019s Ethics Committee had cleared its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, from \u201cinterference of any kind\u201d at two F1 events last year was followed quickly by a social media post from Susie Wolff, director of the all-female series F1 Academy and who is married to Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, announcing that she had filed a criminal complaint in the French courts against the sport\u2019s governing body for statements made about her in December.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all against the backdrop of the ongoing furore surrounding Red Bull Racing and its team principal Christian Horner. Mercedes\u2019 star, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, was quick to support Wolff\u2019s legal action. \u201cI think she\u2019s so brave, and she stands for such great values,\u201d Hamilton said Thursday at Melbourne\u2019s Albert Park circuit. \u201cShe\u2019s such a leader. And in a world where often people are silenced, for her to be standing up sends such a great message.\u201d<\/p>\n
The off-track issues continue at Red Bull Racing, where a recently suspended team employee has exercised the right to appeal Red Bull\u2019s clearance of alleged misconduct by Horner and filed a formal complaint with the FIA. The chatter about Red Bull at Albert Park, therefore, hasn\u2019t been about its all-conquering RB20 car, which has secured perfect 1-2 results at the season-opening events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but whether Max Verstappen was preparing to leave for Mercedes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy within the team,\u201d the three-time F1 world champion said Thursday, rejecting speculation about a switch. \u201cOf course, it\u2019s very important that we try to keep the key players in the team for a longer period of time because that\u2019s where the performance is. And at the end of the day, it\u2019s a performance business.\u201d Verstappen is the favorite Sunday to take his third straight win for 2024, his second at the Albert Park track in as many years, and his record-equaling 10th straight that dates to last year\u2019s Japanese Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Verstappen was second-fastest in the first of Friday\u2019s two practice sessions at Albert Park, finishing .018 seconds behind McLaren driver Lando Norris\u2019 time of 1 minute, 18. 564 seconds. Mercedes\u2019 George Russell was third-fastest, .033 behind Norris. The top seven cars were separated by a tenth of a second. Ten minutes were lost during the one-hour session after Alex Albon lost control and slammed into a wall, escaping without injury but damaging his Williams.<\/p>\n
Sergio P\u00e9rez, who was sixth-fastest in the first practice, is again expected to follow Verstappen home for another 1-2 Red Bull finish, with the Mexican driver in far more stable form than last season. Ferrari remains its closest rival to the Red Bulls, with Charles Leclerc, fourth-fastest in the opening practice, hoping to lock out the front row with Verstappen for the sixth straight event and be more competitive in the Melbourne race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a better situation compared to last year,\u201d Leclerc said. \u201cHowever, we are speaking about maybe four tenths (of a second) a lap in the race, which is still significant. I am more optimistic, not looking at the gap, but more looking at the overall situation at the team . . . \u201d Ferrari\u2019s performance here could be compromised after Carlos Sainz declared he\u2019s ready to return to the cockpit, but not feeling 100% after surgery for appendicitis ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
The Spanish driver, who is out of contract at the end of the season, with Hamilton set to take his drive from 2025, said there\u2019s a chance he could be replaced for the second straight race by Ferrari\u2019s standout reserve driver Oliver Bearman, who is in Melbourne racing in F2. \u201cI\u2019m not stupid, and if I don\u2019t feel good tomorrow \u2013 I will be the first one to raise my hand and say that I need another two weeks until the next race,\u201d Sainz said.<\/p>\n
McLaren says it\u2019s in a contest with Mercedes to be F1\u2019s third-fastest team, meaning Oscar Piastri is more likely than Australian countryman Daniel Ricciardo to finish on the podium on home soil. Ricciardo is racing for mid-grid team RB, known last year as AlphaTauri and the second team owned by Red Bull. \u201cI think we\u2019re both going to need some good fortune to end up on the podium,\u201d Piastri said. \u201cBut yeah, it would be very, very special.\u201d There\u2019ll be a third practice session Saturday ahead of afternoon qualifying. The 58-lap race Sunday should be held in clear weather, with a favorable forecast for the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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