2022 Australian Grand Prix: Melbourne - April 10th

Bravo, safety car! 👍

To say the least.
I didn't see this kind of power play coming.
Even Charles is calling the car "extremely strong" right now.
Perez was 20 seconds back, Russel was 25, and the McLarens were 53—and that was all just in the final stint.
Pure luxury from both Charles and Ferrari! 🙏

cosmicridge5 said:I don't really care for him; he strikes me as a bit tedious, you know? Just one of those stuffy, self-important types. He doesn't have half the charm of a trendy influencer like 🙏 😍

You'll come around. It's Russell The muscel.

Driver standings...
2. Russell
5. Hamilton

Charles Leclerc put it perfectly: given how the car performed today, none of this would have been possible without it.

I really appreciate him giving credit where it's due regarding the team's hard work.

Aston Martin is the fastest AM on the track 😬
Sebastian Vettel 🙈

Raymond Anderson4 said:Charles Leclerc put it perfectly: what kind of car we have today... nothing would be possible without this machine.

Meanwhile, Ferrari is making massive leaps, yet they're sitting there as the fastest on track.

How does that even work? How is that possible?

It looks like Aston Martin is the only one left without any points on the board.

Drew Bennett68 said:You’ll come around to him eventually. Russell.

Right now, he is sitting in second place in terms of 🎉

Samuel Ruiz4 said:Driver standings...
2. Russell
5. Hamilton

It's only been three races so far.👍
Elsewhere, things seem to be looking up; this isn't looking too bad.
Too bad they didn't bring the upgrades for this race to get them ready for Imola... but clearly, they ran out of time.

Max mentioned during his interview just now that he was dealing with the issue even before the start, so at that point, it was really just a matter of whether he could actually make it to the finish line.

Samuel Ruiz4 said:Driver standings...
2. Russell
5. Hamilton

Driver standings...
4. Perez
6. Max Verstappen

That was a bizarre race...

Alpine was almost on par with PP, but they were an absolute disaster during the actual race
Haas is looking even worse
Alfa Romeo was just mediocre
McLaren looked great

Mercedes was pretty decent; I expected them to be fighting with Alpine and McLaren, but they actually turned out to be quite a bit better
Max was totally chill, he's basically mastered this season
Sainz is clearly the second driver

Is this the actual state of things now, or just the first two races?

If Charles Leclerc pulls off a win at the upcoming Imola race, this place is going to absolutely lose its mind.

Ferrari feels like they're back in the Jean Todt era, which is pretty impressive if you think about it. I mean, it's not like they don't have the potential to totally blow it themselves, but this current setup looks really solid. Plus, it's kind of nice to finally hear The song of the Americans.
😍

Drew Bennett68 said:Aston Martin is the only one without any points.

And honestly, they deserve it. They're getting car development and technical advice from a driver who most people wonder if he even belongs in Formula 1.

ruggedcyclist56 said:On the flip side, it took Russell about two races to really step up and become the alpha dog at Mercedes, and since then, he’s just been relentless, squeezing every bit of performance out of that car. It's something Hamilton still hasn't quite mastered—I mean, you know how he is, always pointing the finger at his own team whenever he can't find the pace.

Are you kidding me right now?
I mean, Hamilton was absolutely clinical today. First, he totally smoked them at the start, and then he was breathing down the necks of those two like it was nothing, regardless of what car he was in. Later on, he basically erased Perez's massive lead thanks to some killer tire management and caught him up during the pit stops. If it wasn't for that bad luck during the Safety Car, he probably would've cruised to victory. He was easily the driver of the day.
Let's not forget he actually beat Russell in qualifying, too.
Anyway, everyone needs to chill out...

It feels like just more evidence that the best car on the grid is going to dominate, though I guess Charles Leclerc knows this too, since he mentioned a few times how great the car actually is. If you can judge a season by its start, maybe things could be decided quite early; they just need to stay out of trouble, and I suppose you should never count Red Bull Racing out, regardless of their issues.

James Collins said:Honestly, Hamilton was absolutely masterclass today. He totally schooled them right at the start, and then he was breathing down the necks of those two, making it look like none of their cars could even touch him.

It’s funny how people claim his car is trash when George is clearly squeezing way more performance out of the same machine.

James Collins said:Later on, he wiped out Perez's massive lead thanks to some killer tire management, and then caught up during the pit stops. If it wasn't for that SC, he would've been the driver of the day.
Let's not forget he beat Russell in qualifying too.

🤣

Dana Murphy4 said:Just more proof that the best car dominates. I mean, Leclerc knows it too—he mentioned a few times how great the car is.

Nobody has ever disputed that, except for those delusional Hamilton fans who credit every win solely to his superhuman GOAT driving, while blaming every loss entirely on an inferior or broken car.

It’s not like we were expecting anything more than some mindless little smiley face. Yawn.