Few may have predicted Ferrari’s one-two in Australia yesterday after Red Bull had won two straight races at the beginning of the
season.
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Thanks in part to Max Verstappen’s unexpected retirement, which was his first in two years, the SF-24s of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles
Leclerc finished first and second, respectively. Even if Verstappen had continued in the race, the two drivers think they could have won
because of the long-run pace of their vehicle.
Up until qualifying, Charles Leclerc—the quicker of the two Ferrari drivers—said the team believed it could win the race from the
beginning of the weekend.
“I wouldn’t say under control because we don’t know what Max’s actual pace was today, but it’s been a long time since we had the
genuine pace to have Red Bull. I will say, though, that from FP1, we knew that pole position and the race win was possible because we
had very good tyre degradation, very good pace, and that is a very encouraging sign.”
Lap times for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix
Every driver’s lap time, expressed in seconds (extremely slow laps removed). Using the control below, you may use scroll to zoom,
drag to pan, and toggle drivers:
Leclerc agreed that the crucial question is what would have been Verstappen’s potential pace if he had finished the race. Red Bull
claims that he started the race with his right rear brake locked on, so there is no representative data from his race other than the fact
that he can outperform a Ferrari by turning one from a standing start while only using one brake.
On the penultimate lap, Sergio Perez’s other Red Bull was 36 seconds behind Sainz when the second Virtual Safety Car period started.
On the surface, Ferrari is right when they claim Red Bull was slower than normal in the first two races (ignoring his five-second time
penalty in the latter race), as he finished 22 and 8 seconds behind Verstappen.
Perez concurred, stating that he believed Verstappen’s retirement did not prevent him from winning. Red Bull later disclosed,
however, that Perez’s speed was hindered by a visor tear-off that became adhered to the bottom of his car, destroying the
aerodynamics. That might have overestimated the Ferrari drivers’ expectations for their performance against Red Bull the previous
weekend.
However, Carlos Sainz Jr. is confident that Ferrari will be able to challenge Red Bull again in Melbourne and that they will be the first
to profit if they falter.
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