It’s an incredible start to the year and the team have given me an amazing car from the get-go. Whilst it was a tough race due to the unpredictable conditions and the pressure from Oscar and Max, I felt comfortable and confident out there in the package the team have given us. It’s been a great weekend. We now need to go to China, do it again, and continue from there. There’s a long season ahead, and we have to keep our heads down and keep pushing.
It was a good result for us and an enjoyable but hectic race. The conditions were fairly difficult and slippery but we managed to keep it out of the wall and stay out of trouble, which was the most important thing, so I am happy with that. It was hard for us to pass the McLarens, and we were struggling with the tyres overheating and tyre degradation. I think this is even more evident on intermediates as the compound is even softer than the slicks. They were better at controlling the temperature of the tyres and were pulling away from us quite easily, so it will help a lot if we work to keep our tyres in a better window. However, we scored 18 more points than we did last time we were in Melbourne, so this is an improvement on last year and was fun in the end. Even if we pitted later we would have been P2 so I am happy with the result. We only have a few days before we are in China so not sure how much we will be able to find and turn around but will work hard to improve. Again, it is the first race of the season and we went for it and learnt a lot, so this is a positive start.
That was not an easy race for anyone, so I’m pleased to bring it home in P3, taking our first podium finish of the new season. Keeping it on the road was a challenge at times, particularly in the changeable conditions. There were moments when the rain became slightly heavier whilst running on worn Intermediates, and then near the end the downpour arrived when we were on slicks. The team did a great job operationally today and we definitely maximised the result. The pace of the car was enough for us to fight for the podium, but we know we’ve got to find more speed if we want to challenge McLaren in normal conditions.
Kimi did an amazing job for his first race. To come through from P16 to P4 at any time is impressive. To do it on his Grand Prix debut is therefore fantastic. He deserved that result after yesterday where he was unlucky to suffer floor damage in Qualifying. It’s a positive start to the season for the whole team and we’re excited to move on to Shanghai and see what we can do at next weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
That was an incredibly eventful race! The conditions were super tricky out there. We had so many different conditions that we had to cope with today, but I think we did a good job as a team. I was happy with how we managed everything from start to finish and to come home P4, having started P16, is really positive. I definitely can’t complain about how my debut race in F1 has gone. It was also great to see George up on the podium for the team. Whilst we didn’t have the pace to challenge the McLarens, it’s always good to pick up silverware.
The whole weekend has been a good learning experience. Being knocked out in Q1 after suffering floor damage yesterday was obviously disappointing. To bounce back today though, and experience so much in one race, is really good for my development as an F1 driver. We’ve had a strong first weekend and I’m looking forward to building on that in China next week.
I’m really happy. It was such a crazy race, I’m still trying to get my head around it! It’s fantastic for the team - a P5 is very special and may not come around many times this year. Our strategist did an amazing job. Honestly, it was so difficult out there; these conditions are typically what we hate and, despite all of that, we were still one of the strongest midfield runners out there. Points like today mean a lot and I’m positive about what’s to come. We’re a very bonded team, it was great to have Carlos helping on the pit wall too. This is for everyone at Grove, for all their work.\"
That was a super tricky race, so it\'s good to come away with some big points for the team. I\'m happy with that, for sure. We knew from the start that it was about staying on track and being on the right tyre at the right time, and we did that today. It\'s always a real balance of risk versus reward in these changing conditions. You\'ve got to stay clean and consistent. The team made a great call bringing me in for the Intermediate tyres towards the end of the race. They were across the forecast and we made up positions because of it. The car still isn\'t where we want it to be – we\'ve got to keep pushing for improvements – but that makes it even more important to make the most of opportunities like we did today.
That\'s an absolutely positive result for the team. It definitely puts a smile on my face. We didn\'t see that coming yesterday after our qualifying performance. Under the challenging conditions today, we didn\'t make any mistakes and had a couple of good strategy calls. It was very difficult to keep that car on track and read the conditions. Street circuits under these circumstances are very unforgiving. You are constantly on the edge. On the intermediate tires in the first half of the race I was struggling quite a bit. It was a matter of just staying in the race and waiting for our opportunity. The safety car then obviously put us back in the race for the points, when it started to rain towards the end. We managed to pit exactly in the right moment ahead of others. Sometimes you got to be lucky. With others having some trouble, we stayed clean and rewarded ourselves with this nice six points. I would like to thank the entire team for the hard work to make that happen.
It was a tough race and there are things we have to review and work on. We weren’t the fastest out there, but in such weather conditions, there was a chance of scoring some big points, which we didn’t capitalise on today. I lost a few positions after the spin at Turn 11. In the end, it wasn’t that bad with the Safety Car that came out later on, but then we stopped a lap too late to switch to Inters, losing positions again. There are two things we have to look into. The first is easy—it was my mistake. The second is something we will sort out as a team, looking into our decisions and making sure we make the right call if the situation comes up again. It’s a continuous process of improvement. We are disappointed, but it’s good to know we’ll be back in the car in just a few days in China to give it another go.
A disappointing result after a really positive weekend. I had the speed and I felt in very good shape to fight for the win. Unfortunately, at the end, I just lost it in the sudden rain. Thanks to the team for all their efforts and thanks to all the Australian fans who have given me so much good energy and support over the last few days. It means a lot.
Not the start we wanted, but there’s lots to take away and work on from this one. The start was okay, but I lost momentum out of Turn 1 on the outside of Charles and got stuck behind Albon for most of the race. The rain always mixes things up, and strategy comes down to timing and a bit of luck. We took a gamble and made up places, but then boxing too late for Inters cost us, dropping us to the back of the top 10 with too much ground to recover. I struggled with the balance, but it was an important race for learning more about the car in different weather conditions, as well as gaining more experience working with a new team. McLaren and Red Bull had serious pace, so there’s work to do, but we’ll dig deep. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car next weekend in China.
After such a tough race in really challenging conditions, it is definitely a disappointing feeling to leave without scoring points. It was a lottery out there and I felt like we did well to stay in the mix for the majority of the race. The rain shower at the end ultimately decided things with some drivers benefitting from pitting earlier and others, like us, taking a gamble to go a lap or two later. That is the way it goes sometimes. I am pleased with the competitiveness of our overall package. We have shown we have strong pace and I am confident going into next weekend in China, so we’ll focus on the positives as a team and move on. Those conditions were really tough even for the most experienced drivers on the grid with such lack of grip. Jack has done a great job all weekend. He was really thrown into the deep end with those conditions and I know we are both determined to be back next week doing the best job possible and hopefully compete again for points.
The timing of the pit didn’t go our way today, it was too late and suddenly I dropped to P11 after the Safety Car. The pace was there and we didn’t make many mistakes, until the last bit of rain. I did what I can, I was pretty happy with how my performance was. We’ll definitely revise what happened and learn from this for the future. We need to make sure we’re not making the same mistakes, especially with the field being so tight this year, every single point is very important. It’s not ideal, but we can take a lot of positives from this weekend; we had pace and if we can maximise performance, we can have a good race weekend, we’ll just have to keep performing like this and come back strong.
It’s really the performance we missed out on this race, if we had a little bit more we would’ve been in the mix for points. The cars were fighting in front and I was just there, there was no position for me to get inside the top 10, I just couldn’t keep up unfortunately. We need to give it a good look – it’s not what we’ve seen, so it’s quite unexpected to be where we are this weekend – but I’m sure we’ll turn it around.
The aim of today was to get the laps in and collect data. I’m quite happy with my performance, I felt like I executed things well. There are a few things where we lost a bit of time, but when you’re not fighting for points it’s the time to try things, and it just didn’t work this time – now on to China.
First of all, a massive congratulations to Alex and the team; he did a great job and started off our season on the right foot. For me, we’ve looked at the data and could quickly spot what happened, so this leaves me calmer about the situation. Without going into details, it’s related to the upshifts when in Safety Car Mode. I’m obviously frustrated about it and feel sorry for everyone in the team. I spent the rest of the race trying to help on the radio and I’m happy I could at least participate in that way. Thankfully China is already next weekend and I can’t wait to jump back in the car.
It was a challenging race today with the wet conditions and I was a little unlucky in the end. I was battling inside the top 10 and felt like I was in the mix with others around me. I drove the same line at Turn Six, but there was some gravel there which caused me to lose control. There are some weaknesses in the car that we need to tackle, but if we execute a good weekend then it looks like we can score points this season. We get to have another go next week in China.
That\'s an absolutely positive result for the team. It definitely puts a smile on my face. We didn\'t see that coming yesterday after our qualifying performance. Under the challenging conditions today, we didn\'t make any mistakes and had a couple of good strategy calls. It was very difficult to keep that car on track and read the conditions. Street circuits under these circumstances are very unforgiving. You are constantly on the edge. On the intermediate tires in the first half of the race I was struggling quite a bit. It was a matter of just staying in the race and waiting for our opportunity. The safety car then obviously put us back in the race for the points, when it started to rain towards the end. We managed to pit exactly in the right moment ahead of others. Sometimes you got to be lucky. With others having some trouble, we stayed clean and rewarded ourselves with this nice six points. I would like to thank the entire team for the hard work to make that happen.
I feel embarrassed today, and I can only learn from my mistake and apologise to the team. There were tricky conditions out there, and from the installation laps, I felt very low grip and poor confidence. In the formation lap, I tried to prepare the tyres as much as I could, but unfortunately, I had a spin and the car was unsavable; I just felt like a passenger before hitting the wall. Now I look ahead to be ready to race in China next week.
It was an unfortunate end to an overall positive weekend. It was the result of a combination of factors which we will go over together as a team to learn from and ensure it does not happen again. It is a tough way to learn but I have digested what happened and put it behind me to focus on what is ahead. The positive learnings from the weekend outweigh the outcome from today, we were strong yesterday afternoon but caught out with the yellow flag. All the weekend the pace has been there so as a team we can take confidence going into every race weekend. We have back-to-back races with Shanghai coming up next week, so we will regroup as a team and aim to come back even stronger there. Overall, the weekend has been great, the fans have been amazing, the atmosphere was incredible, and to have the opportunity to drive in front of a home crowd for my season debut has been special.
This whole weekend was pretty terrible. Today we were too slow at the start and then we gambled. It nearly worked, but it wasn\'t to be. Starting from the pitlane was tough and we just didn\'t really have the speed in the first stint on the inter. We struggled with the fronts too much, so we will analyse and look at that in detail before the next race. On slick tyres it was quite competitive for that couple of laps but then it started raining again. We took a chance staying out on the medium and hoping half the track would stay dry. We knew that sector three was bad but we thought sector one would stay a little bit drier, so we risked it but it was bucketing down with rain. At that point I had backed out of pushing because it was so wet and I was just trying to stay on track. It has been a pretty horrible weekend and a struggle as a whole, but we take plenty of learning. For that I am grateful and I am just looking forward to going to China and resetting.
