F1 Australian Grand Prix 2023: Fernando Alonso too slippery in wet for more favoured rivals
Drivers have been forced to contend with slippery conditions during practice at the Australian Grand Prix, but one wily veteran has again thrived to continue his career renaissance.
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Veteran Fernando Alonso did little to dampen Aston Martin’s hopes of mounting a serious challenge to Red Bull’s early Formula One dominance after topping a rain-marred second practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.
The 41-year-old dual world champion put down the fastest time early in the session before the rain started to fall, establishing himself as a threat to Red Bull’s early season charge.
Alonso produced the fastest time ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen, who was fastest in the earlier dry opening practice session.
The Spaniard has enjoyed an impressive start to his 2023 campaign with Aston Martin, which has emerged as the best performing team behind Red Bull.
Alonso has claimed back-to-back podiums in the opening two rounds, finishing third behind race winners Verstappen and Sergio Perez in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
While he considered it a “good Friday” for the team, Alonso said the team still had work to do ahead of Saturday qualifying.
“In FP1 we concentrated on some test items and ran through our programme smoothly,” said Alonso, who finished fourth fastest in the opening practice.
“The afternoon was obviously impacted by the rain, so there is still some work to do (Saturday). We need to learn more about the tyres and the long run pace of the car because there was not much time for that today.
“So far the car seems to behave well. The forecast tomorrow looks dry for now, and we would welcome that given we only experienced these conditions in the previous two races.”
Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the top five in the wet, which caught McLaren’s Lando Norris out when he fired off the greasy track at turn one earlier in the session when the rain started to fall.
But Norris was able to quickly recover to get his car back on the track as he finished the session in eighth position, while his rookie teammate Oscar Piastri finished in 14th place in his first day on track at Albert Park in his Australian Grand Prix debut.
Piastri described his first day on the track at Albert Park as “solid” and said he was adjusting the circuit.
“It was great to be out on track here in Melbourne and see all the fans,” Piastri said.
“It was nice to have a bit of wet weather in FP2 as it was the first time running on the intermediate tyres for me, so it was some really useful learning.
“I think the first day was good and we’re in a decent place for tomorrow. There’s still prep to do overnight into tomorrow, but I’m adjusting to the track and getting used to it.
“All-in-all a pretty solid day.”
While Russell was able to finish in the top five, his teammate Lewis Hamilton was 13th.
Regardless of whatever Melbourne’s weather throws up this weekend, the teams had a taste of running in both wet and dry conditions.
Earlier, Verstappen set the pace in the first practice session after surviving a big spin late in the session.
In a session which was interrupted for 10 minutes due to a GPS system outage, Verstappen gave his rivals a taste of his intentions at Albert Park after topping the P1 times ahead of Mercedes rival Hamilton and Red Bull teammate Perez.
Red Bull looked to have the two fastest cars for most of the dry practice before Hamilton moved up into second position late in the session, but he was almost half a second off the pace of Verstappen.
But the Dutchman survived a hairy moment in the last 10 minutes of the practice session when he spun at turn four, but was able to recover.
Verstappen felt the Friday conditions had not allowed him to get into a “rhythm” or to extract the most out of his tyres, but was looking forward to drier conditions across the weekend.
“The conditions weren’t great out there today, we had low grip and the tarmac seemed to be slippery,” Verstappen said.
“It was quite tough to switch the tyres on, so that was difficult when you want to push immediately. There were also quite a few interruptions with the red flags, so we never really got into a rhythm.
“It was difficult to tell how the car felt as we never got a window where I thought we were on top of the tyres.
“We’ll look over the data tonight and see what we have to do tomorrow. The conditions should be clearer for the rest of the weekend, so we can focus on that.”
FP2 RESULTS
Alonso
Leclerc
Verstappen
Russell
Sainz
Ocon
Perez
Norris
Hulkenberg
Gasly
Tsunoda
Bottas
Hamilton
Piastri
Zhou
Stroll
De Vries
Albon
Magnussen
Sargeant
Lando finds out just how wet Turn 1 is 😅
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2023
Thankfully the McLaren driver is able to continue on! #AusGP#F1pic.twitter.com/TMaMacPWp6
Welcome to Melbourne, where there are four seasons in one day! ☀ï¸â˜”ï¸ðŸ˜‚#AusGP#F1@ausgrandprixpic.twitter.com/dsyJ4zpVlo
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2023
F1 TEAMS HCASING RICCIARDO FOR 2024
Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner believes “everybody will want to speak with Daniel (Ricciardo)” about rejoining the grid from next year and can not rule out his team being among them.
Ricciardo may not be lining up on the grid at Albert Park but that hasn’t stopped the Aussie fans from swarming their hero at the Australian Grand Prix this week.
The fan-favourite this week reiterated his desire to return to a full-time F1 drive in the near future, in a competitive car that would have him challenging for race victories once again.
It was that winning desire that seemingly ruled out Haas and fellow backmarker team Williams from entering into conversations with Ricciardo late last season, after the Aussie’s exit from McLaren was confirmed.
Asked on Friday whether he would pursue Ricciardo once again, Steiner said he would give 2023 drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg a chance before looking in the Australian’s direction.
“It’s a bit early to speak about a driver change already for next year so let’s see what we are doing with these drivers (first),” he said.
“For sure at some point maybe I’ll speak with him but I cannot promise anything, because if our two guys do a good job I think where I stand with it (will be to keep them).”
But Steiner believes Ricciardo will be hot property on the driver market for next season, even if he is not pursued by Haas.
“I think everybody will want to speak with Daniel (after) a year off – maybe (by then) he knows again what he wants to do and he will be interesting for everybody in Formula One.”
Another team linked with Ricciardo last year was Alpine.
The Aussie had previously driven for the French team when it raced as Renault and he momentarily looked set for a return, before Pierre Gasly ultimately landed the vacant seat instead.
Despite choosing to go with Gasly, Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer agreed that Ricciardo would be a man in demand in the F1 paddock.
“He has signed with Red Bull now, but I think like Guenther does - he’s a fantastic racing driver, he’s still young and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back racing in the future.”
GENDER NEUTRAL FORMULA ONE
Red Bull chief Christian Horner said Friday it was inevitable that gender equality would reach Formula One amid reports that a team employing an equal split between men and women was looking to enter the sport.
Former British American Racing (BAR) founder Craig Pollock told CNN last week he wanted to debut “Formula Equal” from the 2025 or 2026 season onwards.
The aim was to have a 50 percent split between males and females across the whole organisation, from the cockpit to the engineers and the boardroom.
He has reportedly submitted an expression of interest to racing’s governing body, the FIA, which opened up the process for finding a potential 11th team earlier this year.
Horner, when asked about Pollock’s plan, said he believed gender equality in the traditionally male-dominated sport would happen “naturally” anyway.
“I think it’s fantastic to see the amount of girls, females, that are showing interest in Formula One now and we’re seeing it at all levels,” the Briton said in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
“I think the interest is growing... it’s appealing to more women to get involved in the sport, whether that’s from an engineering basis or across all aspects of the organisation.
“As the sport does become more accessible, and we are pushing to make it more accessible, I think that it is something that will naturally happen anyway.”
PIASTRI 12TH IN FP1
In a practice session which was interrupted for 10 minutes due to a GPS system outage, Verstappen gave his rivals a taste of his intentions at Albert Park after topping the practice times ahead of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Red Bull looked like having the two fastest cars for most of the practice before Hamilton moved into second position late in the session, almost half a second off the pace of Verstappen.
But the Dutchman survived a hairy moment in the last 10 minutes of the practice session when he spun at turn four, but was able to recover and keep going.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s 2022 Australian Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five.
Australian young gun Oscar Piastri steered his McLaren to just outside the top 10 in his debut on track at his home Grand Prix.
Piastri, who has only ever raced go-karts in Australia previously, was 11th fastest in his first spin around the Albert Park track.
His McLaren teammate Lando Norris fared better, finishing seventh fastest after being the last driver out on track while he team worked on his car in the garage for the first 25 minutes of the session.
Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda also survived a big moment half-way through the session when he ran off the track and bounced along the gravel trap at turn one, but was able to continue.
After a dominant start to the year, Red Bull is attempting to secure a third consecutive one-two finish for the first time in the team’s history, at this week’s Australian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Perez each have one win each from the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
1:30PM PRACTICE ONE ORDER
Verstappen
Hamilton
Perez
Alonso
Leclerc
Sainz
Norris
Gasly
Russell
Stroll
Albon
Piastri
Hulkenberg
DeVries
Sargeant
Ocon
Tsunoda
Bottas
Zhou
Magnussen
1:26PM SPIN AND OUT
Verstappen finding himself the wrong way on the track, his tyres totally shot and he’s not happy with the balance of the car.
Meanwhile at the exit of 11, Logan Sargeant is off the track and I don’t think that car is going anywhere soon. Power loss.
💥 ¡TROMPO DE MAX VERSTAPPEN!💥#F1#AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/ybZcXnO1B8
— Fórmula Directa (@FormulaDirecta) March 31, 2023
1:10PM BIT OF CARNAGE ON TRACK
Cars in the gravel everywhere you look.
Perez runs through the gravel, traffic everywhere and Yuki runs out at Turn 1!!! 😲
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2023
What's going on out there?! 🤯😅#AusGP#F1pic.twitter.com/zIXkb4ubxq
F1 STARS BACK CEO’S CALL FOR DRASTIC RACE CHANGES
Formula One drivers have backed the CEO’s calls for practice sessions to be reduced to just one per race weekend.
Earlier this week, Stefano Domenicali double down on his view that fans don’t like the current format and that drivers didn’t need the time on track.
Of the 23 races on the calendar, six weekends adopt the new sprint format while the remaining 17 consist of three one-hour sessions for drivers to push the car, adapt to the track and test changes.
The sprint format effectively exchanged one practice session for a one-third-distance grand prix at six weekends.
Domenicali was forced to tone down his call for all practice sessions to be scrapped but remains intent on reducing them.
George Russell echoed the CEO’s thoughts but insisted one session was essential.
“We obviously can’t have no testing at all,” Russell said.
“I think one session is good enough for all of us to do the various things we need to try to help develop.
“This is still the pinnacle of the sport. You don’t want to be just left with the car that you created at the start of a year with no opportunity to trial new things.
“That is sort of the beauty sometimes, you’ve got this 60-minute session, you can try new things, develop, improve further.
“Whereas if you’re going straight into a session that is points-worthy or there is a reward, you’re less likely to trial new things.”
Pierre Gasly agreed.
“Definitely three’s not needed,” he said.
“As a driving point of view it’s always nice, you can work on fine details on the car and really try to nail that car balance for the weekend. But generally speaking I think one, two maximum is more than enough for us.”
F1 rookie Logan Sargeant said having three hour-long practice sessions “is definitely a lot, especially coming from F2 where you just have to take risks a lot sooner than I currently have to.
“So as a rookie, I don’t mind having two or three, but going forward, I don’t think three is necessary.”
11:24AM NEVER SAY NEVER
Sebastian Vettel has been retired for all of three and ahalf months and we’re already talking about the German star returning to the track.
Vettel announced his plans to walk away from the sport midway through the 2022 season and was replaced by Fernando Alonso thi year.
When asked if the door was completley shut on his F1 career, Vettel said: “Everything is possible at the moment, It can go in all different directions.
“Maybe I go crazy in half a year, can’t stand it on the couch and want to drive.
“But it can also be that my passion turns in a completely different direction and my ambition, all the experiences can be bundled into another project we’ll see”
F1 FUN POLICE: MAJOR RULE CHANGE ON EVE OF AUS GP
The F1 police are in town and there’s a late rule change for the Australian Grand Prix.
Teams have been told they can no longer celebrate drivers’ victories on the pitwall in another barmy ruling by the FIA.
The sport’s governing body, who bungled the outcome of the last race in Saudi Arabia by taking four hours to award Fernando Alonso third place, have taken issue with teams climbing on the fencing.
The celebrations have long been part of the end of F1 races but nit-picky stewards are clamping down.
It comes after they turned their attention to Lewis Hamilton’s nose stud and drivers wearing non-regulation underwear.
Ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, FIA race director Niels Wittich reminded F1 teams that climbing on the pitwall is not allowed.
In his pre-weekend event safety notes, he said “it is forbidden to climb on the pitwall debris fence at any time”.
The FIA’s International Sporting Code states: “The pit wall signalling platform should be forbidden to all except authorised officials or race team personnel, having a special pass.”
It adds: “It is forbidden for personnel to climb on pit wall debris fences at any time.
“Any action by a team breaching this ban will be reported to the stewards.”
Meanwhile, the FIA have amended the rulebook after Alonso’s Aston Martin team failed to observe a time penalty.
In Jeddah, the team placed a jack under his car and then waited five seconds before working on his car.
While Alonso was eventually cleared and allowed to keep third place, the rules now say it IS illegal to place a jack under the car during such instances.
Instead, they have to wait for the time penalty to be served before doing anything, including putting a jack in position.
10AM HAMILTON WELCOMES RACISM RESULT
Lewis Hamilton applauded the hefty fine imposed on three-time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet for racist remarks about the British driver, saying people “full of hate” should not be tolerated.
Piquet was fined US$945,000 last weekend for calling Hamilton “neguinho” (”little black”) in a 2021 interview.
In handing down its judgement, a court in Brasilia ruled that the “intolerable” remarks constituted a “serious offence to the fundamental values of society”.
World champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987, Piquet used the term while criticising Hamilton’s role in a clash with Max Verstappen, his daughter Kelly’s boyfriend, at the British Grand Prix the same year.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton praised Brazil for its action. “I still believe that we generally shouldn’t be giving people that are just full of hate a platform,” he said in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
“I’d like to acknowledge the Brazil government, I think it’s pretty amazing what they’ve done in holding someone accountable, showing people that that is not tolerated.
“Racism and homophobia is not acceptable, and there is no place for it within our society. So I love that they’ve shown that they stand for something.” Piquet, 70, was fined for “collective moral damages” with the money being donated to groups fighting against discrimination.
He had issued an apology, saying his words were wrong but that he did not intend to offend.
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