The Debrief by Aramco: Australian Grand Prix
The team secured more points at the Australian Grand Prix, with both cars finishing inside the top ten. Get the thoughts from Lance, Fernando, and Mike after racing Down Under.
Lance and Fernando achieved a double points finish at the Australian Grand Prix, with both drivers gaining positions from their starting spots.
Sunday round-up and reaction
Team achieves a second double points finish of the season with Lance classified in P6, and Fernando in P8.
Drivers used different tyre strategies to complete two-stop races at Albert Park. Lance started on the Medium tyre before using two sets of Hards, whilst Fernando began the race on the Hard tyre, before using the Mediums and then heading back to the Hards.
Fernando took advantage of a VSC period following Lewis Hamilton’s retirement, allowing him to gain time and track position as he pitted whilst the race was neutralised.
Fernando crossed the line in P6 but received a post-race drive-through penalty after an incident involving George Russell that saw the Mercedes driver crash. This was converted to 20 seconds added to his race time, which demoted him to eighth in the final standings.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Race
"It was a solid race today and I'm pleased to pick up a few points. I had a strong start, gaining a couple of places on the first lap, and then settled into a good rhythm. As expected, managing the tyres was the biggest challenge due to the high degradation, but I looked after them well and the team did a good job with the race strategy. We still have some more pace to find in the car, but I think we leave Australia knowing we made the most of the package we have."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Race
"We were a little lucky with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car when Lewis [Hamilton] retired. Then I was pretty happy sat behind Checo [Perez] because I could use the DRS to pull a gap. I lost a lot of time when Charles [Leclerc] came out from the pits – but those seconds we gained proved to be gold dust at the end.
"In the closing laps, George caught me quickly. I knew that he was coming, then he was in DRS range for five or six laps, so I was just doing qualifying laps to stay ahead. I wanted to maximise my exit speed from Turn Six to defend against him. That's what any racing driver would do, and I didn't feel it was dangerous. It's disappointing to get a penalty from the stewards for what was hard but fair racing. Still, I'm glad that George is okay. It was not nice to see his car in the middle of the track.
"This wasn’t the best weekend for us in terms of pace, but our race was well executed: good strategy, incredible pit-stops, great reliability. I think we probably scored more points today than our pace merited – but we'll take that."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"A strong race in Albert Park today and we have scored 12 championship points. Full credit to both drivers, who converted our grid positions into points, making use of two very different tyre strategies.
"Lance has driven well all weekend and carried that form through to the chequered flag. Fernando's race benefited from the Virtual Safety Car – it was surprising to see him drop to P8 with the post-race penalty, but we have to accept the decision. This will not distract from a positive day. The calls from the pit wall were spot on and operationally the whole team has been excellent."
Next up
The team will make the long trip home from Melbourne, before turning attentions to the Japanese Grand Prix weekend which takes place between April 5th and April 7th.
Saturday
Lance and Fernando made it safely into the final section of Qualifying for a second straight time, as in Saudi Arabia. Lance will start tomorrow's race in P9, with Fernando in P10.
Lance undertook one flying lap during the top ten in Q3 shootout, running when the track was a little clearer. He wrestled a snap of oversteer well between turns Nine and Ten but that compromised his lap.
Fernando's run plan was to complete two flying laps in Q3, but an off on his first run meant he could only complete one quick lap whilst carrying floor damage.
The comparison tests conducted in Free Practice were favourable towards the new front wing flaps brought to Melbourne, and so both cars ran the upgraded model in Qualifying.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Qualifying
"We had strong Q1 and Q2 sessions today: the car was performing well and I found a decent rhythm. I then had a bit of a moment at Turn Nine in Q3 and lost three or four tenths. It had been a good lap up until then, so I think we could have been looking at a couple of positions higher up if it hadn't been for that wobble. Tomorrow is going to be a high-degradation race, so I think it's all about managing tyres. We have a good race car and it's a fun track to drive so strong points will be the target tomorrow."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Qualifying
"Getting both cars into Q3 was more or less what we expected today. My first lap in Q3 wasn't great: I went off into the gravel at Turn Six. My mistake. So, on my final push-lap, I didn't really have full confidence in the car. It was tricky. I feel we are a little bit less competitive than we were in Jeddah. The car was sliding; a little sensitive in the wind; lacking consistency. But it's the same for everybody. Still, we need to find more pace. There will be lots going on tomorrow. It's not going to be an easy race for the tyres – graining will be a concern for everybody – so let's see if we can manage them better than the others. We want to get both cars home in the points tomorrow."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"We achieved the prime objective of getting both cars into Q3, which sets us up for a strong race tomorrow, but we could have done better than P9 and P10 today. In tricky and windy track conditions, Lance had a moment through Turn Nine on his best flying lap in Q3, while Fernando’s final effort was impacted by floor damage. We will work hard to ensure we convert these positions into points on Sunday."
Next up
Race day. The Australian Grand Prix starts at 4:00 GMT on Sunday.
Friday
A positive start to the weekend saw Lance and Fernando finish inside the top five during FP2.
The team has brought new front wing flaps to Albert Park, with data gathered over their performance.
A temporary facility, the Albert Park surface can be quite bumpy and fairly slippery at the start of the weekend. A number of drivers left the track during the day as they pushed, including Fernando in FP1 who needed a floor change afterwards.
Pirelli has brought the softest three compounds in its range to Melbourne - a step softer compared to last year. The team therefore sought to understand tyre degradation and ran both Soft and Medium compounds in both Free Practice sessions.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice
"The car felt good today. I was happy with the balance, and we had a straightforward day gathering plenty of data.
"We've been pretty strong on one-lap pace this season, so it's positive to see we've kept that up here. But let's keep our feet on the ground because it's Free Practice and we don't know what the others have been doing.
"Nevertheless, a positive start to the weekend and I'm looking forward to getting back into the car for Qualifying tomorrow."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice
"It's always tricky here at Albert Park – the track rubbers in quite a lot and the grip changes. That led to me running through the gravel at Turn 10 during FP1, so we had to change the floor during the session.
"Our programme was a little compromised due to that, but FP2 ran smoothly and we completed everything we set out to do.
"It's always satisfying to be towards the top of the timesheet, but we won’t draw any conclusions from today as it's only Free Practice and there are still plenty of variables to consider.
"We have a lot of data to now analyse in order to give us the best chance of getting a positive result in Qualifying."
Next up
Saturday sees one final Free Practice session take place at 01:30 GMT before Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix begins at 05:00 GMT.
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AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
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