Another incomprehensible mistake from Valtteri Bottas’ team – the expert is embarrassed: “It’s a really embarrassing thing” | Sport

The third round of the F1 season contained a lot of dramatic events, when both Max Verstappen that Lewis Hamilton interrupted. Valtteri Bottas was on the other hand at a good pace, but after a mix-up in the stable, he was 14th in the end.

Ferrari took a double win when Carlos Sainz celebrate on the highest podium and Charles Leclerc was another. Third and fourth place went to McLaren respectively Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Sports expert Jukka Mildh discusses the most interesting topics of the competition in this article.

Where did the race end?

Carlos Sainz drove to victory in the Australian GP, ​​who overtook Verstappen, who was already in trouble in the opening laps. The Dutchman had to retire due to a technical problem when his rear brakes caught fire.

– Ferrari was clearly better than Red Bull today, perhaps due to the fact that the reliability of the car was much better. Ferrari had made a car that used the tire correctly and gave Sainz the chance to win, says Mildh.

– Red Bull’s race strategy was also influenced by the fact that Sergio Perez received a starting grid penalty. The overall package was not as strong as Ferrari’s.

What are we talking about?

The victory of Sainz, who missed the previous race due to appendicitis and surgery, seemed to be acceptable to the Australian public as well.

– It may not be a miracle recovery, but a very amazing healing process from Sainz. He was able to drive such a hard performance when he was half fit, says Mildh.

Mildh describes that for the first time in a long time there was emotion in an F1 race. He reminds that Red Bull and Verstappen have so far been perceived as cold and too superior, but the success of the emotional Ferrari brought a significant boost to the series.

– The audience could see that Ferrari’s victory was celebrated as well as the success of Australian driver Oscar Piastri in this race.

The expert considers Red Bull’s technical failure to be miraculous. He reminds that the team has spent the last few years through the seasons at a very high level, as a top team should of course.

– Of course, the surprising thing is that Verstappen’s car fails. It hasn’t happened in a long time and now it was specifically a mechanical failure. And to the spectacular brake explosion. It’s a new twist, but I think Red Bull will fix it pretty quickly.

Mildh considers it possible that some blockage has covered the cooling channel, which has prevented the brakes from cooling.

– Another option is to try new brakes and have a mechanical failure in the brake cylinder and system. There are many things that could have gone wrong.

What about Bottas?

Valtteri Bottas started the race from grid 13 and, thanks to his good start and Verstappen’s interruption, was in 11th place. However, the first pit stop was long, as Sauber could not change one tire on the Finn’s car.

Sauber had a similar problem in two previous races. For example, in the opening race, Bottas was stationary for 52 seconds because of the left front tire, just like this time.

– All the signs indicated that Bottas would finally be able to drive a clean race. Time for a pit stop again. It’s really embarrassing that it’s the same thing all the time, wheel and nut. Why can’t it be fixed?

In an interview with Viaplay after the race, Bottas said that “it doesn’t matter how you drive there if you can’t fix the pit stops”.

– It must have been really frustrating for Valtter that this happened and the race ended up in the pits again. There is still a lot to do on the team’s side.

Surprise

When Verstappen and both Mercedes had to stop, Haas, who has been at the tail end in recent years, was able to gain points. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth and Kevin Magnussen tenth.

– Haas’ performance was a surprise. The team is being monitored as an underperformer and many changes have been made there as well. They have a tough driver duo, whose driving style is also heavily criticized. A hard performance, that they drove to the points.

A flop

Mercedes had a terrible weekend. Lewis Hamilton was outside the top ten in qualifying, and he had to stop the race early on.

George Russell in turn drove out in the final laps as he battled for sixth place Fernando Alonso with. Alonso received a 20-second penalty for the situation, as the judges deemed him to have driven in a potentially dangerous manner.

– Russell did a good job in these conditions and in the condition the car is in. It’s a pity that it ended in a bad crash. However, this was a really bad showing from Mercedes in terms of the continuation.

According to Mildh, there is something shady about the development of the car, because it doesn’t fit Hamilton’s keys at all. For Russell, on the other hand, the car looks really good.

– The team now needs to sit down and see that it gets its car to serve both drivers. Hamilton was in trouble based on this race.

As far as Mercedes is concerned, the previous three races, which were run on different types of tracks, also speak for themselves. Bahrain was rough and sandy, Jeddah was fast and Melbourne was dirty.

– Mercedes should be in the top group, but it seems to be quite a lot behind the others.

What next

The F1 season continues in two weeks in Suzuka, Japan. The atmosphere at Ferrari is certainly high, but Mildh believes that the marching order will return to the order of the day.

– Of course, Ferrari got a very strong encouragement that the car is going in the right direction and McLaren also did a really great performance.

– The top is getting tighter, but I don’t think Verstappen will disappear from the top, unless the technical problems continue. However, I highly doubt it.