Formula 1 2022 Australian Grand Prix results

American interest in Formula 1 is on the up. The success of the United States Grand Prix in Austin has contributed to Miami joining the calendar, with Las Vegas set to make it three American races on the 2023 schedule.
Michael Andretti also wants to bring his team to the grid. He faces some tough hurdles but, if successful, it would be the second American squad in F1, joining Haas.
Given (or ...

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With Mercedes still battling to overcome the porpoising issues that have affected the W13 since pre-season testing, Hamilton wants the team to not waste a moment in working out how it can make progress.
For while the good finishing rate of the team has kept it within touching distance in the championship fight, Hamilton is well aware that it cannot continue to count on other's misfortune to ...

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Masi lost his job over the winter, in the wake of his handling of the safety car restart in the closing stages of last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Mistakes made by race control in only allowing a select number of backmarkers to unlap themselves, plus the decision to go for an immediate restart, opened the door for Max Verstappen to snatch the win and world title from Lewis Hamilton on the ...

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The DRS zone, which included the curving section of track from Turn 8 to Turn 9, was removed by the FIA on safety grounds just 20 minutes before Saturday's FP3 session.
It had been the subject of debate at the previous evening's drivers' briefing, with the conversation led by Fernando Alonso.
Before FP3, race director Niels Wittich canvassed the teams for their views on the safety ...

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The Aston Martin driver was reported for making "more than one change of direction to defend a position" while battling with Valtteri Bottas.
After an investigation he received a five-second penalty and a penalty point on his FIA superlicence. The penalty did not change his finishing position of 12th place.
Race control also looked at Stroll's move to pass Bottas when the virtual safety car ...

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Verstappen was forced out of the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday with 20 laps remaining due to a fuel system issue, costing him a likely second-place finish.
Verstappen also failed to finish the season opener in Bahrain last month due to a separate fuel pump problem, causing him to lose significant ground in the early title battle.
The Dutchman lies sixth in the standings with 25 points ? ...

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After the frenetic DRS duels that defined the 2022 Formula 1 season-opening Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix, the return to Australia after three years without a race was a comparatively humdrum affair. Polesitter Charles Leclerc took control to land the victory.
The Ferrari charger launched cleanly to pull across the Albert Park circuit and cover off any potential lunges from his Red Bull ...

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After running Ferrari close for third in the 2021 championship, McLaren has taken several steps back under the new 2022 regulations and only managed to score six points from the first two races.
But while McLaren failed to make it into Q3 in either event, in Melbourne Norris progressed to qualify fourth, with Ricciardo claiming seventh on the grid.
While Norris and Ricciardo were powerless ...

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Yet it instead was a race that saw the momentum swing firmly in Leclerc and Ferrari's direction as Verstappen suffered his second DNF in three races following another fuel system issue
Leclerc may have been out of reach for outright pace, yet Red Bull was still left licking the wounds of more dropped points, with Verstappen now trailing by 46 points at the top of the standings. Leclerc is 34 ...

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The Aston Martin Vantage safety car, driven by former DTM star Bernd Maylander, was pressed into action twice during Sunday's 58-lap race for an off by Carlos Sainz and a crash for Sebastian Vettel.
But as most drivers were on the hard tyre at the time, they struggled to get any heat into their rubber behind the Vantage, which is slower than the Mercedes it splits safety car duties ...

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During a yellow flag period in the Albert Park race, onboard footage from Mick Schumacher's car showed the Haas driver making a dramatic swerve to the left on the pit straight while trying to avoid Yuki Tsunoda, who had braked in front of him.
The Japanese driver was in turn trying to stay clear of his own AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly, who was ahead.
Schumacher was so shocked by his ...

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Leclerc produced a crushing display in Albert Park as Ferrari comfortably had the measure of its rival Red Bull.
The Monegasque driver took his second win of the season by 20 seconds on Red Bull's Sergio Perez, after Leclerc's nearest competitor Max Verstappen was forced to retire.
Verstappen never looked like threatening Leclerc on pure pace, the Dutchman admitting "I knew I could not fight ...

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Russell sat fifth during the opening stint of the race at Albert Park before pitting under the safety car to leap up to third ahead of both Red Bull driver Perez and teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Russell was instructed with 20 laps to go not to fight Perez for third place as he needed to manage his tyres to the end of the race. Perez ultimately got the overtake completed three laps later.
But ...

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The Anglo-Thai driver carried a three-place grid penalty into the Albert Park weekend after contact with Lance Stroll in the previous Jeddah race, but had to start the race from the back of the grid anyway as his car lacked enough fuel to provide a sample after qualifying.
Starting the race on hard tyres, Albon completed a mammoth 57-lap stint on his original rubber, gaining track position by ...

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The Spaniard, who missed out on a potential front row start in Melbourne after his car shut down shortly after he had set a purple sector time in Q3, had appeared to be on course for a strong recovery from 10th in the race.
But hopes of making his alternative tyre strategy work, having started on the hard tyres, evaporated when a safety car following Sebastian Vettel's crash came out at the ...

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Leclerc dominated the race, apart from a sketchy moment after making a poor restart from a safety car period when Verstappen almost got alongside him.
Verstappen was on course for second place when his car failed with 18 laps to go. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez finished second, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
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Australian GP: Leclerc cruises ...

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The world champion suffered his second DNF of the season at the Australian Grand Prix as his car ground to a halt with an unspecified problem on lap 39 in Melbourne.
The non-points finish, allied to another non-score in the season-opening Bahrain GP, has left the Dutchman 46 points adrift of runaway championship leader Charles Leclerc after just three races
Speaking to Sky, Verstappen said ...

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...

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After a difficult start to the season for the McLaren squad there were signs of significant improvement across the Albert Park weekend.
Lando Norris topped Free Practice 3 and was fourth fastest in qualifying, three spots ahead of Ricciardo.
The pair then spent the majority of the race running in formation, Norris leading Ricciardo, as they came home a solid fifth and sixth.
According to ...

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In the closing stages of the Melbourne race, Hamilton was starting to close in on teammate George Russell, who had got ahead of him thanks to a well-timed safety car.
As the pair ran around unchallenged from behind, Hamilton came over the team radio and said: "You guys put me in a really difficult position."
While some interpreted the message as a criticism of the team because Russell had ...

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Verstappen was set to finish second at Albert Park on Sunday, only to slow with 20 laps to go and park up at the side of the track at Turn 1 to retire from the race.
It marked Verstappen?s second DNF in three races, meaning he is already 46 points behind early championship leader Charles Leclerc, who scored a dominant win for Ferrari in Melbourne.
Verstappen said after the race it was ...

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Vettel made his first 2022 race appearance after sitting out the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds with COVID-19.
With the four-time world champion already up against it after lacking so much seat time, he fell behind even further due to technical problems in Melbourne practice.
Vettel had to park his AMR22 near the end of FP1 with a loss of power, which prompted an engine change that also saw ...

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The Ferrari driver led throughout the returning Melbourne event, which was disrupted by two safety cars ? after which Leclerc dropped Verstappen each time, despite coming under heavy pressure from the Dutchman at the second restart.
Sergio Perez finished second ahead of George Russell, who was a big gainer under the second safety car, but had to hold off a charging Lewis Hamilton to the ...

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The Alpine driver says the impact left him with sore thumbs, but he insists he will be OK for the race.
Alonso was on a lap that might have earned him pole position in Q3 when a hydraulic failure towards the end of the lap pitched him off the road and into a tyre barrier.
By holding onto the steering wheel his hands and thumbs received a heavy jolt, and led to the strapping that was very ...

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Leclerc will start ahead of Red Bull?s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
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Australian GP: Leclerc beats Verstappen and Perez to pole


Australian Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from ...

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Off the back of consecutive Q3 appearances for the team in Bahrain and Jeddah, Magnussen failed to make it out of Q1 in Melbourne and lines up 17th, while Mick Schumacher will start 15th.
But rather than the performance being a concern that the team has lost its early-season potential, Magnussen says the result can be traced back to the team not getting on top of its set-up from the off in ...

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Leclerc, along with Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda, had been summoned by the stewards for an "alleged breach of Article 33.4" of the FIA sporting regulations about failing to adhere to a minimum time on a qualifying in-lap, which could potentially be dangerous for oncoming traffic on a hotlap.
Leclerc and Zhou's offences occurred in Q1, while Tsunoda's was in Q2.
In Q3 the Monegasque driver ...

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Charles Leclerc will start on pole position for Ferrari after beating the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in qualifying.
Lando Norris will line up fourth on the grid, marking a strong upturn in fortunes for McLaren. 
Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will start right behind Norris in fifth and sixth, sharing the third row on the grid.
When is the F1 ...

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In both Bahrain and Jeddah, Verstappen drew alongside Leclerc as they approached the final corners before the restart once the safety car had moved ahead to return to the pits.
These moves have been repeats of the similarly forceful tactic the Red Bull driver used against Mercedes? Lewis Hamilton just before the final lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
There, Verstappen briefly edged ...

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The German car manufacturer has found itself adrift of the pace-setting Ferrari and Red Bull teams so far this season, with its W13 proving especially tricky to set up.
The car is suffering from bad porpoising, and the team has found that dialling the bouncing out results in the car losing competitiveness on track.
Lewis Hamilton insists Mercedes is trying as hard as it can to find the right ...

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While teammate Charles Leclerc claimed his second pole position of the 2022 season after beating Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Sainz will start on the fifth row after a "disaster" in Q3.
The Spaniard was just approaching the end of his first flying lap when red flags caused by Fernando Alonso's Turn 11 shunt meant he was unable to log a banker lap.
Problems with firing up his F1-75 car after ...

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The Briton left it until the dying seconds of Q3 to deliver a lap that slotted him in behind McLaren?s Lando Norris in fifth, with there still a big gap to the Ferrari and Red Bull cars at the front.
But although the pace of the Mercedes appears to be better than it was at the Saudi Arabian GP a fortnight ago, Hamilton said that the upswing in form was not the result of any steps forward the ...

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Bottas was left disappointed after the exit in the second qualifying segment ended his record of consecutive appearances in Q3 sessions at 103.
The Alfa Romeo driver, who started the first two races of 2022 with his new team in sixth and eighth positions, could manage only 12th place at Albert Park.
Bottas admitted that Alfa Romeo didn't quite have the pace in Melbourne, highlighting a late ...

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At the end of Q1, Albon parked his Williams on track in the final sector after hurriedly being told by his race engineer to stop the car immediately.
It soon transpired Albon's car was stopped because it was almost out of fuel, F1 cars having to produce at least a one litre fuel sample so the FIA can carry out its scrutineering checks after the session.
However, Albon was referred to the ...

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For some teams, the removal of the fourth DRS zone made no immediate difference, but for others ? notably Aston Martin ? it led to some last-minute scrabbling around to change the car set-up to suit, triggering a chain of events that led to a disastrous qualifying session for the Silverstone-based team.
How the loss of the DRS zone came about was unusual, with some rivals suspecting that a ...

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F1's racers were informed in Friday night's lengthy drivers' briefing at the Australian Grand Prix that the FIA would clamp down on what they wear under their race suits.
Amid concerns that drivers had got slack with their race wear, which could compromise their protection in fiery crashes like that which Romain Grosjean suffered in 2020, F1 race director Niels Wittich said that he would get ...

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Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda have also been called by the stewards for similar offences.
Leclerc and Zhou's transgressions happened at the same time in Q1, while Tsunoda's was in Q2.
The document from the stewards noted that the Ferrari driver was being called for an "alleged breach of Article 33.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and non- compliance with Race Director's Event ...

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McLaren endured a miserable start to the season in Bahrain as both Norris and teammate Daniel Ricciardo failed to score any points, having struggled to compete with majority of the midfield teams.
Progress was made in Saudi Arabia one week later as Norris finished seventh, but the team made a big step forward in Australia as the British driver qualified fourth, only trailing Ferrari's Charles ...

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Stroll and Latifi crashed towards the end of Q1 at Albert Park on the run between Turn 5 and Turn 6, sparking a red flag.
Both drivers were on warm-up laps ahead of their final runs and had been exchanging the position. Latifi attempted to pass Stroll up the inside on the run to Turn 6, only for the Aston Martin driver to move to the right and for their cars to collide.
Both drivers were ...

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Leclerc was heard asking Ferrari to give him a new helmet fitted "the darkest visor you have" as the drivers struggled for visibility as the golden late-evening sunshine impacted their ability to see.
The issue arose because qualifying ran over 30 minutes deeper into the evening due to two lengthy red flag periods following the crash between Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi in Q1 and then ...

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