Y ganó Norris con Verstappen pisándole los talones, terminó con emoción un gran premio que tuvo de todo, especialmente autitos chocadores, no precisamente de los que divierten a las familias en los parques de diversiones.
Bumper cars
When I was a child, first and then when I took my children there, I liked amusement parks. I particularly remember a ride they used to call bumper cars. I believe this fun attraction for the whole family still exists today, where each driver deliberately tries to crash into others in their path.
Early this morning, I made an effort to watch the first Formula One race of the year, packed with features that made it more attractive than in previous seasons: team changes, the debut of as many Rockies as ever, and changes to the vehicles. While they maintain virtually the same regulations as the previous year, improvements are always being made, resulting in different behavior to tame those engines and chassis delivering so much power.
The weather became a key factor. The morning was cold and windy, with abundant rain—so much so that the previous Formula 2 race had to be suspended due to the rain and its dangers.
Adding to the vicissitudes and uncertainties of the debut was a dramatic temperature change: from over 40 degrees Celsius on the track during the previous days' practice sessions, the temperature dropped without warning to a chilly 9 degrees Celsius an hour before the race. As if that weren't enough, practically no team or driver had driven their cars under weather conditions similar to those that were occurring at that time.
And what was feared happened: track exits everywhere, safety cars deployed on several occasions, and many vehicles were damaged. The only thing missing was the red flag, which wasn't raised solely at the whim of the track marshals, as auxiliary vehicles such as cranes and trailers had entered dangerous areas on a couple of occasions.
Already on the pre-lap, we had a preview of what would happen during the 57 laps scheduled for the competition. After just 500 meters, when Isack Hadjar tried to apply power to his RB, which had been so successful in practice and qualifying, he was thrown off and ended up hitting some fenders at the exit of a corner. The car landed, and the rear wing suffered damage that was incompatible with continuing on the track. Distraught, the young rookie returned to the pits, visibly upset and in tears. Even Lewis Hamilton's father accompanied him for a few meters, trying to console him. The Australian Grand Prix was getting off to a terrible start, and the pre-lap had only just begun.
The start was delayed for another 15 minutes, enough time to get Hadjar's car out of the way, check the vehicles, and prepare for a new start. The restart went off without any major issues, but there was a preview of what would happen at the end. As usual, Max Verstappen got off to a good start in the rain and took second place at the expense of Oscar Piastri. He only missed out on first place because Lando Norris's reflexes blocked his way between the two papaya-colored vehicles.
But in just a few laps the rain and the narrow and dangerous circuit claimed a second and third victim in a row, first, it was Jack Doohan's Alpine that crowned a bad debut in the category hit a wall when he lost his vehicle and impacted causing irreversible damage that prevented him from continuing in the race, just a few seconds later and without the accidents being related, the experienced Carlos Sainz also crashed into the walls of the narrow Melbourne street circuit leaving Williams with a bitter feeling of repeating the accidents of the previous year where towards the end of the season they had to rebuild their vehicles as they could due to the exhaustion of the budget caused by so much damage from collisions.
Needless to say, these two accidents led to the first, but not the last, safety car call-out, which was unfortunate for the race and me, as I watched my sleep slip away, along with the hopes of several drivers.
Meanwhile, the race settled into a more consistent pattern with what the McLarens had demonstrated in practice and qualifying. Piastri overtook Verstappen again when the latter, in an act of recklessness, nearly went off the grid, leaving second place open to the home driver. From then on, the race entered a rather boring plateau, with both McLarens gaining more than 15 seconds over the Red Bull, with the latter showing no sign of being able to do anything about it.
The race was heading toward monotony. The rain had even stopped, and only the intermediate tires were causing some uncertainty, as they began to wear quickly without water underneath to cool them. But the second installment of bumper cars was still to come. First up was another experienced driver: Fernando Alonso, who went off course when a new light rain began. Everyone took advantage of the opportunity to pit and change tires, and there arose another dilemma: intermediates or slicks? Virtually everyone switched to slicks, although there were variations. The McLarens preferred the hard tires, while Verstappen preferred the medium. Something had to be done to try to reverse the huge gap. That, and the safety car that came in while the Aston Martin debris was being removed, brought the gap back to nothing.
The restart was emotional as the Red Bull saw the possibility of passing one of the McLarens but couldn't. A few laps later, the weather and rain hit again, this time with a bit more intensity. Everyone changed tires again for the intermediates, and there were no shortage of mistakes. Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto hit the wall, and shortly after, Lian Lawson did the same, rounding off a debut to forget. Some say a ray of sunshine appeared between the clouds, with the smiling face of Checo Perez.
Another safety car and a restart. At this point, the most exciting segment of the race began when both McLarens struggled with the rain. Norris was able to control his car. Piastri went onto the grass and it looked like he would stay there as the wheels spun without traction. At that moment, Verstappen's Red Bull took second place and, smelling blood, went all out in search of the approach that would allow him to think about victory, something unthinkable without the help of the pace car.
After a long battle that took him to the back of the field, Piastri was able to recover some positions to finish in a poor ninth place. Speaking of poverty, Ferrari's ranks were disappointing. Their cars never managed to get going, and both drivers suffered some spins and off-track maneuvers that caused them no further problems, only luck. Leclerc's eighth place and Hamilton's tenth place reflect a lackluster performance.
The outstanding performer was rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who finished in fourth place, although he was relegated to fifth by a 5-second penalty for a dangerous maneuver at the pit exit. Speaking of the Mercedes rookie, he also had some luck. His only off-track exit during the race was in a sector where the escape roads allowed him to maneuver to avoid crashing his car. He was practically the only rookie with any luck.
Excellent performance by George Russell for Mercedes, finishing third, Alex Albon for Williams in fourth, the aforementioned Antonelli of Mercedes in fifth, Lance Stroll for Aston Martin in sixth, and Nico Hülkenberg for Sauber in a very creditable seventh.
And Norris won with Verstappen hot on his heels, ending a thrilling Grand Prix that had everything, especially bumper cars, not exactly the kind that entertain families at amusement parks.
Oh!! I almost forgot, in the end, it was worth staying up until 4:00 AM.
