At dawn Sunday in Argentina, Formula 1 wrote the third chapter of the season. On the revised Melbourne circuit, the Australian Grand Prix ratified the hegemony of Monegasque Charles Leclerc over Ferrari, due to the failure of champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull and the surprise of British Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

Leclerc proved, once again, that he is the most consistent and fastest driver at the start of 2022: he won from start to finish, set the fastest lap and scored 26 points on the perfect weekend. He nearly doubled his closest rival in the standings, the British George Russell (37).

“It was the first race where we controlled the gap a little bit. The car is nice now! I mean, yeah, of course I did a great job all weekend, but it wouldn’t be possible without that car. “This weekend, especially at the speed of the race, we’re very strong.”appreciate the pilot of the historic Italian team.

The only time Leclerc’s first position was in danger was after the appearance of the safety vehicle, when Monegasque had to defend his position against Verstappen’s attack.

“It was very hard to restart the safety car, I had a lot of understeer in the last corner, and I thought:‘ it would be hard to keep the first position ’, but then I managed it and after the first corners I regained my grip and went back. the rhythm. .. It’s amazing to win here. “he explained.

But Leclerc was not in a hurry. He knows the season is too long to talk about candidacies, but his car’s performance supports him: “We’re only third race. So it’s hard to imagine the championship. But honestly, our car is very powerful and also very reliable, right now we’re always there in the front, so I hope it continues that way, then we can say openly that we have real chances to win the championship. “.

The counterpoint is Verstappen: the second abandonment in three dates resulted in his visible disappointment on a weekend where he was close to Leclerc’s Ferrari.

That moment where he was still ahead of the main straight until Monegasque beat him on the rope in the first corner was in stark contrast to what happened 20 laps from the end, when his Red Bull said that was enough.

“I really don’t have speed, and I’m just trying to manage the tires to try and get to the finish because it’s still pretty easy to be second. And I know I can’t fight Charles, so there’s no point in trying to put pressure. on him. But we didn’t even finish the race. It’s quite frustrating and uncceptable. “dangerous.

Defending the title for the Dutchman is, now, a utopia. And the pilot himself recognized this when the disappointment was still implied in his words: “We’re a mile away so I don’t want to think about the championship fight now, I think it’s more important to finish races. Because today was overall just another bad day, again.”.

Hamilton’s good feelings returned. It’s true that he recognized that his Mercedes wasn’t ready to compete every inch in terms of speed with Ferraris and the Red Bulls, but he appreciated that the team climbed the podium with Russell and he finished fourth. place.

“We didn’t expect to be third and fourth, and George (Russell), did a great job today. I saw a bit of a fight with Sergio Perez, and I’d love to be with him, but we’re keeping the points. this, we will continue to push. “he hinted.

The team mechanic continues to investigate problems with the seven -time champion’s car, especially on straight high -speed roads. “I couldn’t fight for the third position because the engine overheated so I had to go back and stay behind.”checked.

The next appointment on the calendar for the 2022 Formula 1 season is in two weeks, at mythical layout of Imolawhere teams are expected to perform the first package of major improvements to vehicles.