There could have been blood on the track at Albert Park. PETER COSTER warns it could be only a matter of time if the FIA doesn’t step in.
Those watching the race didn’t hear it, but George Russell was in fear of his life when he shouted on the second last lap of the Australian Grand Prix:
“Red flag! Red flag! Red flag! Red flag. I am in the middle of the track!
Then: “Red Flag! Red flag! Red flag! Red flag! Red flag! Red flag! I am in the middle! Red! Fucking hell!”
The Mercedes driver’s car was on its side, its tethered left-side wheels caught under it, which tipped it over.
Russell lost control when he had to suddenly brake behind Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martin driver had three penalty points added to his licence and was penalised 20-seconds, which dropped him from sixth to eighth place.
The former double world champion said he was concentrating on what was in front of him, not what was happening behind when he braked well before a corner and then increased his speed again.
Race drivers call it being “brake tested.” The stewards in a lengthy hearing after the race called it “potentially dangerous.”
A world-wide audience of millions on television were denied hearing Russell’s panic-stricken shouts and the Mercedes driver’s calls for a red flag were ignored.
Instead the “virtual safety car” signal was a displayed instructing other drivers merely to slow down and not overtake.
A red flag would have stopped the race and FIA race control needs to explain why it didn’t take more immediate action.
The Mercedes driver feared another car would crash into him at high speed, which would have proved fatal.
There are already incidents at almost every Grand Prix (and there are now a record 24 races this year) when cars in practice and qualifying find themselves behind slower cars preparing for a faster lap.
They can be building up battery energy for a faster lap or simply don’t know a faster car is behind them because they have not been told by their teams watching screens on the pit wall.
The likely catastrophe when one car is coasting along and the other is travelling at more than 200kmh can only be imagined.
It was an unsettling end to the Australian Grand Prix on an Albert Park circuit where there are often high-speed accidents on what is essentially a street circuit with barriers along both sides of the track.
As it was the Alonso/Russell incident was the only one during the race. There was a crash during practice that destroyed the chassis of Williams’ driver Alex Albon, which led to him taking over teammate Logan Sargeant’s car.
This was because Williams (who didn’t bring a spare chassis to Melbourne) considered they were more likely to score a championship point with the better-performing Albon.
That didn’t happen. Albon finished out of the points in 11th place. In the meantime the American driver’s confidence was trashed, but he gained some brownie points by staying around instead of jumping on an early plane home.
But back to there race itself, which was won by Carlos Sainz in an impressive Ferrari one-two with Charles Leclerc after early race leader Max Verstappen was forced to retire in the Red Bull.
Would the three-time Dutch world champion have won if he had not been let down by his car?
Maybe, maybe not, that’s motor racing when a piece of magnificent moving parts and leading-edge technology is involved.
Verstappen might well have been about to drive off into the sunset at Albert Park were it not for a lock-up on his right rear brake from the outset.
The world champion, looking for a 10th consecutive victory, knew something was wrong on the second lap when he radioed, “I just lost the car, really weird.”
He recovered but later described the feeling as like “driving with the handbrake on.” The right-rear brake later burst into flames and the world champion’s race was over.
Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko believes Verstappen would have won had the brake not caught fire.
Ex-Haas team boss Guenther Steiner, who did the after-race interviews, assured Carlos Sainz that Verstappen “lost it, you won it.”
Sainz won two weeks after having his appendix removed and joked that other drivers should also have a similar operation in order to drive faster.
It was the Spaniard’s third Grand Prix victory after winning the British Grand Prix in 2022 and the Singapore race last year.
“I’m still jobless next year,” said Sainz, who has been replaced by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari.
Sainz would seem a natural replacement for Hamilton alongside Russell at Mercedes but Verstappen is also being considered following a possible exit from Red Bull.
Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, said the allegations against Horner of “inappropriate behaviour” with a female employee would likely “blow up” the team.
Horner was cleared by an internal investigation, which is being appealed by the woman involved.
Meanwhile Sunday’s race saw McLaren follow Ferrari’s one-two with Lando Norris taking third spot and Oscar Piastri fourth.
The Melbourne driver obeyed team orders to let Norris pass him on fresher tyres.
Daniel Ricciardo, the second Australian on the grid, finished 10th after starting 18th with a top 10 qualifying lap deleted when he overshot track limits.
Even so, Ricciardo will have to do better if he is to pick up a Red Bull seat next year at the expense of Sergio Perez.
He at least needs to out qualify teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished eighth at Albert Park.
Even if he does, Sainz could take the Perez seat and New Zealander Liam Lawson is also a contender after showing his talents when he replaced the injured Ricciardo last year.
Unfortunately the Australian driver has not regained the form he showed when he won eight races before leaving Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season.
Ricciardo was a top-five driver but former Australian world champion Alan Jones is likely right in saying his millions of fans have seen the best of him.
PETER COSTER is a former editor and foreign correspondent who has covered a range of international sports, including world championship fights and the Olympic Games.
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