A crazy weekend in Australia for Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 saw Max Verstappen, Ayumu Iwasa, Dennis Hauger, Gabriel Bortoleto and Zak O’Sullivan take away the first place trophies that were up for grabs tat the weekend. It was also Josef Newgarden who won the second IndyCar race of the season, in Texas.
Formula One
A weekend that involved the most red flags waved in a race has left a lot of fans feeling confused after the stewards intervened multiple times during the race to call for these red flags.
It was a race where making it to the end of the 58 laps was an achievement in itself for many as eight drivers failed to cross the finish line at the end.
One team that managed to avoid all the carnage and finally have some good luck come their way was McLaren. Of course, their race result (Lando Norris Sixth and Oscar Piastri eighth) was not all down to luck but also a good strategy and driver skill. The whole team pulling off every thing that they needed too on the Sunday provided McLaren with their first points of the season which has instantly moved them up to fifth in the constructors championship.
Embed from Getty ImagesEven after the chequered flag had fallen there was issues that needed to be discussed as fans invaded the track while the cars were still going around. Any motorsport fan knows that this is a massive hazard not just for the fans on the circuit but also for the drivers themselves. The FIA were quick to react by immediately calling out the situation and the organisers, asking them to make sure that a plan is put in place to stop this from ever happening again.
Formula 2
Jack Doohan, the home hero, had the crowds support throughout this F2 weekend and after he had a difficult sprint race on Saturday, he managed to put on a show for his fans in the feature race with a fighting drive allowing him to move from fifteenth to eighth.
It was also a weekend where we saw three rookies get their first podiums of the season with Jak Crawford and Kush Maini finishing second and third in the sprint race and Arthur Leclerc finished third in the feature race.
We can’t talk about good performances without mentioning the feature race winner Iwasa who impressed all by having nerves of steel throughout what was a crazy feature race. Many drivers made mistakes throughout the race but Iwasa, Theo Pourchaire and Leclerc were the three who didn’t let the madness phase them which allowed them to reach the end and take the three podium places.
Iwasa’s win means that he is now the new leader of the F2 championship standings. Leclerc was the biggest mover in the standings at the weekend though as his strong feature race meant he moved up six places. With only 16 points between Frederik Vesti in third and Iwasa in first this championship is still wide open and can easily change by the end of the next race in Baku.
Embed from Getty ImagesFormula 3
It’s the F3 rookie Bortoleto who looks to be the early contender for this years drivers championship after he won his second feature race of the year in Australia. This means that he has now won both feature races that have taken place so far as this weekend was only the second round for the F3 drivers and teams this season.
After this weekend it seems crazy to think that for so long F2 and F3 haven’t gone racing in Australia. If this weekend has proven anything it is that Melbourne is the perfect place for the feeder series to race at from now on.
Another standout performance from this weekend that has to be mentioned is Josep Maria Marti. The Spaniard who races for Campos Racing went from 30th to 7th in the feature race which is an unbelievable achievement for him and the team.
No race weekend can go without some drama though as Franco Colapinto, who was the initial sprint race winner, got his first place taken away from him due to technical infringements being found on his and his teammates cars after the race. There was a bodywork issue on the cars meaning that with them out of the race O’Sullivan was the new race winner taking the 10 points from the sprint.
IndyCar
After winning in Texas last year Newgarden took to the Texas Motor Speedway and once again beat the rest of the field to the chequered flag during the race on Sunday.
It was another pretty much last lap overtake for Newgarden this year after he won in a similar fashion last year when he overtook Scott McLaughlin his teammate at the time round turn 4.
It wasn’t just Newgarden who got the back-to-back win though as Team Penske provided the American with a quick car in this race and the race last year as well.
Embed from Getty ImagesPato O’Ward was the unfortunate driver this year that Newgarden overtook on the last lap meaning that the car number five ended up in second instead of what would have been his first win this season and the fifth of his career.
This race saw only seven of the drivers complete the 250 laps with six drivers retiring and the rest getting lapped.
Now we won’t have to wait as long as four weeks like last time for the next IndyCar race but there is still a two week gap until we see the third race of the season which is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Round-up
That’s all for this week’s catch-up, and with none of the categories that I cover racing for two weeks now it means that we have come to the end of my weekly catch-up series. It has been great writing these and who knows maybe they’ll return in the future
