Welcome Drivers!

We are back after the April break in the Formula 1 season. There is usually only one long break in the F1 calendar but this year the Chinese GP, scheduled for April 16th, was cancelled leaving a second large gap between races.

Since we haven’t covered the Australian GP yet, this post will go over our updated Power Rankings after the race in Melbourne. It will feel somewhat dated given the race happened almost a month ago but will will have a more current post coming later this week.

The Australian GP

It was a chaotic weekend in Melbourne with the race being red flagged twice and a total of 8 DNFs. While it was an entertaining finish to the race some F1 fans were left questioning the quality of racing and the consistency of which red flags come out.

In our opinion the final restart was completely unnecessary. Most F1 fans would not have complained if the race had ended under the safety car or even ended with the red flag itself. Multiple drivers expressed confusion and frustration when the red flag was announced and some drivers said that it didn’t need to happen at all.

At the end of the day we got an exciting end to an otherwise pretty mundane race weekend. Some teams were able to make the most of the multiple race stoppages while others had some of the worst luck (Tifosi shaking their heads).

In this post we will give our thoughts on the current power rankings in F1. This has been a series we have been doing after each event this season. If you missed it earlier, check out the previous Saudi Arabian Power Rankings in the link below.

Now that you’re all caught up, lets take a look at our updated F1 power rankings following the “messy” 2023 Australian GP!

Formula 1 2023 Power Rankings

1. Red Bull

Max Verstappen took home Red Bull’s third straight victory in as many races as he continues his stellar start to the season. It is the first time in Red Bull’s history that they have won the opening 3 races of a season. While this is the first time the team did not score a 1-2, there are plenty of positive takeaways from this weekend!

It was an almost picture perfect weekend for the defending champion Verstappen. He did not get off to a great start but took advantage of an early red flag to get past George Russell. After the restart he was able to make quick work of Lewis Hamilton using Red Bull’s massive DRS advantage to overtake Hamilton going into turns 9-10. He had a brief moment when he went off on the grass in the penultimate corner but at that point he had already built an 11 second lead. He finished off his day by maintaining his position from the final restart and took the 37th win of his career and first in Australia!

It wasn’t so picture perfect for Sergio Perez. Perez was just one point off Verstappen going into the race weekend but had some pretty severe braking issues in FP3. These issues carried over into qualifying as Perez locked up into turn one and beached his Red Bull car. He was unable to set a lap time and started the race P20. In the race Perez took advantage of the multiple Red Flags and finished in P5. A solid recovery for the Red Bull driver, earning him driver of the day honors.

2. Aston Martin

Even after a relatively poor qualifying session for Aston Martin, they were still able to capitalize during the race and take home a 3-4 finish, their best of the year. Sure a little bit of luck was involved in this one, but Aston has managed 3 podiums to start the year, an impressive feat for any team.

3 races and 3 podiums for Fernando Alonso. The resurgent Spaniard continues his excellent form in his first season with Aston Martin. This race was not as straightforward for Alonso. Similar to Verstappen he lost position at the race start and had to fight his way back. Come the 2nd restart Alonso was running in P3 when Carlos Sainz clipped him and sent him off the track. For a brief moment it seemed all was lost for Aston but luckily for them the FIA reinstated the previous lap order and Alonso was able to finish in P3.

The Australian GP was a fantastic rebound for Lance Stroll, having retired in the Saudi Arabian GP. He crossed the line P4, his best finish of the season. Stroll also ran off the track after the second restart and it was feared that Aston Martin would walk away with no points on a weekend where they seemed to be on even pace with Mercedes. Fortunately, as with Alonso, Lance Stroll was repositioned to P5 for the final lap but Sainz was given a 5 second penalty allowing the Canadian driver to slot in at P4.

3. Mercedes

We continue to hear rumblings that Mercedes isn’t happy with their car but that doesn’t seems to affect their on track performance. George Russel and Lewis Hamilton qualified P2 and P3 respectively and after the first 3 corners of the race we briefly had a Mercedes 1-2. If Mercedes can get their car close to Red Bull we very much may have a title fight on our hands.

Lets start with Lewis Hamilton. It was a near flawless drive for the 7-time champion as he was able to manage with tire degradation while simultaneously holding off a charging Fernando Alonso. Hamilton didn’t put a foot wrong the whole race and came away with his best finish of the season. This was the best result Hamilton could have realistically hoped for. Mercedes can’t compete with Red Bull’s pace (yet) but Hamilton did a great job to lock in P2 for the team.

Russel’s race fortunes did not go his way. After a blazing start that saw him cruising in P1, the British driver pitted during the first safety car of the race. Unfortunately for Russell, the race was red flagged right after he made his stop, effectively making him lose several positions. To make matters worse, Russell suffered from an engine failure later in the race that forced him to retire. An unfortunate result for seemingly such a positive start. Mercedes look like they are trending in the right direction.

4. Ferrari

One word to sum up Ferrari’s weekend: Unlucky. The Maranello team came away with no points in a race where both drivers had qualified in the top 7. Ferrari’s season is beginning to get away from them and this race did not help. They have yet to make a podium appearance in 2023, something that all three top teams have managed to do.

Charles Leclerc’s race was over as soon as it started. The Monegasque driver Leclerc qualified P7, just behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Leclerc was able to get past Stroll going into turn 3 of the race but collided with him in the process causing him to spin out into the gravel, beaching his Ferrari. There is nothing to say about the incident other than that it was unfortunate for Leclerc. Stroll did not receive a penalty. After the race, Leclerc said it was, ‘the worst start to the season ever.”

For about 99% of the race it seemed like Carlos Sainz would fare much better than his teammate. He spent most of the race in P4 and P5 battling Gasly. It seemed certain that the Spaniard would be able to lock in solid points for Ferrari who desperately need it. That all vanished after the second restart when Sainz collided with Alonso going into turn 1. Sainz was given a 5 second penalty which he vehemently protested to no avail. The 5 second penalty put him out of the points since the last lap essentially happened under the safety car.

5. Alpine

Alpine showed amazing pace in today’s race with both Gasly and Ocon fighting in the points. It all came crashing down for the team during the second restart. The teammates collided and both cars crashed out of the race. A very disappointing ending for such a promising weekend.

Pierre Gasly had his best race of the season and really his best race in probably 2 years given how bad AlphaTauri was last year. He spent most of the race in P5 battling it out with Carlos Sainz. He took advantage of the initial red flag and got ahead of both Russell and Sainz and was able to maintain a competitive race pace. It all unraveled at the 2nd race restart when he ran wide into turn 1 trying to avoid cars ahead. When he rejoined the track he failed to see his teammate Ocon and crashed into him sending both drivers into the wall. Gasly was extremely frustrated with the result after the race.

Ocon was having himself a nice race as well. He started the race in P11 and quickly made his way into the points. He was able to take advantage of the race restarts and found himself in a quality position to finish the race. Unfortunately he was taken out in the final restart, suffering the same fate as his teammate.

6. McLaren

McLaren finally showed they’re first signs of life in the Australian GP as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were able to get into the points. We are still unsure if this performance was legitimate or not due to the amount of chaos and DNFs near the end of the race.

It will be interesting to see if McLaren can maintain this form in Baku. It has long been known that McLaren are bringing upgrades to Baku that they would have liked to have at the start of the season. Will this be enough to pull them back into the mix after a poor start to the season? Other teams are bringing upgrades to Baku as well so it is unclear if McLaren will be able to show any significant improvement.

We are moving them up to 6th as they finally got points on the board and have two capable drivers as long as the team can give them a functioning car.

7. Haas

It was an up and down day emotionally for Haas. Amid the restart chaos, at one point it was looking like Nico Hulkenberg was going to be slotted into P4, Haas best finish in a few years. Unfortunately the FIA ruling did not go in their favor and Hulkenberg was moved back to 7th, still a quality finish for a Haas team that will be fighting for every point they can get their hands on.

It was not as great of a day for Kevin Magnussen. Near the end of the race Magnussen clipped the barrier on the outside of turn 2. He cracked the rim on his back right tire which scattered debris all over the track. Ultimately this lead to the final red flag of the race. Magnussen said he didn’t even realize the car was damaged at first.

Haas is having a solid year by their standards. We think they have actually left some points on the board which gives them a leg up on Alfa in our rankings.

8. Alfa Romeo

It was a frustrating day for Alfa Romeo but there were some positives that could be taken out of the weekend. Zhou Guanyu started the race in P17 but was able to make his way into the points, benefitting from the restart turmoil at the end of the race. Valtteri Bottas started the race from the pit lane and finished just outside the points in P11.

While their performance wasn’t great we don’t expect Alfa to have both cars starting near the back of the grid every race. They were the benefactors of the messy ending and should be happy with the result.

9. Williams

Williams had a frustrating weekend in Melbourne with both of their cars suffering DNFs. Alex Albon’s day ended early when he spun out during turn 6 sending gravel all over the track causing the first red flag of the race. It was an unusual place for an F1 car to crash which makes it even more frustrating for a driver who has shown some promise in the Williams this year.

Sargeant ended his day on the final restart when he locked up into the back of Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri and ended up beached in the gravel. When asked about the crash he said his tires were too cold at the restart and just didn’t get the grip he needed.

Williams have shown they are capable of getting into points scoring positions but for some reason they haven’t been able to convert these opportunities. They need to be more consistent in order to rise in our rankings.

10. AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri appears to be on the cusp of another disappointing season in F1 as they have only been able to muster a single point in the first three races. That point came in Australia where Tsunoda would have finished in P11 had it not been for the somewhat unfair penalty on Carlos Sainz. AlphaTauri could easily have no points at the moment.

It is strange to see AlphaTauri in this position. They are usually a capable midfield team who consistently fights in the points. They don’t appear to be on top of the new regulations and are not able to match the gains in performance of the teams around them. Tsunoda is having a solid season given the car he has but it is just not enough at the moment.

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