Spectacle GP in front of 136,000 fans: Melbourne winner Sainz really doing Sauber?

The Crumbs World Cup

But Formula 1 remains simple. In Bahrain, none of the top five teams dropped out, meaning the bottom five teams failed to score any points. In Jeddah, Stroll caused an accident – thus opening the door for Hülkenberg (10th).

In Melbourne, in addition to Verstappen, the Mercedes duo Hamilton (motorcycle) and Russell (crash in a duel with Alonso without making contact with the enemy) were also hit – and places 8, 9 and 10 were already available. Wrong: The Spaniard was given a 20-second time penalty for finishing sixth because he rode a different line and braked earlier during the incident. Stroll inherited sixth place, Tsunoda seventh and Alonso dropped to eighth.

Nevertheless, this simple calculation will accompany the circus on its longest journey to Abu Dhabi. Or the WK crumbs in the table cellar.

Brake disc burned

Verstappen’s first retirement after two years and 36 wins came with an announcement. During training he already had problems with the brakes. This time they quickly let him down in the starting duel with the eventual winner Sainz (after Silverstone 2022 and Singapore 2023).

Bullen sports director Marko: “First they attacked, then one more time and then it was over.” The Dutchman came into the pits with a spectacular fire on the right rear.

Where was Perez?

Verstappen now leads with 51 points, just ahead of Leclerc (47), Pérez (46) and Sainz (40). Mercedes suffered a heavy fall, with boss Wolff himself saying: “It is frustrating to keep making the same statements. But we don’t give up.”

Verstappen’s failure exposed an old weakness of the world champion team: where was Pérez when he was needed? The Mexican cannot be satisfied with fifth place. Marko tough: “Sergio didn’t drive well!”

Stable order from McLaren

Behind the Ferrari duo, which was once superior, the two McLaren-Mercedes battled for the final podium place. With the clearly better ending for Norris, who was able to climb onto the podium for the 14th time without a win in third place!

To ensure that there were no unnecessary duels between the Briton and local hero Piastri, the pit crew sent a clear message to the track during halftime: “Oscar let Lando pass. He’s faster!”

Where will winner Sainz end up?

At Ferrari, boss Fred Vasseur (just like Jean Todt before) failed to give a stable order. Spaniard Sainz was the stronger driver all weekend – despite his appendectomy two weeks ago.

And Sainz now has a problem, as the Reds have already signed Hamilton for 2025: where is a place available? Leclerc joked: “Since the team bosses are not blind, someone will probably bite.” At Sauber-Audi, the seat would be reserved for Sainz for 2026. But does he actually want to take on Hinwil’s last year of preparation?