Australian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc poised for latest duel at revamped Albert Park track

The last time the Formula One paddock convened in Melbourne, the drivers did not even make it to the race start. While teams were given the go-ahead to travel to the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, a positive Covid test from a McLaren team member effectively lit the touch paper for the race to be called off.

Lewis Hamilton was among those critical of the decision to have travelled in the first place and, by the time the race was officially cancelled, only Red Bull, AlphaTauri and Racing Point were willing to take to the start line.

It would be another 16 weeks before the delayed season finally got under way — and all credit to F1 for pulling off a 17-race season which had long looked an impossibility, so too a full complement of 22 grands prix a year later, as Covid wreaked havoc globally.

But, for the first time since the pandemonium of the 2020 Australian Grand Prix that never was, F1 is back at Albert Park.

Daniel Ricciardo recalls going to bed that Thursday night ready to hit the track, only to hear in the early hours that his home race was going to be called off. This year, there is hope the racing could be infinitely better at a circuit where passing manoeuvres have habitually been so tricky.

“It’s always been a fun track, but on Sundays it’s been a little bit tricky for overtaking, just because of the layout and nature of it,” he said. “So the idea was to try and open it up and just to make Sunday a bit more exiting and have a few more overtakes. So, yeah, it’s going to be much more flowing.”

The absence of F1 has allowed the Albert Park bosses to make wholesale changes. The entire track has been resurfaced, while there are now four DRS zones, which remain a necessity if F1 is to have the overtaking and subsequent show it desires.

The car redesigns have been enough to ensure it is easier to follow the car in front, but both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc admitted that much of their switching back and forth for the lead in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia would not have been possible without DRS.

There have been plenty of changes at Albert Park since the last F1 Australian Grand Prix
Getty Images

The onus this season is much more on how best to use DRS and when, adding the requirement of a further tactical acumen to the frontrunners, as evidenced by Leclerc and Verstappen last time out in Jeddah, in particular.

Once again, it looks likely to be that pair — with one win apiece from the two races to date — vying for victory.

The general consensus is the new rules have been a positive step towards the wished-for improved show, even if the jury is still out for some.

As Red Bull boss Christian Horner put it: “Of a sample of two, you’d have to say it’s a big tick in the box for the ability to follow closely and race wheel to wheel.”

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz could get in the mix this weekend, too, but it is hard to look beyond those two teams for the race win.

Mercedes’ re-emergence from their early-season slump looks set to take a while longer still, according to George Russell.

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen look set to duel for victory once again in Melbourne
AP

“I don’t see any reason why we will make any strides forward,” he said. “We’re definitely the third-fastest team at the moment, but closer to the fourth than to the second.”

Despite that, their rivals believe Mercedes will enter the title fight. Sainz talked about being impressed by the car Mercedes had produced, while Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko was “fully convinced they will be back if they get their bouncing under control”.

Melbourne’s reconfigured track, with its faster straights and high-speed corners — areas where the porpoising (or bouncing) comes to life — is unlikely to be the scene of Mercedes’ renaissance just yet.

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