Is Red Bull at risk from Melbourne mayhem? What to watch for at the 2024 Australian GP

In an official statement, the FIA said “Both [FIA and Red Bull] bodies operate autonomously, guaranteeing strict confidentiality throughout the process.

“As a consequence, and in general, we are unable to confirm the receipt of any specific complaint and it is unlikely that we will be able to provide further comment on the complaints that we may receive from any parties.”

The furore continues to highlight the male-dominated nature of the paddock, as well as putting the spotlight back on Horner — who has always denied the allegations. In the past weeks, he has been attacked by Jos Verstappen, who called for Horner to step down, saying that there was “tension” while the team principal remained in position.

Then influential advisor Helmut Marko suggested that he could be suspended — a claim later retracted — as rumours suggested that Max Verstappen has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if Marko does. Verstappen duly threatened to quit if Marko left the team, and Horner called his bluff, saying no individual was bigger than the team.

Happy families it is not, particularly with reports of a power struggle at the racing team’s parent company, and there will be further questions, and potentially other developments over the course of the race weekend.

Not that any of this is apparent on track at the moment, as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished 1-2 in Bahrain and Jeddah.

 

Will chaos reign in Melbourne…again?

The 2023 Australian GP featured a non-Red Bull race leader — with Mercedes‘ George Russell heading the field for a handful of laps at least — before two red flag restarts, a very expensive destruction derby and a series of costly errors. There’s a decent chance of a repeat in 2024.

Ferrari has shown comparable one-lap pace to Red Bull throughout the first two races of the season, with Charles Leclerc securing back-to-back front row starts while being less than three-tenths off the pace of Verstappen’s pole time. This year’s car also seems to be less harsh on its tyres, which could ensure that in Melbourne — where Pirelli has brought a softer set of compounds than last year — Leclerc and Carlos Sainz can edge ever closer to the performance of Verstappen and Perez.

Clashes at the front of the pack could inevitably create opportunities for those further back, with McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin all looking close together in terms of performance, as are Haas, Williams, RB and Sauber.

With limited run off areas and large gravel traps bordering most corners, mistakes in Melbourne can be punished severely. Even if just two drivers decide to push the boundaries of wheel-to-wheel racing, the Australian Grand Prix could once again be disrupted by safety cars or even full race restarts.

 

Plenty of overtaking zones

After being reimagined prior to its return to the F1 calendar in 2022, Albert Park now features four DRS zones.

The first is located on the home straight and encourages drivers to gain on their opponents ahead before slingshotting down the inside of the Turn 1 and Turn 2 chicane — although making moves here can be dangerous, with grass and gravel bordering both sides of the racing line.

The exit of Turn 2 evolves quickly into a second DRS zone, giving drivers other chance to close the gap to the car ahead before making a move down the inside of Turn 3; a tight right-hander with a large gravel trap just beyond it.

The final two DRS zones of the lap follow a similar pattern to the first. Prior to the high-speed chicane at Turns 9 and 10, drivers will embark on a 1.3km (0.8 mile) straight, reaching speeds of over 200mph with the rear wing wide open. This is then immediately followed by another DRS-assisted dart down toward the low-speed high-hander at Turn 11, where many drivers will aim to make a last gasp overtake before entering the penultimate corners.

Each DRS zone provides plenty of opportunity to overtake, but by no means does it making passing on the streets of Melbourne straightforward.

 

The race not to be last 

There are currently four pointless teams on the 2024 F1 grid: Williams, Sauber, RB and Alpine.

Few would have expected Alpine to be there after the French outfit finished sixth in the constructors’ standings last year — 92 points ahead of Williams but still 160 behind Aston Martin. It began the 2024 campaign with an all-new car which is yet to impress in any regard, with both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly failing to reach Q2 once while falling far behind a top ten finish come race day.

Sauber and RB have also undelivered. Both cars incorporate design elements from last year’s dominant Red Bull; both held glitzy launches to promote rebrands and new approaches; yet both have so far failed to make an impression on race day.

The same can’t be said for Williams. Despite team boss James Vowles emphasising that this season is a transition year where the finishing position “isn’t the priority”, the Grove outfit has arguably shown the most promising race pace out of all the non-point scorers so far, with Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant finishing 11th and 14th in Jeddah.

At the 2023 Australian GP, a crash on lap six abruptly cancelled out a brilliant qualifying session for Albon, who will be aiming to take full advantage of a better Williams package this time around. He may be the best talent currently in a midfield seat and certainly possess the ability to move Williams into a consistent point-scoring position.

 

Jack and Mick Doohan to demo-run a 2000 Benetton B200

Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo will be the home favourites come raceday, but they’ll have to take a step out of the limelight in the build-up as a bona fide Aussie racing legend hits the Albert Park circuit: Mick Doohan. The winner of five consecutive 500cc motorcycle world championships, Doohan will ride a Honda RCV213, a production version of the firm’s 2012 MotoGP bike.

He’ll be accompanied by his son, Alpine F1 reserve driver and former F2 star Jack Doohan who’ll be behind the wheel of a 2000 Benetton B200.

The show run marks 30 years since Mick won his first of his 500cc titles will be the first time that the Australian father-son duo have been on-track together while driving/riding in their respective series. Their demo-runs will take place on Saturday from 10.55pm and 4.15am and on Sunday from 2.35am (all times in GMT). Sky’s live broadcast starts from 2.30am, so it’s likely to be featured in the pre-race build-up.

Jack’s V10-powered Benetton — although far from a race winner — did score points during its last visit to Albert Park in 2000: finishing sixth thanks to the efforts of Giancarlo Fisichella.