The George Russell/Charles Leclerc dogfight in the early laps of the Australian Grand Prix certainly got the new F1 off to an electrifying start in terms of the visuals. It’s a pity their scrap was broken up by the strategy diversion Ferrari took by not pitting their cars under a lap 12 VSC, as Mercedes brought both Russell and Kimi Antonelli in for a time-cheap tyre change. That was the turning point of the race which secured Mercedes its 1-2 finish and left Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton only third and fourth in a Ferrari which might have fought for the win.
The Russell/Leclerc dice which thrilled so many fans was however very different to how it looked. Most of the passing and re-passing was not old-fashioned Formula Ford-style contests of slipstream and late braking. When the lead car is suddenly bereft of around 450 of its 1,000 horsepower and the straight hasn’t ended yet, then of course the chasing car, still with its extra 450bhp of electrical power, is going to sail by. Especially as the total drag is not increasing with speed to anything like the same extent as before. It isn’t really an overtaking move, but just like faster traffic on a motorway passing slower vehicles.
This is where the drivers – who on the whole are not liking the new ‘50/50’ electrical/combustion style of racing at all – and many fans are diverging. Superficially, it looks fantastic. As a contest of driving skills it means nothing. It’s still controlled by the driver – but those passes into Turn 9 Leclerc was making in retaliation every time Russell had passed him early in the lap came as a result of something Leclerc was doing three-quarters of a lap earlier. Not something skilful, merely tactical; taking less speed through the slower corners at the end of the lap in order to have enough battery not to run out early before the crucial flat-out run-up to Turn 9. So the moves are planned out a long way ahead – and Leclerc was proving extremely adept at it, apparently thwarting Russell in a faster car. They were small victories of tactical thought and planning on Leclerc’s part rather than driving skill.
