Lewis got bogged down off the line, allowing Jenson to beat him to the first
corner, and the elder driver proceeded to win his third Australian Grand
Prix at a canter.
Lewis can feel unfortunate that the timing of the safety car allowed Sebastian
Vettel to jump him for second place. But even so, he never threatened Jenson
and the old question marks regarding his ability to manage his tyres
resurfaced.
Their respective body language afterwards was striking; Lewis looking
stony-faced on the podium. He said all the right things, congratulating
Jenson on his performance and thanking McLaren for building a winning car,
but he looked and sounded devastated.
Make no mistake, this was a big win for Jenson, laying down an early marker,
proving (again) that last year was no fluke. It will certainly not harm his
confidence. Has it knocked Lewis’?
We will find out this weekend in Malaysia when they all go at it again on a
track which is totally different, in soaring heat and humidity.
After Malaysia we will have a better idea of the relative strength of the cars
as Albert Park is fairly unique.
I can’t wait. I am still buzzing from Sunday, which is lucky because I’ve
spent about 36 hours on three different planes since leaving the circuit.
I have flown from Melbourne to Dubai to Madrid and on to Valencia for two days
of testing in German touring cars, then I’ll do almost the same thing in
reverse, arriving in Kuala Lumpur on Friday morning in time for first
practice.
At least I’ll have plenty to mull over. Formula One delivered on all the
pre-season hype last weekend and then threw in a load of new questions.
Red Bull’s third-row qualifying on Saturday was unexpected, something we did
not see last year.
But was it only a blip or will it continue? Will Mercedes still have their
one-lap pace at Sepang and can they translate that potential to race day?
Can Fernando Alonso continue to wring every last drop from his Ferrari and
stay in touch with the leaders until updates arrive?
And what of the others? Lotus, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams; all had good
races on Sunday and added something different.
I was particularly pleased to see my old team Williams make a step forward.
Pastor Maldonado was vying with Alonso for fifth when he crashed on the
final lap. Who could have predicted that? That is the thing about this
season, it is difficult to predict anything.
Last year Vettel won from pole at the first race in Australia and never looked
back. No disrespect to Jenson but I doubt that will happen this time. Mind
you, he has a habit of proving his doubters wrong.