Through a tense team radio, Russell told his engineer to check his front right pressure.

The race engineer said that everything seemed fine, but Russell insisted that something about the front right tyre definitely wasn’t right.

https://twitter.com/russellius/status/1766536170756850099

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RUSSELL'S DRAMATIC LAST LAP

On Turn 4 (🟡Arrow), Russell asked his team to immediately check the pressure of his front right tyre

He had to lift massively in all the remaining corners (🟣Arrows), losing 3s in less than a lap (🟢Arrow)

Bearman cut his gap from 5.7s to 2.7s

MERCEDES' RADICAL WING CHANGE

In Bahrain, they had the lowest top speed (Bottom): just 313km/h📉

For Saudi Arabia (Top), they drastically reduced their rear wing load: they gained 19km/h (‼️) and were 2nd fastest📈

This, however, clearly hampered their tyre wear and cornering.

It seems that the car has inherently high drag, or at least higher than most:
- In Bahrain, when they ran a wing in line with the competition, they were slowest;
- In Saudi Arabia, despite running by far the skinniest wing, they were still 2km/h slower than Haas.

Something to work on...

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FERRARI'S BEAM WING CHANGE

Even though Jeddah is a much faster track, Ferrari ran the same rear wing as in Bahrain.🤔

Instead, they reduced drag by removing their upper beam wing.💡

Their 'low load' rear wing was deemed inappropriate for the many fast corners in Jeddah.

AVERAGE GAP TO FASTEST QUALI LAP📊

Ferrari got closer to the top (+0.18% vs +0.26% last year)
Aston: 4th➡️3rd fastest, but its race pace got worse
Merc: 3rd➡️5th fastest

Improved the most: McL📈 (-0.28%)
Receded the most: Alpine📉 (+0.95%, or ~0.8s farther from pole!)

Last year's average, for comparison:

Keep in mind that, even though Aston and McLaren were on average equal in qualifying, they did so with opposite trajectories: Aston was much quicker in the first half of the season, and the opposite for McLaren.

Ferrari, Mercedes, McL, and Aston to bring major upgrade packages in Imola (Race 7)

Teams hope to reduce the gap to RBR: this might shake up their running order, too

Current Weaknesses:
⚫️Merc: Porpoising+High speed cornering
🟠McL: DRS effectiveness
🟢Aston: High-fuel pace

RACE START - SAUDI ARABIAN #F1 GP

📈Perez was the best starter, but Leclerc was close (0.1s slower to reach 200km/h)

🛞The Soft compound didn't help Bearman and Bottas off the line: they were among the slowest drivers to reach 100km/h

📉Worst starter: Gasly

To add context and for those wondering why: even though Perez’ onboard showed that he was moving BEFORE the lights went off, his movement didn’t trigger the sensor, and the start was declared regular.

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In Jeddah, Mercedes ran a more loaded beam wing configuration compared to Red Bull to partially compensate for their very unloaded rear wing.

In contrast, Ferrari and McLaren removed their upper beam wings altogether to save drag.

( 📸 u/alenpetak11, collab with @aerodynam1cs )

🗒Notes on Australian Gp

- Much quicker than in the past due to the recent layout changes🔥
- Modest grip➡️Track evolution will be higher than usual📈
- Drag will matter less than in Jeddah➡️McLaren’s high drag will be a smaller problem there👌

What’s your prediction?🤔

Australian GP: medium-high wing load levels💡

✅ Downforce needed for fast corners+braking points

❌ Frequent (but short-ish) straights: Cannot go maximum load

⚫️Merc/🟣Alpine/🔵RacingBulls: least loaded⏬ (top speed over grip).

🔵RBR/🟢Aston/🟠McL/🔵Williams: most loaded⏫.

📸 @AlbertFabrega

Rear wings - Australian GP
(RB as reference)

🟢Mercedes: the least loaded wing, maybe because more load might worsen their bouncing problem🤔

🔴Ferrari: same wing as in the much faster Jeddah➡️Load managed through different beam wing configs

🟠McL: similar to RedBull

'Puzzling' top speeds in FP2🤔

-Aston was fastest despite running a very loaded rear wing➡️Higher engine mode?
-On the other hand, Mercedes had a pretty low top speed considering the lower downforce wing they were running!➡️Draggy chassis?

All teams within 3km/h of each other!

Leclerc got P1 in FP2 by gaining under braking over Verstappen:

The SF-24 (and LEC) seem very strong in this regard, and didn't sacrifice the corner exit too much. He used his signature 'partial throttle' when braking!👌

VER gained a lot in turn 10 and the following straight.

The SF-24 seems competitive everywhere in Albert Park (braking, cornering, traction and straight-line speed).

Unless he had significantly less fuel in the tank, this might be LEC’s best shot for a pole position, as he also stated.

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LONG RUNS - FP2

🟠McL had the lowest average laptime, producing the quickest lap in the process, too

🔴Ferrari's was just 0.15s behind on average, though

🔵RBR and 🟢Aston were close, but RBR's high variance might suggest some sandbagging

⚫️Merc didn't do any real long runs

Practice 2 - Time at Maximum Throttle:

Aston Martin’s performance in FP2 is hard to decipher🤔

They had the highest top speed (323km/h) despite their loaded rear wing BUT they could stay full throttle more than any other team, which is usually correlated with less power, more drag and better grip.

Despite all these positives, STR’s gap to LEC was over 0.5s.

💡My opinion, comparing STR’s telemetry to LEC’s:
Aston’s DRS has improved significantly, providing an excellent top speed when active.
They still have significant drag without it.
The PU doesn’t seem to be turned up too much, while the grip is average to good.

How do you interpret these contradictory data? 👀

Each car's characteristics - #AustralianGP Quali

Right side: higher mean speed (better performance👌)
Upper side: better top speed (lower drag🚀)

🟡Red Bull was extremely efficient, but🟠McL was quick DESPITE their terrible top speed!

Aston and Mercedes performed similarly