AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX : TEAM MERCEDES ADVANCES AS TEAM FERARRI NAILED IT AND TEAM RED BULL SPLUTTERED!! FINIS!

 

Even as the 'unreliability curse', struck down his compatriot's, Max Verstappen's car and took him out of the race. 

Something which is not an easy thing for a race to process, especially when were so close to Podium. 

To his credit, Max appeared to have dealt with the situation, publicly, much better than others might have done.

The race certainly was not without its probably more than fair share of drama.  

With Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel crashing out, and Verstappen, who seemed almost certain to place his car at P.2, if not P.1, having to bail out and turn off his engine, as fire beckons to turn it into an inferno. 

With two interludes of Safety Car and one Virtual Safety Car interrupting the otherwise smooth progress of the race.  As the Gods intervened to remove some of the advantages of the leading cars.

Resulting in some racers being promoted in their track placement, while others are demoted.

And now, as we look forward to seeing what the next Grand Prix will delivers, we can reflect on what has been experienced during the first 3 races. 

Which, when summed up, suggest that probably all the cars have become more competitive, with Ferrari and Red Bull both making 'a flying start' as the new leading contenders for the 2022 Championship. 

As Team Mercedes crankily trails behind the leading contenders, giving rise to questions about whether they have already given up on the Championship, or had become complacent and failed to build and/or set-up their a Championship winning car. 

And is now having to 'play catch-up', while Team Ferrari and Red Bull streak ahead.

There is also the worrying development  for the 2021 Champions, Max Verstappen and Team Red Bull, that they have not yet been able to marry the fast pace of their cars with level of reliability needed for its high octane performance. 

As for Team Ferrari, it certainly is great that they have been able to power their way into the Championship lead, with 71 points, whereas Hamilton has only been able to accrue 28 or so. 

But we have seen Ferrari and Leclerc making powerful performance statements in Formula 1 before, and not being able to maintain and convert it into winning the Championship. 

Is 2022 going to see not only the remaking of that promise, but also its fulfilment? 

It is still early in the season, and, with Red Bull's bristling pace, and Team Mercedes and Hamilton and Russell making significant advances in the improvement of their cars, Team Ferrari and Leclerc and Sainz will have a fight on their performance. 

Added to this is the challenge which is presented by other teams and racers who have not sofar been successful in presenting consistent competition with the usual Championship contenders.