🏁 Thunder Down Under

Aussie GP Preview, Guenther Speaks, and Racing Redux

Author

Matthew Bailey
March 22, 2024

PLP Season 2 Edition 12

It’s Race Weekend!

G’day mates. Before we all get too excited let’s be clear that the headline this week refers to Race #3 heading across the globe to Australia - and nothing else. This is a G rated publication.

It’s the first night owl test of the season (for east coasters) with lights out at 12am Sunday morning. A nice late night warm up, easily manageable compared to the 1am and 3am races that we’ll see later on. While I will be awake - I’m “traveling for business” (not at a bachelor party in Vegas) this weekend and will unfortunately be distracted with “important business matters” (definitely not catching the midnight performance of Thunder Down Under).

I will watch the race when I’m back on Monday, so premium subscribers look out for a detailed Aussie GP breakdown on Tuesday, March 26th. Crikey!

Quick Quiz!

The 2023 Aussie GP was off chops with numerous on track incidents. How many total standing starts took place in the race?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Answer revealed at the bottom ⬇

Australia GP Preview

📸 formula1.com

Round 3 heads to Melbourne, Australia, a quasi-street circuit that looks a bit different from your Baku or Singapore due to it’s use of existing roads around the city’s big ‘ol Albert Park Lake. A resurface in 2022 has helped what had been a bumpy circuit, which is often slippery early in the weekend but should rubber in* as sessions go on. It’s a fast track, and one that requires a reactive front end to allow drivers to whip their cars into some of the track’s 14 corners.

* A track “rubbering in” is exactly what it sounds like - as the cars go vroom vroom around and around, tires wear down and bits of rubber shed along the racing line. This allows for faster lap times as grip increases. If you look closely at worn tires after a race, you’ll see all the little rubber bits that have been picked up.

Prepare for rubber during the down under thunder 📸 Mark Thompson/Getty Images & race-week.tumbler.com

Due to the time difference FP1 & FP2 will be underway as this edition is hurtling through cyberspace, making it’s way through the vast series of tubes that form the great information superhighway on it’s way to your very own electronic mail inbox. So anyway, here’s the rest of the weekend schedule (EDT):

  • FP3: Friday, March 22nd @ 9:30pm

  • Qualifying: Saturday, March 23rd @ 1:00am

  • Race: Sunday, March 24th @ 12:00am

What else to watch for this weekend:

  • A slightly lighter Carlos Sainz looks to return this weekend. The Sainz-Leclerc battle in the Spaniard’s last season with the team is shaping up to be a good one. How many milliseconds is an appendix worth?

  • Can Ferrari take another step towards Red Bull? We need to get a prancing horse on pole to see if they have the race pace to slow Max down.

  • Mercedes planning to “design some experiments” to attempt to unlock performance help them figure out why the W15 is lacking grip after a puzzling start to the season.

  • Home town heroes Ricciardo and Piastri are looking to impress - Danny’s first start here in two years, and Oscar back for his sophmore season in a much improved car.

  • We had absolute chaos last year with huge collisions and multiple restarts. Albert Park is a fast track with close walls. If it’s half as crazy as last year then we’re in for a didgeridoozy. Sorry.

Guenther’s Speaks Out

Guenther has broken his silence (silent Guenther is actually an oxymoron) and has dropped his first column on formula1.com.

He shares his thought’s on Bearman, who drove an FP1 session for Haas in Abu Dhabi last year: "When he drove in FP1 for us, I never feared he’d do something you wouldn’t expect. He was always in control. Was I surprised by what he did in Jeddah? No. I had faith he could do that.” Look at that. Clairvoyant Guenther over here. He highlights how calm the young reserve is, and says that he would “put him in a race seat” after seeing his debut drive.

The ex-Haas Principal follows up with a surprising admission, saying “I stayed at Haas too long”. Quite the change of tune from what he said in his book. I thought he always wanted to be in to the bitter end after being the driving force behind the team’s inception. He does admit though that stepping away gave him the clarity to see what he could not when he was at the team, and gaining that new perspective after leaving does make sense.

He explains, “When I was there, with what we had, you could still fight for being seventh, eighth or ninth – but you couldn’t fight for podiums without the same weapons as the other guys. Doing that in the long-term is not what I want to do in life. I don’t want to be seventh again. I’ve done that. I want to be able to fight, to battle at the front.”

While not unheard of, it’s definitely an uphill battle to fight with the big boys as a smaller, customer team. And while it’s a good start for Haas this year, podiums are still a ways away.

Racing Redux: Where are they now?

It’s the perfect time to provide some updates on past stories, because it so happens new details emerged this week on no less than four stories we’ve featured here. Appearing in the order in which they were originally covered:

  • Susie Wolff: The FIA Academy boss (and traditional BOSS) announced the filing of a criminal complaint against the FIA in response to the launched-then-quickly-dropped conflict of interest probe against the Wolffs back in December. Susie included in her statement, “Whilst some may think silence absolves them from responsibility - it does not." Yowza. I wouldn’t wanna be on the receiving end of that fire.

  • Audi: While the deal briefly looked like it may be faltering, Audi made a statement by upping their majority stake (!!!) in Sauber to a full on takeover.

  • Mohammed Ben Sulayem: The FIA President has been cleared of any wrongdoing concerned with the 2022 Saudi Arabia GP… by the FIA. Hmmm… curious! An original report claimed MBS sought to reverse a penalty originally levied to Alonso in the race, and requested inspectors find issues with the Las Vegas track to deem it unsafe. I’d provide a FIA quote here but it’s all corporate mumbo jumbo that basically just says “nah he good”.

  • Christian Horner: The female employee who blew the whistle on the Red Bull TP and was suspended by Red Bull Racing has appealed the findings of the probe launched by the greater Red Bull company, and submitted a formal complaint with the FIA. The governing body has been hesitant to get involved what they deemed an internal team matter - but their hand may be force if it’s clear their anti-harassment code of conduct has been breached.

Down the Grid

🥇Max Verstappen [51]: Made seven stops on his PJ on the way to Melbourne, “an insane journey.” Extreme jet lag and hindered performance??? Slim chance. Remember when he won the Qatar GP in sweltering heat last year after 5 vodka sodas the night before? Machine.
🥈 Sergio Perez [36]: Helmut Marko revealed that Checo has “more or less” adopted the same setup as Max this year, trying to limit experimentation. Max notoriously likes more “twitchy” cars with a “nervous rear end” (let’s keep it G rated please) while the RB18 for example was more “good-natured” and easier to drive - but not as fast.
🥉 Charles Leclerc 📈 [28]: “Only a matter of time” until Ferrari battles Red Bull. He thinks they have improved the most out of any team over the past 6 months, though he admits “the gap is still quite big. But if we keep working like that…we [can] put Red Bull under a bit more pressure.”
4️⃣ George Russel 📈 [18]: On the open seat to be his teammate, says “Seeing the names pop up on Toto’s phone has been quite funny”, and “I’ve got no concerns at all who lines up alongside me. I want to be tested against the very best and I feel that's what I've had the last two years.”
5️⃣ Oscar Piastri 📈 [16]: McLaren says it will “protect” it’s hometown driver from an overly busy schedule in Melbourne. On the many media requests, Andrea Stella says “some we will accept; some we’ll have we'll have to protect delivering the performance and we will not accept.” Slightly-bold-but-not-really-that-bold-I-guess prediction: Piastri podium on Sunday.
6️⃣ Carlos Sainz 📉 [15]: Ferrari confirms he will return this weekend - with Bearman still on call just in case.
7️⃣ Fernando Alonso 📈 [12]: Aston team principal Mike Krack says “old fox” Alonso bring much more to the team than his proven speed, including motivating everyone around him and leading by example. Old Fox is a perfect description.
8️⃣ Lando Norris 📉 [12]: Wants to see improvements made in driver comfort in next generation of F1 cars. He admits that it’s the team’s job to just make a car that is fast as possible, but that the current regulations require “[having] to run the cars extremely low and stiff…And this takes a toll on you.”
9️⃣ Lewis Hamilton 📉 [8]: “Truly believes” Mercedes will become a championship winning team again in the future, and denies his move to Ferrari reflected him losing faith in the team’s ability to do so - saying [about the move] “I love a challenge, and this is the ultimate challenge.”
🔟 Ollie Bearman 📈 [6]: Veteran F1 Ferrari engineer Jock Clear on the rookie reserve drivers debut: “never seen anything better than that”
11. Nico Hulkenberg 📈 [1]: Says smaller teams need “unorthodox” strategies to score points, “You have to obviously push your luck a little bit”. Yes please. Love seeing uncommon strategies play out on the grid.
12. Lance Stroll 📉 [1]: Former F1 boss Eddie Jordan thinks Lawrence Stroll has a big decision to make, with his son’s performance not being consistently good enough - “Lance has to move up a scale…and finish on the podium” as his team owner father tries to recruit the best technical people and build a winning team.
13. Alex Albon 📈 [0]: Says the team “can’t access” the full potential of the FW46 at the moment, but insists there is more to come and hopes the can out-develop rivals, like the surprisingly competitive Haas.
14. Zhou Guanyu 📉 [0]: Releasing a documentary ahead of the Chinese GP on April 19 called “The First One” about his experience in F1.
15. Kevin Magnussen 📉 [0]: From The Athletic: 1 podium, 10 years in F1, and zero regrets. On being an F1 driver, “It’s certainly worth it, but it’s not for free.”
16. Daniel Ricciardo 📉 [0]: Reveals that he was “wishing races away” during his downward sprial at McLaren, but now his “energy and excitement are back”. While it’s been a “pretty slow start to the year”, he says the team has a plan - “It’s not that we don’t have answers. I think it’s quite clear.” Rooting for some points in his home race this weekend.
17. Esteban Ocon [0]: On his uncompromising attitude in F1, “Maybe I’m too straightforward at times, but well… I’m not going to let anything go after I’ve worked so hard to get where I am.”
18. Yuki Tsunoda 📉 [0]: RB boss Laurent Mekies are looking for him to take the “next step” in what is his 4th year in F1, with teammate Ricciardo acting as a “fantastic reference point”
19. Logan Sargeant 📈 [0]: Will take the wheel of the legendary FW08 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.
20. Valtteri Bottas 📉 [0]: Where will the Finn who knows how to win end up next season? At 34 he believes there’s more time to drive (taking inspo from Alonso), but can he match the success from his Merc days if he gets the right car?
21. Pierre Gasly 📉 [0]: Invests in FC Versailles football club. Gotta find ways to entertain yourself when your cars stinks.

Constructor’s Corner

🥇Red Bull [87]: RB20 was “last big roll of the dice” for the ground effect regulations, because in 2025 focus starts shifting to the 2026 car. Chief engineer Paul Monaghan said that choosing to “make some bigger changes on the car it opens up more options for us.” 
🥈Ferrari [49]: Leclerc is confident his relationship with Sainz won’t suffer as the two go wheel to wheel in the second fastest car on the grid this season, saying “Ferrari comes first.”
🥉McLaren 📈 [28]: Team Principal Andrea Stella says team is targeting “race six or seven” to bring first major upgrade, with some “minor things” coming for Australia and Japan that “will be [delivering] a few milliseconds.” Crazy that improvements are measured that tightly..
4️⃣ Mercedes 📉 [26]: Reportedly considering postponing scheduled upgrades to the W15 as they plan to run a series of tests in Melbourne to assess the cars strengths and weaknesses. The results will determine whether the planned upgrades make it to the car or not, and they seek to get a better understanding of the inconsistent start to the year.
5️⃣ Aston Martin [13]: The AMR24 qualifying vs race pace balance has flipped relative to last year, driven by the different aero characteristics such as improved Red Bull inspired DRS, and settling on a ride height compromise between low and high fuel loads.
6️⃣ Haas 📈 [1]: Team thinks Australia will be a “tight fight”. TP Ayao Komatsu is curious to see the cars performance with C5 tires debut this season - the softest available. This will put the team’s improved tire degradation to the test, as well as their ability to retain the proper heat during qualifying.
7️⃣ Williams 📈 [0]: Team Principal James Vowles: “We’re here to start fighting for proper positions”, stresses the “sacrifice” it takes over a number of years to figure out where the team is strong - and where it is not.
8️⃣ Kick Sauber 📉 [0]: Audi has accelerated plans for a 100% take over of Sauber Motorsport. While this secures the team’s long term future, it should also provide a short term boost says head of trackside engineering Xevi Pujolar - “It is important in terms of budget possibilities and what we can build in the next two years before Audi [arrives].”
9️⃣ RB 📉 [0]: Looking to move part of the team to Red Bull town of Milton Keynes by the end of this year, citing growing size of the team and specifically aero department.
🔟 Alpine [0]: What’s wrong with the A524? Worst power unit, car is overweight, and a rear that lack traction and downforce to name a few. TP Bruno Famin: “It’s been more challenging than we expected.”

Tech Talk

  • Pirelli has plan to address tire over-heating problems for 2025

  • A significant detail of the Ferrari SF-24 was revealed in the first two races - the two upper arms of the rear suspension. The multi-link design is different than the typical wishbone configuration. Possible benefits are making anti-squat easier (keeps the car level during braking and accelerating), providing a resistance to bouncing, and allowing for lower rear tire degradation. Anti-squat is also what it’s called when you skip leg day and only focus on glamour muscles. You won’t see any anti-squat proponents at TDU, that’s for dang sure.

  • What rear wings are telling us about the 2024 tech battle. Achieving the right downforce and drag level for a given track is not as easy nowadays, and pulling this lever means using completely new rear wings race to race. Evidence was seen in Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia when teams were trying to find the right level for the first low-downforce track of the year 🔽 

New goal: commission an original piece from Giorgio Piola - a true generational talent 📸 Giorgio Piola via Motorsport.com

Off the Grid

  • Valterri Bottas maintains P1 in off track media spots with this Aussie themed ad for Uber. It’s worth the watch I promise.

  • The General Court of the EU ruled that Russian driver Nikita Mazepin should be removed from the EU sanctions list. Mazepin’s Haas contract, along with former Haas title sponsor Uralkali’s (owned by his father) was terminated in 2022 with the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.

  • Rumor: Aston Martin title sponsor Aramco is eyeing a possible takeover, with their sights set on Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey. Speaking of Newey rumors, Ferrari wants him too. This bloke is more popular than an old gum tree at a kookaburra convention. 🥁 

Quiz Answer

C. 3. Madness! While we don’t like to see anyone hurt in the carnage, standing restarts sure are exciting.

I hope we get a ripper of a race this weekend, and if you watch live don’t feel bad about oversleeping brekkie Sunday morning.

Intro song is always played at max volume, no exceptions 📸 @teflonso14 on X

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