12 Jun 2019
The Formula One season starts in Melbourne, where last year over 94,500 attended the spectacle that is the Australian Grand Prix. It is the first of 21 races which end in Abu Dhabi on December 1, 2019.
Sebastian Vettel was the beneficiary of a Mercedes faux pas in the race last year, overtaking Lewis Hamilton during a safety car period to claim a third success in this race. He also won in 2017 and 2011.
Hamilton had the last laugh though, going on to become the first driver in the modern era to win five world titles and is 7/5 favourite to win a sixth. The British star won this race in 2008 and 2015.
This is a circuit that suits the Ferraris, who have a new pairing this season. With Kimi Raikkonen now at Alfa Romeo, 21-year-old Charles Leclerc swaps seats and joins Vettel.
The 2018 season promised so much for Ferrari, but in the end Vettel finished 88 points behind Hamilton with the team 84 points adrift of Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship.
Vettel is 6/4 to win the Australian Grand Prix for a third consecutive year, while Hamilton is 12/5. Leclerc is third-favourite at 11/4.
Hamilton won 11 races last season but there are question marks over his Mercedes team, as Valtteri Bottas, who faced team orders in Russia and was told to give the race lead to Hamilton, having a disappointing end to 2018, coming fifth in each of the final four races. The Finn needs to do better to remain with the team.
THE BATTLE FOR POLE
One could expect Mercedes to take pole, as Hamilton did so for a record seventh time in Australia last year. He has been P1 every year since 2014. Bottas, who crashed in the third practice session last year, was docked a five-grid penalty, so last year’s grid positons saw Hamilton on pole, followed by Raikkonen, Vettel and Max Verstappen.
With Australian Daniel Ricciardo having left Red Bull to join Renault, Verstappen, who is 9/1 to win the Drivers’ Championship, is now joined by Pierre Gasly, who gets a promotion from Toro Rosso.
Red Bull had a great start to last year, but reliability issues became apparent and at least one of their cars (sometimes both) failed to finish in 20 of 21 races.
Ricciardo became impatient and frustrated, so he partners Nico Hulkenburg at the French team, but it is Hamilton, with the most pole positions in history with 83, who looks set to fight it out with Vettel, who has 55 in total.
McLaren endured another frustrating year, one that saw Fernando Alonso retire from F1 as his care was deemed not competitive enough. He is replaced this season by fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who arrives from Renault. He will be joined by 19-year-old Briton Lando Norris.
McLaren’s best finish last season came in the Australian Grand Prix, when Alonso secured fifth place. They are not expected to battle for pole, however.
THE RACE
As with the Premier League, one of the turn-offs in Formula One is the fact that it is dominated by a few super powers. It seems likely that the championship and the race itself are at the mercy of Mercedes and Ferrari.
You can probably forget the Williams pairing of George Russell and Robert Kubica, who returns to F1 eight years after almost severing his arm in a rally crash. The Williams car was two and a half days’ late for the start of pre-season testing and they are expected to be playing catch-up this weekend.
Red Bull should be quick over the Albert Park Street Circuit, but the Ferraris have been quickest in the pre-season testing. While Vettel has three Albert Park poles to his name, he has never taken one as a Ferrari driver before.
It may be worth noting that if a team finishes 1-2 in Melbourne, which has happened seven times before, that team has gone on to win the constructors’ championship, while the race winner has claimed the drivers’ title.
The Genting Casino Formula One odds of 13/8 for a Vettel title win make plenty of appeal, but Hamilton may take some stopping in Melbourne if he secures another pole.
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