3 teams Formula 1 completely screwed over in Melbourne
By Asher Fair
A strange decision-making process at the end of the Australian Grand Prix left several Formula 1 teams miffed, and rightfully so.
Formula 1‘s decision to red flag Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit was clearly aimed at having a green flag finish instead of a finish behind the safety car. It was the right decision on paper, as nobody ever wants to see a race end under yellow.
But it ultimately went wrong for a number of reasons, and it led to a string of further strange decisions that left several teams ticked off.
Here are three teams that Formula 1 totally screwed over in Melbourne.
Three teams Formula 1 screwed over: No. 1 – Ferrari
Ferrari’s horrible start to the 2023 season got worse on the opening lap of the race, with Charles Leclerc being taken out. But Carlos Sainz Jr. was a man on a mission and made up several places, putting himself in position to challenge for a podium finish on the final restart.
After the chaos, he was scored in third place and set to secure Ferrari’s first podium finish of the year. But not only did they revert the order to what it was before the restart, putting Sainz in fourth; they gave him a five-second penalty for spinning out Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in the first corner, just moments after that restart.
Sainz was effectively penalized for running into a driver who, because of the decision to revert the order, was literally not affected in any way, shape, or form by the move when it came to the final running order. The move basically didn’t count, yet Sainz was dropped from fourth place to 12th because of it.
The fact that Sainz was given a penalty for that move is incomprehensible, especially compared to some of the other moves that take place but don’t even get investigated.
Then to put him in position behind a safety car for one lap to effectively “race” (to an extent) to remain five seconds ahead of whoever he can — and to put everyone else behind him in position to “race” to get within that five-second window — is even more pathetic.
Ferrari finished the race scoreless, and they appear to be a distant fourth best team after leading the constructor standings by a wide margin at this point last season.