The Australian Grand Prix finally saw Max Verstappen’s recent dominance come to an end, albeit due to factors outside of his control.
The Dutchman’s Red Bull failed within the first few laps, with his right rear brake exploding as he entered the pit lane.
Covering the race for Sky Sports F1, Karun Chandhok was reviewing how the other teams on the grid were trying to capitalise on his retirement.
Ultimately, it was Ferrari who came out on top, with Carlos Sainz returning from his appendix surgery to take a magnificent win.
He crossed the line just ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc under the Virtual Safety Car following George Russell’s late accident.
McLaren finished third and fourth, but Karun Chandhok was confused by their pit strategy as Lando Norris ended up giving up second place on track after the first round of stops.
Chandhok confused by McLaren’t pit strategy during Australian Grand Prix
The order of merit on the grid is becoming clearer every race and Sunday morning’s Grand Prix in Melbourne cemented Ferrari’s position as the best of the rest behind Max Verstappen.
We’ll never know if Sainz would have been able to pull off his move on Verstappen had the Dutchman not suffered a technical failure.
However, Christian Horner may be concerned that Sergio Perez couldn’t make his way through the pack to challenge either Ferrari or McLaren.
Lando Norris was running behind Sainz before the first round of pit stops, with Leclerc and Oscar Piastri running closely behind him.
An early stop from George Russell forced both teams to bring in their slower-running drivers.
Unfortunately, that left Norris in an awkward position and Chandhok has questioned McLaren’s strategy that left the young Brit stranded behind his teammate.
The team eventually switched their positions due to Norris having newer tyres, but the eight-time Constructors’ Champions might be wondering if they could have given the 24-year-old a better chance of finishing runner-up to Sainz.
McLaren have very positive Australian Grand Prix despite odd pit-stop choice
Reviewing how the race shook out, Chandhok said: “I’m still confused by this McLaren strategy for the first stop because Norris has gone from second to effectively being undercut by running five laps longer.
“He’s now fourth, he’s just come on the radio to say that his tyres are starting to go.
“Even if they’re newer, it’s that dirty air effect of being behind Piastri.
“So, are McLaren going to swap them around because strategically, they favoured Oscar it seems for that first round of pit stops.”
Croft added: “I still think they were trying to cover off George Russell and the uncut from Russell that prompted the pit stop with Piastri. That’s what it looked like at the time.”
Considering Lando Norris admitted after qualifying that the team were dealing with a ‘very difficult’ issue, he’ll be delighted to have finished on the podium.
Karun Chandhok suggested during practice that his teammate had very strong race pace and that proved to be the case on Sunday.
McLaren capitalising on Max Verstappen’s retirement
Before the race, it was put to Lando Norris that the top three on the grid have never all finished on the podium in Melbourne.
On paper, he was the most likely to fall away with Leclerc and Perez behind him, and while he benefitted from Verstappen’s technical issue, he was still very quick.
The home crowd might not have wanted to see Piastri let him through after their pit stops, but McLaren’s strategy – as Chandhok suggested – meant they had to give Norris the best chance possible of catching the two Ferraris on fresher tyres.
He couldn’t do it on this occasion and now holds the record for most podium finishes without a race win.
Norris will be desperate to make sure he’s not still the holder of that record when his F1 career eventually comes to an end.
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