There were plenty of big talking points during the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday morning with the second different race winner of the 2024 season.
Carlos Sainz made the move heading into turn nine on lap two and just a few laps later the Dutchman was out of the car and watching on as the 29-year-old took his third Grand Prix victory.
Covering the race from the pit lane for Sky Sports F1, Ted Kravitz rued a mistake from one of the teams that ended up costing their driver.
There were opportunities at the front of the grid given the retirements of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, but that also opened up the final three points-paying positions for the five slower teams on the grid.
Haas benefitted from Lance Stroll’s crash in Saudi Arabia and both drivers finished in the top ten in Australia.
However, any chance of Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber getting off the mark in Australia were ruined by another slow pit stop for Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas suffers another slow pit stop in Australia
The gap between the front half and back half of the grid has become even more pronounced in 2024 meaning every point could be incredibly valuable.
It’s why Haas were so pleased with Nico Hulkenberg’s 10 place in Jeddah and why they sacrificed Magnussen’s race to achieve it.
Williams also recognised its importance by deciding to put Alex Albon in Logan Sargeant’s chassis this weekend after the Thai driver destroyed his in a practice session on Friday.
The main beneficiary of the three retirements in Melbourne was Yuki Tsunoda, earning RB four points after a fantastic performance in qualifying and the race, once again shown up by teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
A double-point finish for Haas boosted their hopes of avoiding another season at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.
However, it was another tough weekend for Sauber and Valtteri Bottas had another problem during a pit stop in Australia.
After Zhou Guanyu had to start from the pit lane following a change of front wing and only finished ahead of Esteban Ocon who was forced into an extra pit stop of his own.
Sauber pit stop worries continue during Australian Grand Prix
Watching the first round of pit stops, Kravitz said: “I can’t believe it, it’s happened again. Sauber knew that they had problems with their cross-threaded wheel nuts, but they said that they were going to take it easy and just make sure the stops lasted five or six seconds, not 15!
“So, it’s only something that happens in the races that Sauber have this.”
It’s in stark contrast to what Bottas said about the likelihood of a pit stop issue in Australia before the race: “It’s almost solved. We have a lot more confidence that the cross-threading won’t happen but actually with the procedures the team needs to be almost slightly cautious.
“So I don’t think we’re going to have like slow stops, but not lightning fast either. What we need now is consistency.”
The levels of frustration within the team will be growing especially after watching RB and Haas score points.
Audi will be taking over the team completely in 2026 and they will want basic errors such as these ironed out quickly.
Given they’ve had issues at every Grand Prix so far in 2024, the aim for Suzuka might just be to get their cars in and out of the pit lane as quickly as possible.
Valtteri Bottas’ future still uncertain ahead of 2025 season
The 34-year-old Finn knows he’s got to impress this year if he wants to be on the grid next season.
Audi will want the strongest line-up possible for their entry and the combination of Bottas and Zhou might not appeal to them at the moment.
An out-of-contract Carlos Sainz will certainly appeal to Andreas Seidl, who is also a big fan of Nico Hulkenberg and was tempted to get rid of Bottas at the end of last year.
That leaves Bottas in a precarious position and while he outperformed Zhou in Australia, the issue with his pit stop meant he was a long way off being in the conversation for points.
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