It was a fantastic return to Formula 1 for Carlos Sainz as he recovered from appendix surgery in Saudi Arabia to take the third victory of his F1 career in Australia.
He was joined on the podium by teammate Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris, but there were positives to take further down the grid for some other teams too.
Commentating on the race alongside Martin Brundle for Sky Sports F1, David Croft wanted to highlight the performance of a lesser-seen driver.
Both Mercedes failing to finish the race alongside Max Verstappen’s first DNF in two years opened up the points to the bottom five teams.
Yuki Tsunoda and the Haas pairing were the beneficiaries, opening up a small gap over the bottom three constructors.
However, Croft wanted to give Alpine driver Pierre Gasly a special mention for his display during the Australian Grand Prix.
The Frenchman was taking part in his 133 Grand Prix and while he couldn’t secure a top-ten finish, he produced arguably the most encouraging performance seen from an Alpine driver in 2024.
Croft praises Gasly for Australian Grand Prix effort
Expectations were set very low by Alpine team principal Bruno Famin heading into this season.
After falling to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship in 2023, the team completely remodelled their car so that they could take bigger steps forward in the future.
It meant a reset that sent them to the back of the grid and Gasly’s teammate Esteban Ocon admitted at the start of the weekend they still had ‘a lot’ of issues to work out.
Ocon managed to get through to Q2 on Saturday, but it was Gasly who had the better race.
He managed to keep his tyres alive for longer than expected and had a decent race with Nico Hulkenberg.
While Gasly wasn’t in a position to challenge for points during the Australian Grand Prix, Croft was quick to give the 28-year-old credit where it was due in the race.
Gasly shows racing prowess despite Alpine’s struggles
Towards the end of the first stint, Gasly was running in the points before his pit stop and Croft said: “Pierre Gasly, who you might remember from this race last year ran in the top five for the first 50 laps, is doing a mega job currently for Alpine.
“He hasn’t pitted yet but he’s up into sixth place and he’s right on the tail here of Nico Hulkenberg.
“Well, for once in 2024 able to do some racing up against the Haas.”
Brundle added: “And running the world championship points which is something isn’t it?”
While Croft was praising Gasly for how he was running during the Australian GP, missing out on points when two of their rivals cashed in on other teams’ issues is a worry.
Brundle admitted things went from ‘bad to worse’ for them during qualifying but there’s a small amount of positivity that can be taken from Sunday’s race.
Alpine F1 team in a state of flux
When a battle with a Haas car is seen as a positive step forward, you know you’ve started the campaign in a bad place.
Gasly and Ocon look a long way off scoring points for Alpine this season and even with three DNFs weren’t in the running.
Their only saving grace is that Sauber appear to be having plenty of problems of their own at the minute.
Eddie Jordan recently suggested that he wouldn’t be surprised if Alpine weren’t on the grid next season.
Renault won’t be happy putting up with this level of performance for long given they’re one of the few works teams on the grid.
Gasly’s contract runs out at the end of the season and he’ll be hoping the performance that impressed David Croft during the Australian Grand Prix turned some heads.
He’s been suggested as a candidate for Mercedes, while Sauber – who will become Audi – is another potential destination.
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