The return of the Australian Grand Prix weekend was a welcome one, with the country starved of F1 action for a few years coming out in big numbers. And why not, for most Australians, including us, it’s the first daytime Grand Prix in years. Our thoughts and quick review of the third race of the season is here with our 2022 Australian Grand Prix Results, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary
Our review covers what happened in the race so you don’t have to in the laps that matter. Plus we throw in our Race Ratings, the Best (Great) and Worst (Grape) drivers of the race weekend.
The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
2022 Australian Grand Prix Results, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up on Monday morning.
And why not check out our Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Power Rankings which highlight our driver of the season so far and the last race.
2022 Australian Grand Prix Results
THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Lap 0 – A nice tribute with the Australian National Anthem, with whoever singing it dressed in a skirt that paid tribute to Ossie Ostrich. The pink puppet was a staple of Saturday night viewing for decades in Australia and it’s puppeteer recently passed away. A nice touch from organisers.
An electric atmosphere awaited the field, and most likely a first corner prang and safety car.
GRID – LEC VER PER NOR HAM RUS RIC OCO SAI ALO
Lap 1 – Charles Leclerc gets off the line well, as does Verstappen and they hold positions. Lewis Hamilton makes a great start to jump up to third. Some rare 2022 joy for Mercedes as George Russell jumps up to fifth as well. Lando Norris and Sergio Perez drop positions to 6th and 4th. Sainz is the big loser dropping way down to 14th and battling the lower midfield.
ORDER – LEC VER HAM PER RUS NOR RIC OCO GAS ALO
Lap 1 – Carlos Sainz’s race goes from crap to shit as he is off the track at the fast turn 9/10 combo. And it out of the race. It looks like the Ferrari just lost it, and luckily for some cars behind he managed to avoid as he came back across the track. One Haas lucky not to be harpooned and an Alfa driver probably looking for a combined tyre and underpant change at his first pit stop.
Lap 3 – SAEFTY CAR DEPLOYED – after sampling a Virtual Safety Car the stewards bring out the fully blown job to get Sainz’s car out of the way.
Lap 4 – Aston Martin threaten to be interesting without crashing for the first time this weekend by pitting their cars early to get rid of the hard tyre.
Lap 7 – SAEFTY CAR LEAVES – Leclerc zooms off and stays in front. And no change for any car going into the first corners. Or the first lap. Geez, despite the new cars and new track it looks like this race may need a shitload of DRS to get interesting. Happy to be proven wrong.
ORDER – LEC VER HAM PER RUS NOR RIC OCO GAS ALO
Lap 10 – Perez gets by Lewis Hamilton into turn three after some double DRS assistance. That’s the podium sorted for the day then eh? Two laps later and Perez is more than two seconds ahead of Hamilton.
Lap 11 – Battle for best of the rest is heating up with a gaggle of Mercedes and McLaren all close together. Sebastian Vettel runs wide in his car somewhere, continuing a miserable weekend. Perhaps he should call claimed Covid for one more week to save himself the travel and waste of time.
Lap 12 – Verstappen is on the phone already about graining tyres. Here’s a potential X-Factor then. Might explain why Leclerc is five seconds in front of him.
Lap 14 – In unrelated, token one off news, Nicholas Latifi pits for we presume tyres. Elsewhere Valtteri Bottas locks a brake trying to overtake Tsunoda for 11th (he manages it a lap or two later). Not that exciting, but solid filler. Mick Schumacher pitted a lap later to complete the barely interesting news.
Lap 17 – Kevin Magnussen nearly does a Sainz at the same point, but manages to miss cars and keep going.
Lap 18 – Esteban Ocon becomes the first top ten driver to pit. He comes out behind the Aston Martins, which is OK as one of them are due to spin off or run wide soon. His team mate Alonso is well placed, moves up to 9th and is on the hard tyres.
Lap 19 – Max Verstappen pits and comes out in 7th behind the McLaren and just in front of Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso. Although you can rearrange that order as the Spaniard gets past the Alpha Tauri at turn three.
Lap 20 – Red Bull must be struggling on their tyres badly, as Lewis Hamilton has closed in on Sergio Perez and is within DRS range. Perez was 3-4 seconds up the road after overtaking him earlier. Perez makes it easy for the Ham by pitting at the end of the lap. So does Norris. Perez drops to 9th, Norris to 12th.
ORDER – LEC HAM RUS RIC VER ALO GAS BOT PER MAG
Lap 22 – Local Hero is a song by Mark Knopfler (we think) and it also the tag given to Daniel Ricciardo this weekend. Ricciardo comes out just behind his team mate and just in front of Alex Albon who nearly runs up his arse. Even more dangerous is Lance Stroll is nearby.
Lap 23 – Leclerc and Hamilton pit. Leclerc stays in the lead, Hamilton gets by Perez. It doesn’t last long as Perez gets by Hamilton half a lap later. Meanwhile the pit-less Russell is second and Alonso is fourth.
Lap 24 – SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED – And no surprise it is an Aston Martin, and no surprise the replays show Vettel crashing into the wall after turn four, which is an odd place to go off, unless you’re in a shit car and having a bad weekend. George Russell gets lucky with the safety car and pits for tyres and ends up third. Alonso doesn’t pit, hoping to hold onto the hard tyres until lap 40. This could be some late race excitement. Almost some mid race excitement as Mick Schumacher nearly runs up the arse of the car in front as the cars warm up their tyres behind the safety car.
ORDER – LEC VER RUS ALO PER HAM MAG NOR RIC ALB
Lap 27 – SAFETY CAR LEAVES – Leclerc makes a hash of the restart and Verstappen is all over him. Somehow the Ferrari stays in front at turns one and three. Further back car are battling but not quite overtaking. Exciting enough though. Some mighty fine wheel to wheel racing.
Lap 30 – Sergio Perez gets past Fernando Alonso for fourth. Oen wonders how long he will stay on those 30 lap hard tyres. Probably waiting a bit longer. And why not. There’s still an Aston Martin circulating, so another safety car is possible. And probable. A lap later Hamilton gets past Alonso too. Maybe that stop can’t wait.
Lap 34 – Lando Norris gets past Kevin Magnussen for 7th going into turn one. Ricciardo also has a sniff, but is much less forceful. Hopefully he doesn’t take too long.
Lap 37 – Perez steal third and the final podium from Russell heading into the new corner after the sweepers. Further ahead Charles Leclerc sets fastest lap.
ORDER – LEC VER PER RUS HAM ALO NOR RIC MAG ALB
Lap 39 – Max Verstappen is Out! The coverage switches to a stationary Red Bull at the side of the track and the reigning World Champion and most recent race winner retires for the second time in three races. Norris gets by Alonso in the excitement. But he pits on lap 40 like he wanted to. And now he’s on the soft tyres.
Lap 42 – Lance Stroll looks to be in trouble for weaving on the straight, and will be lucky to escape punishment for running Bottas off the track while overtaking, Another quality race.
ORDER – LEC PER RUS HAM NOR RIC ALB OCO STR GAS
Lap 46 – Decent battle for 9th between Stroll, Gasly, Bottas, Alonsom Schumacher, Magnussen.
Lap 49 – Just for the record, Charles Leclerc is 15 seconds ahead of Perez in third and in a fastest lap setting frenzy.
ORDER – LEC PER RUS HAM NOR RIC ALB OCO STR GAS
Lap 51 – Gasly gets past Stroll for 9th. Sergio Perez runs wide at the second last corner for a little interest.
Lap 54 – Charles Leclerc asks if he can go for fastest lap and is denied by his team via Radio. If that’s not a sign his car has plenty more to come, we don’t know what does.
FINAL LAP – Charles Leclerc wins the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, and did it pretty easy. He had Max Verstappen under control before the Red Bull retired, and was not challenged thereafter. Decent results for the number twos – Perez and Russell who complete the podium. Same for McLarens who were less awful than usual.
FINAL ORDER – LEC PER RUS HAM NOR RIC OCO BOT GAS ALB
2022 Australian Grand Prix Results
RACE RATING
Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 6/10
Nice to be in Australia again, but nothing really important from the race. Ferrari edge Red Bull for race pace and reliability. Mercedes are edging closer but are not going to be winning championship this season. The season trend lesson is that Leclerc and Ferrari looks the combination to beat.
ON TRACK ACTION – 5 /10
A little bit of overtaking, but no overtaking overload like some were hoping. Safety Cars help to bunch up the field, and DRS did it’s job. But if we’re cynical and honest, it was a touch underwhelming.
ENDING 5 / 10
Verstappen’s retirement was a spike of excitement, and the late race action was relying on Alonso’s late pit stop leading to some overtaking, but it didn’t quite happen. But the train of midfield cars was enough action. Alex Albon’s race long run on the same set of tyres was of mild interest also.
OVERALL RATING 16 / 30
It was great to have the Australian Grand Prix back, and it was entertaining enough. It helps that for Australians it wasn’t 2am for a change. Some good racing behind the leaders and Safety Cars to bunch the field up. An unexpected Verstappen DNF kept one on their toes. But it was easy as you like at the front for Leclerc, who is likeable enough to enjoy the dominant win.
2022 SEASON RATINGS SO FAR
Want to know what we thought of previous races? Or which ones to to back and watch?
R1 Bahrain Grand Prix 26/30
R2 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix 21/30
2021 Australian Grand Prix Results
GREAT & GRAPE OF THE RACE
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
It used to be called the good, bad and ugly, but everyone is using that now. And who doesn’t like grapes.
THE GREAT-EST – CHARLES LECLERC
Took pole, won the race, his two nearest rivals for the Championship (Verstappen and Sainz) both retired. Job done.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
SERGIO PEREZ – Top three qualifying, second place after Max’s retirement. All he has to do to not be fired at the moment.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Got lucky with the safety car, but about time he had some luck. Ran third after the second safety car. Dropped back behind Perez, but got that back when Verstappen retired. But a decent Sunday for someone not always associated with such.
McLARENS – Appear to have turned a corner, or at minimum found a track the car likes. Either way, less misery than the first two races.
FERNANDO ALONSO – Despite a small crash in qualifying ruining a potential top four grid spot, Alonso was on it all weekend and in the race. His hard tyre, delayed pit stop strategy meant he was up to fourth after the second safety car, and he had some fresh softer tyres to come. But the late race plan didn’t work out, but the Alpine showed some real promise.
ALEX ALBON – Got lucky with the safety car, but about time he had some luck. Ran third after the second safety car and held onto seventh place in the end. He eventually had to stop on lap 57 (of 58) and ended up 10th. But a really good result for Wiliams. And what a drive.
THE GRAPE-EST – CARLOS SAINZ
Got unlucky in qualifying and ended up ninth while his team mate took pole position. The Ferrari driver then lost places at the start and was down to 14th from 9th on lap one. Then spun off on the second lap, lucky not to crash into other cars. Yeah, pretty decent call for worst race of the day,
THE GRAPE-EST – SEBASTIAN VETTEL
After completing bugger all laps on Friday due to failures, and throwing in some spins and accidents, Vettel race ended in the barriers just before the halfway mark of the race. Add to that he was fined by riding a scooter around the track after failure on Friday.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Not his best weekend, but on track for a decent end result for an ordinary-ish weekend. But his car packed it in on lap 39, leaving his nearest rival to claim plenty of points. He should be comforted by the fact that he is still quicker than the Mercedes.
LANCE STROLL – He got blamed for the qualifying accident, and probably rightly so. He’s probably hoping his father can buy into Ferrari at current trends.
NICHOLAS LATIFI – Towards the back, and a crash in qualifying is a pretty miserable return for the William driver.
2022 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated.
