F1 Australia, the report cards of the promoted
1. Arvid Lindblad, Ollie Bearman and Gabi Bortoleto. Formula 1 is chasing a future that doesn’t exist, with an Internet Explorer regulation that is born old and will probably die young. The future, the real one, is in the flesh. In addition to Kimi Antonelli, who finishes second but in truth doesn’t have such a great weekend, and Isack Hadjar (the first of the humans in qualifying), three guys well on their way to big stages are making their mark. Bearman is as certain as taxes, Bortoleto brings Audi into the top-10 at the first attempt, Lindblad has no problem going over Russell’s wing and gets called an “a**hole” by Verstappen for slowing down too much in the pit lane. Which is somewhat his love language, but it can also be a way to immediately make clear who’s in charge. On the other hand, if champions have an almost animalistic instinct for understanding who can take away their role as pack leader, for Lindblad it’s a certificate of esteem. In any case, at 18 he made his F1 debut outperforming those who have been there for three years now. Chapeau.
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2. Max Verstappen. But not for the comeback from 20th to sixth position, let’s not joke. The point is that Max – and to a lesser extent Alonso, who on the other hand has much more serious problems to face – was the first to demolish this F1, with sharp and clear words, without fear. The others followed suit. And it’s not even irritation over a car that is no longer the technical benchmark, because Verstappen was saying the same things even after crushing the 2023 World Championship. He just changed targets. And frankly, regarding Formula E on steroids, it’s hard to prove him wrong.
3. The very last ones. Unconfirmed rumors swear that Cadillac is still in Melbourne, but will soon finish the GP. Yes, last and even worse than Aston Martin in terms of single-lap performance. But anyway, it only got the okay to race a year ago: it started from zero or almost, without references (because everything was new for all teams) and without staff, and 12 months later it’s on the grid with an F1 car. It’s like asking a chef to prepare a Michelin-starred dish in 10 minutes. Applause, regardless. Is it last? Who cares. But speaking of the last ones: if you haven’t seen what Franco Colapinto did, catch up on it here. It’s proof that in F1 even the one treated as the last of the fools actually has top-tier reflexes.
F1 Australia, the report cards of the failed
3. Oscar Piastri. In reality, it’s not even clear if it’s his fault or the electric motor delivering too much power, or if he’s an accomplice. It’s a spin that seems to have points in common with Verstappen’s in qualifying. It’s a shame, first of all because he could have been in the top-5 and then because he’s a driver who between the end of 2025 and this start of the season risks getting lost. And it would be a huge waste.
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2. Aston Martin. Speaking of waste, Professor Lawrence Stroll takes the floor. Someone who gives the impression of having a metropolitan ego and leads an Aston Martin that, in terms of cost-to-performance ratio, is the four-wheeled equivalent of Jeff Bezos’ Fire Phone. Well, after years of proclamations about 2026, after futuristic videos about facilities and staff (certainly high-quality and cutting-edge), after bringing Adrian Newey to the team who two years ago was more sought after than gold, at the first race of 2026 Aston Martin arrives after the music: the best performance is by Stroll junior – daddy’s boy – with only 15 laps of delay. This is because Honda doesn’t have a motor up to the task. Stroll discovered this in November 2025: for two and a half years (the supply was announced in May 2023) he believed he was working with the engineers who made Red Bull great. Not knowing, however, that 70% had left. Practically the core of the entire project is this contract signed without knowing who they were bringing in-house. We’re flying at stellar levels, you’ll understand.
1. FIA. In the post-Melbourne narrative, F1 highlighted the number of overtakes, which rose from 45 to 120 from one edition of the GP to the next, thus celebrating the Melbourne race as the success of the new regulations, which were supposed to bring more spectacular races. But even entertainment needs its composure: this is just chaos, all those overtakes are due to batteries and not the driver’s skill. It would be as if in the Football World Cup, FIFA, to avoid seeing 0-0 draws, built goals eight meters high and 20 wide, and then high-fived itself if matches ended 67-all. But it’s another sport, this is not the DNA of motorsport and neither is the agonizing qualifying where drivers on a push lap have to lift off to recharge the battery. This is as far as the sporting side is concerned (and obviously F1 is also involved, even if coincidentally in Italy the villain to be Sky-slapped seems to be Tombazis). Off the track, the Federation’s ability to be out of time and out of place remains staggering, with a regulation that continues down a dead end and has only created controversy due to the compression ratio exploited by Mercedes. Already after one race, we are witnessing backpedaling, corrections, and compromises. Best of luck, we’re going to need it.
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