Verdict on the start of F1’s new era: five talking points from the Australian GP
The pre-season favourites had done their level best to play down their expected advantage in the buildup to the Australian Grand Prix, but it was impossible to hide.A dominant one-two by the best part of a second for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in qualifying was followed by a similarly assured one-two finish in the race.Russell had to fight in the opening phases against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but once he had been extricated from that battle and could return to what engineers consider the “optimal” lap according to the new diktats of power deployment and recharging he had as much as 0.3sec to 0.4 on Ferrari.
At which point the Merc was gone,For the final third, Russell and Antonelli were not racing one another and had eased off, simply holding the gap to Leclerc at 15 seconds, indicating they have even more in the bank,They were perhaps conscious that putting a huge gap on the field would reinvigorate the debate over their claimed engine compression ratio advantage,Mercedes are going to be very hard to beat,Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc made blisteringly quick starts, as they had demonstrated in testing, and in the opening part of the season this may well be their best shot at taking the fight to Mercedes.
They were let down by a costly failure to react quickly to a virtual safety car, but in pace terms the Scuderia have made a strong start.Mercedes have a clear advantage, but in a season that will be marked by a fierce development battle as the teams come to understand better how to bring more performance to their cars, Ferrari feel they have a chance to bridge that gap.They are on their own in being the second-fastest team so can go after Mercedes with little fear of having to cover off McLaren or Red Bull.Leclerc and Hamilton, third and fourth in Melbourne, have every reason to be optimistic.There was no little sound and fury about how the new regulations have affected the racing, with the energy management aspect in particular taking a pasting.
Not least from Lando Norris, who said it “sucks” and the cars were the worst he had driven, while warning the sport was in danger of having a major accident.Those feelings were echoed by Max Verstappen, who was scathing about the need for energy management techniques including having to come off the throttle in lift-and-coast procedures, which was as visually clear as it was unedifying.Post-race, there was plenty of criticism aimed at the artificial nature of all the overtaking, prompted by using the boost or overtake mode, after which the energy was so depleted that drivers were helpless to being repassed immediately afterwards.“This is like the mushroom in Mario Kart,” said Leclerc, not the only driver to compare it to video games.F1 trumpeted the statistic that there were 120 passes compared with 45 last year, but the general feeling was that if said moves were a simple push-to-pass followed by a desperate hope of recharging enough energy to hold the place they were all but meaningless.
The Mercedes and Ferrari drivers were more conciliatory, but it was lost on no one that they have the two best cars.There was consensus a debate was required and the scrutiny will remain in these opening rounds.However, as Toto Wolff noted, what really counted was the view from the top.“Stefano [Domenicali, F1’s CEO] would say that the single metric that matters to him is whether the fans like it,” the Mercedes team principal said.The only rookie this season, Arvid Lindblad would have been forgiven for keeping his head down and easing into his debut.
But the 18-year-old Briton was having none of it.He nailed a superb qualifying session to claim ninth on the grid for Racing Bulls and from there, when the lights went out, hared off the line.He made a superb start and in a frenetic opening period at one point had moved to as high as third.When Verstappen came up on him, he refused to simply roll over, making the four-time world champion fight for the place before claiming eighth place and four points.He finished one place behind Oliver Bearman, who did superbly in his second season, confirming that Haas have every chance to be in the mix at the front of the midfield.
No one in the paddock at Albert Park enjoyed witnessing the very public omnishambles with which Aston Martin opened the new season.That the team were under the cosh had been clear in pre-season testing, but the full extent of it was revealed in Melbourne, On Thursday, Adrian Newey conceded their Honda engine had such a severe vibration problem it risked causing permanent nerve damage to the drivers, an extraordinary admission from a team principal on the eve of the first race.Two battery failures followed in Friday practice, leaving them with their last two replacement units, and then Lance Stroll could not take part in qualifying; mechanics worked until four o’clock on Sunday morning to try to solve problems.Come the race it was clear it would be little more than further testing and Fernando Alonso did two stints in between an inspection in the pits before the car was retired.Similarly, Stroll put in laps before an extended period in the pits.
He did continue to the end, but was not classified after finishing 15 laps behind Russell.The team are in a real bind.Quite apart from the vibration, the engine is unreliable and underpowered.Without the proper running of a fully functioning engine Aston cannot begin to assess how good their car may be or how to develop it.No quick fix is expected, with shades of Honda’s disastrous return with McLaren in 2015 impossible to ignore.
Aston Martin will be more than aware it took the Japanese manufacturer four years to bring that engine to the sharp end of the grid and a further two before it won a title.
Starmer warns of bigger impact on economy the longer Iran war continues - as it happened
Addressing the war in Iran, Keir Starmer acknowledged that the longer the conflict went on the greater the likely impact on the UK’s economy. The prime minister said:double quotation markThe job of government is obviously to get ahead, to look around the corner, to work with others, and the chancellor speaks to the governor of the Bank of England on a daily basis, with looking cross-departmental within government, assessing the risks, monitoring and talking to our international partners as well about what more we can do together to reduce the likely impact on people here and businesses here, of course.But it is important to acknowledge that that work is needed, because people will sense, you will sense I think, that the longer this goes on, the more likely the potential for an impact on our economy, impact into the lives and households of everybody and every business.And our job is to get ahead of that, to look around the corner, assess the risk, monitor the risks, and work with others in relation to that.The longer the US-Israel war with Iran continues, the more likely it is there will be economic damage in the UK, Keir Starmer warned as governments around the world braced for major disruption to energy supplies as a result of the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran
Lengthy US-Iran war would affect ‘lives and households of everybody’, says Starmer
Keir Starmer has said that a long-term US-Iran war would affect the “lives and households of everybody”, as the head of the AA advised motorists against making “non-essential” journeys.On Monday, oil prices surged past $100 (£75) a barrel for the first time since 2022, which will feed through to higher costs at petrol stations, and consumers will also be hit if energy costs push up inflation.Ministers are understood to be looking at ways to potentially mitigate the rising costs on energy bills – and are likely to come under pressure to cancel a planned 5p rise in fuel duty this autumn.Speaking as he launched the government’s community cohesion plan, Starmer said: “The job of government is obviously to get ahead, to look around the corner, to work with others, and the chancellor speaks to the governor of the Bank of England on a daily basis … assessing the risks, monitoring and talking to our international partners as well about what more we can do together to reduce the likely impact on people here and businesses here, of course.“But it is important to acknowledge that work is needed, because people will sense … that the longer this goes on, the more likely the potential for an impact on our economy, impact into the lives and households of everybody and every business
Nigel Farage invests £215,000 in Kwasi Kwarteng’s bitcoin firm
Nigel Farage has invested in Kwasi Kwarteng’s bitcoin reserves company, as the leader of Reform UK aligns himself closer with the cryptocurrency industry.The MP has invested £215,000 in Stack BTC, the crypto business that is chaired by the former Conservative chancellor.Farage, who has long courted the UK’s crypto sector, said he was delighted to have “become an investor in Stack” and “lend my support to the team”.“I have long been one of the UK’s few political advocates for bitcoin, recognising the role digital currencies will play in the future of business and finance,” he said in a statement. “I believe that we can and should be a major global hub for the crypto industry
Labour in ‘deep trouble’ with Black voters, Operation Black Vote chair warns
Labour is in “deep trouble” with Black voters, a former government adviser has warned, saying the party is at risk of being seen as “accepting the normalisation of racism”.David Weaver, who is the chair of Operation Black Vote (OBV), said the government’s plans to restrict juries would “heighten, normalise and embed” racial disproportionality in the justice system and that Black voters were saying: “We don’t know what Labour stands for any more.”In November, Keir Starmer vowed to “stand up to racism”. But the “moral panic” over migration and slow progress on tackling racial pay gaps and the Windrush scandal meant sentiment was low, Weaver said.“We’re not happy,” he added
Former Tory minister Zac Goldsmith to launch new sports radio station
The former Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith is launching a new sports radio station, trkradio, in the run-up to the men’s football World Cup this summer.The Track Radio Corporation is understood to have been granted a licence by Ofcom last week, with Goldsmith and his brother Ben, a financier and environmentalist, the major investors.Trkradio is due to go to air for the first time next month, with the station’s presenters and other financial backers to be confirmed over the next few weeks.Sources involved in the launch told the Guardian that the station will feature a mix of reflective conversation about all sports with ambitions to offer broader content than staple football phone-ins, as well as playing music.The day-to-day running of trkradio will be led by Iain Macintosh, formerly the head of UK audio at the Athletic, and the former LBC commercial director Jonathan Arendt
Alba party to wind up and not contest Scottish election
The Alba party has announced that it will wind up and not field any candidates for the 2026 Scottish parliament election.The pro-independence party was formed in 2021 by the late Alex Salmond as a “new political force” but has been suffering from a sharp fall in membership and a financial crisis.Police Scotland has been investigating alleged “irregularities” in the party’s finances since May.Kenny MacAskill, who defected from the Scottish National party and succeeded Salmond as Alba leader, said the decision taken by the party’s ruling national executive committee on Sunday had been made “with considerable regret”.The Electoral Commission advised the party that, given its financial situation, it should either voluntarily de-register or face statutory de-registration
How will war in the Middle East affect your finances?
Live Nation reaches surprise settlement with justice department in antitrust case
Yorkshire Water receives fresh funding despite sewage fines and pay row
Iran war drives oil prices above $100 a barrel for first time since 2022
British AI datacentre firm Nscale raises $2bn as Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg join board
UK interest rate cuts unlikely this year amid Iran war – and a rise could be ahead