2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Highlights

The team secured more points at the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, with both cars finishing inside the top ten. Get the thoughts from Lance, Fernando, and Mike after racing Down Under.

The team achieves a second double points finish of the season, with Lance classified in P6 and Fernando in P8. Drivers used different tyre strategies to complete two-stop races at Albert Park. Lance started on the Medium tyre before using two sets of Hards, whilst Fernando began the race on the Hard tyre before using the Mediums and then heading back to the Hards.

Fernando took advantage of a VSC period following Lewis Hamilton’s retirement, allowing him to gain time and track position as he pitted whilst the race was neutralised.

Fernando crossed the line in P6 but received a post-race drive-through penalty after an incident involving George Russell, which saw the Mercedes driver crash. This penalty was converted to 20 seconds added to his race time, which demoted him to eighth in the final standings.

Fernando Alonso

We were a little lucky with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car when Lewis [Hamilton] retired. Then I was pretty happy sitting behind Checo [Perez] because I could use the DRS to pull a gap. I lost a lot of time when Charles [Leclerc] came out from the pits – but those seconds we gained proved to be gold dust at the end.

In the closing laps, George caught me quickly. I knew that he was coming, and then he was in the DRS range for five or six laps, so I was doing qualifying laps to stay ahead. I wanted to maximise my exit speed from Turn Six to defend against him. Any racing driver would do that, and I didn’t feel it was dangerous. Getting a penalty from the stewards for what was hard but fair racing is disappointing. Still, I’m glad that George is okay. Seeing his car in the middle of the track was not pleasant.

This wasn’t the best weekend for us regarding pace, but our race was well executed: sound strategy, incredible pit stops, and great reliability. I think we probably scored more points today than our pace merited—but we’ll take that.

Lance Stroll

It was a solid race today, and I’m pleased to have picked up a few points. I had a strong start, gaining a few places on the first lap, and then settled into a good rhythm. As expected, managing the tyres was the biggest challenge due to the high degradation, but I looked after them well, and the team did an excellent job with the race strategy. We still have some more pace to find in the car, but I think we leave Australia knowing we made the most of the package we have.

Mike Krack, Team Principal:

A strong race in Albert Park today, and we have scored 12 championship points. Full credit to both drivers, who converted our grid positions into points using two very different tyre strategies.

Lance has driven well all weekend and carried that form through to the chequered flag. Fernando’s race benefited from the Virtual Safety Car – it was surprising to see him drop to P8 with the post-race penalty, but we must accept the decision. This will not distract from a positive day. The calls from the pit wall were spot on, and operationally, the whole team has been excellent.

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