Team Ratings | Solid Red Bull, three unsatisfactory performances

Red Bull Racing - 7.5

Red Bull last won the Australian Grand Prix in 2011, while Max Verstappen has never managed to win in Melbourne. The 25-year-old Dutchman's win is welcome, but it was not a one-two for the Austrian racing stable as the previous two GP weekends were. Sergio Perez had to start from the back after problems in qualifying and finished fifth. Red Bull were the team that scored the most points, but first and fifth place for a team that is so dominant might still be a little bit disappointing.

Aston Martin - 8.0

Three Grands Prix in 2023 and three podium finishes for Fernando Alonso. Aston Martin would not have dared to dream of it last winter. With also a fourth place for Lance Stroll, it was the best weekend of the year for the British racing stable in terms of points, yet Alonso had to beat a non-Red Bull driver this time for the first time. While the AMR23 in Alonso's hands was still quite a bit faster than Mercedes in the long runs in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, that was not the case at the Albert Park Circuit.

Mercedes - 8.5

For Mercedes, just the opposite was true. For the first time in 2023, they were at least as fast as Aston Martin on Sunday, even if it only yielded 18 World Championship points. George Russell dropping out with a blown engine caused a lot of points deductions, but Mercedes' 'call' to bring the 25-year-old Briton in early under the safety car was initially a good decision. Without DNF, Mercedes could very likely have booked a double podium, something that can be labelled the maximum in the context of the current power differentials.

Ferrari - 5.0

No points for Ferrari in Australia and usually that should result in a very poor score. Still, as a team, Ferrari can hardly be blamed for Charles Leclerc dropping out and Carlos Sainz receiving a five-second time penalty and therefore seeing a fourth-place fall away. The speed of the SF-23 was reasonably good as Sainz was able to keep up well with the Mercedes and Aston Martins, but yes: we cannot go higher than a 5.0 when two cars from such a top team are missing from the top-ten.

McLaren - 7.5

In Australia, we saw both McLarens actually run a full race for the first time. The Woking-based formation had no points yet, but picked up 12 in one swoop straight away. Of course, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were lucky that drivers like Russell, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly disappeared in front of them for various reasons, but with a P6 and a P8, team boss Andrea Stella will no doubt be very happy. The fact remains, however, that McLaren's gap to Alpine remains too large

Alpine - 5.0

Pierre Gasly's pace was impressive and there seemed to be more than 10 points to be scored by Alpine, but in the end, the French returned home pointless after the crash between Gasly and teammate Esteban Ocon. Alpine seems to be the only team where something like this can happen and it remains to be seen whether this incident will affect the relationship between the two drivers in the remaining 20 Grands Prix.

Haas - 8.5

Nico Hülkenberg very briefly looked set to finish fourth in Australia, but after race control undid the lap after the restart, he had to settle for seventh. Still a very nice result for Haas, who are usually strong in Melbourne. For the first time this year, the American racing team were not only fast in qualifying but also in the race. Kevin Magnussen, by the way, clearly did not have his day.

Alfa Romeo Racing - 6.0

It's been a bit of a colourless season for the Alfa Romeo men so far, and the Australian GP didn't really change that. Although Guanyu Zhou still took two points with some fortune, the car is not fast enough. However, the team cannot be satisfied with their own speed.

AlphaTauri - 5.0

The first point of the season earns AlphaTauri just short of a stuffy enough mark. The AT04 is a lot less competitive than you might expect from a team like AlphaTauri, although Yuki Tsunoda is maximising this season. Nyck de Vries struggled a lot more and did not come close to points.

Williams - 6.0

Williams' speed is perhaps a little higher than many fans expected. Alexander Albon reached Q3 and certainly had chances for points, before crashing due to presumably"a sudden spike in tyre temperature". As a result, Williams remains on one point in the constructors' championship and is last.