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The 2024 F1 Australian GP will be the third race of the season as the calendar continues to pick up speed. The first two races have not been the best in terms of anticipation, as Max Verstappen won the race without much of a challenge.
It does appear once again that Red Bull has a hefty margin over everyone else in the field, and we could see a repeat of the 2023 F1 season. Having said that, we've only seen two races this season, and there's still a lot to play for. Some teams would start bringing upgrades to the cars to help them secure a better result and close the gap to Red Bull.
Could we see any team challenge Max Verstappen? Could we see one of the teams from the chasing pack close the gap at the front? What about the backmarkers? Let's find out as we take a look at the predictions for the 2024 F1 Australian GP.
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#5 The racing could be interesting with the added DRS zone
The first thing that we need to keep in mind is that the DRS zone that was added last season proved to be a game-changer. After a dreadful 2022 F1 Australian GP where overtakes were scarce and non-existent, the 2023 edition was brilliant on that front, even though it was aided by the fact a few cars were out of position and ill-timed safety cars and red flags had jumbled things up.
The 2024 edition should get a boost with the added DRS. Will the race be as crazy and eventful as it was last year? We'll have to wait and see.
#4 Mercedes struggles again
The long speed sections are going to be a Mercedes weakness by the looks of it but the Albert Park layout is not as extreme as the track in Jeddah. There are fast-speed sections, but there are slow-speed sections as well, and that's where the car could shine once again.
The overall assessment does appear to be that Mercedes might struggle again in Australia, but the extent of the struggles might not be as extreme.
#3 Haas scores points
Haas is one car that has surprised everyone in the first two races. Not only does it have a good qualifying pace, it has a decent race pace as well. This was evident in both races, and even though Nico Hulkenberg messed up his start in Bahrain and lost an opportunity to score points, he made up for it in Jeddah.
The German tends to do well in the F1 Australian GP and fans expect a strong run of form from him this weekend as well.
#2 McLaren will be closer to Ferrari
McLaren's strengths are the fast-speed sections, while their weakness continues to be the slow-speed sections. Albert Park has a decent mixture of both, but this was a track where McLaren did score its first points last season, even though the car was completely undercooked at the time.
Since the new car still carries a lot of those traits and has gotten much better overall, expect McLaren to be closer to Ferrari at the F1 Australian GP and be a possible podium contender as well.
#1 Max Verstappen wins the 2024 F1 Australian GP
In all of this, unfortunately, one thing remains constant, and that is Red Bull's dominance. Expect Max Verstappen to once again be dominant here. The car is just too good, and the driver apparently does not know how to make a mistake.
On a 9-race win streak already, expect Max to go one step better and match his record winning streak of 10 races at the 2024 F1 Australian GP.
