Feature

F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2023 Australian GP

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Charles Leclerc (Lap 1, Collision): 6/10
Charles Leclerc said this was the worst start he's ever had to a season - and all we can say is, that's actually the rose-tinted view of the current situation! It's really going horribly so far for the Ferrari driver. He might have been second in FP2 but that was in unpredictable wet conditions, and you have to look to his qualifying performance to see the real level of performance of the SF-23 at the moment - an altogether underwhelming seventh place, two places behind his team mate Carlos Sainz who is definitely having a (slightly) better time of things so far in 2023. It's hard to imagine that he would have been able to do much in the race, although the number of incidents, red flags and restarts could have given him a chance to scoop a surprise success; but being spun out on the first lap by contact with an Aston Martin means we'll never know one way or another.

Alexander Albon (Lap 7, Spin): 8/10
Alex Albon put in a brilliant performance in qualifying on Saturday, and the Williams absolutely deserved its top ten grid spot for Sunday's race just behind Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. With Leclerc spinning out and Albon getting the better of Stroll, Albon leapt up to sixth place on the first lap. It was all looking very promising for him, and then suddenly his race was over prematurely when he lost the rear end and slammed into the barrier to trigger the first of three red flags. "I went wide on the corner before and spiked the tyre temperatures, losing grip and going into the next corner a bit hot, so I think that's what happened," he said afterwards, kicking himself for missing out on a golden opportunity for big points this week.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.