A good introduction to the Miata in Australia

The top formula racing series was guests in Melbourne, Australia.

Both Formula 1 and Formula 2 were guests at Albert Park last weekend to host the Australian Grand Prix. It was a successful weekend for the two Japanese drivers.

F1: Verstappen makes a mistake

As usual in qualifying, Verstappen was 1st, followed by Sainz Jr, Norris and Leclerc's Ferrari and McLaren, but Verstappen retired with technical problems after a few laps at the start and the fight for victory continued.

However, Verstappen's victory was not assured at the start. He tried to create a gap to Carlos Sainz Jr. at the start, but Sainz Jr. maintained the pace very well and followed Verstappen by a relatively short distance.

In the second round 2 Carlos Sainz Jr. was able to attack and take the lead. Verstappen smoked on lap 4, then the right brake began to disintegrate and he was forced out of the race.

At the end of lap 4, Sainz Jr was leading Norris, Leclerc, Piastre, Russell and Perez, while Stroll was in P7 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda had already won an intra-squad battle against Ricciardo in qualifying to reach a strong eighth starting position. Tsunoda is currently dominating the team's domestic qualifiers with a 3-0 record.

F1: Double win in red

While Tsunoda cruised towards a good points result, Lewis Hamilton had to stop his Mercedes with technical problems and retired from the race. Halfway through the race, Alexander Alphonse had to defend the last points position against Nico Hulkenberg, but the Williams driver lost the fight until the end of the race.

Meanwhile, after a good bit of pit strategy, Ferrari cruised to a one-two victory, which they did not relinquish until the end of the race. On the final lap of the race, George Russell put his Mercedes into the barriers, leading the Mercedes to a double DNF.

Under VSC, Scuderia Ferrari won the race with a one-two victory ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastre. Sergio Perez took P5 ahead of Alonso, Stroll, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. Not only did Tsunoda celebrate its first points result in 2024, but Haas celebrated a points double with both vehicles.

Verstappen leads the championship with 51 points, Leclerc is 2nd with 47 points, Perez is 3rd with 46 points and Sainz Jr is 4th with 40 points. Tsunoda is eleventh in the championship after the race in Australia.

In the intra-team battle, Yuki now has a clear lead not only in qualifying but also in the race against his Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Q2: Points for the Miata

At the start of the sprint race, Bordoletto and Marti collided directly behind the pit exit. Hadjar was able to take an early lead in the race as Maloney left the track due to a driver error.

After an early safety car, only 16 laps remained. Jane Maloney again struggled to keep the car on track and fell behind teammate Ritomo Miyata on lap 10. The Miata was in 10th position.

But there was another crash in the front stages, with Aaron, Verture and Antonelli saying goodbye to the Australian gravel trap and washing Ritomo Miyata into 7th place. His team-mate and championship leader Jane Maloney tried to take advantage of the chaos to pass the Miata. Three wide at start/finish to pass.

Miyata caught up with his teammate and took seventh place in the Turn 3 straight. Another safety car in no time. Lap 15 and Miata was already in 6th, then Zach O'Sullivan could no longer keep up the pace and fell behind Miata and Martins.

At the end of the race, Dennis Hagar again put on a real show, first he finished third at the final point, and on the last lap he battled with Stanek for second place. In the end, Stanek won the race just ahead. Hagar, Maini, Kolabinto and Ritomo Miyata.

Isak Hadjar dominated the race but crashed at the start and received a 10 second penalty.

F2: Revenge for the previous day

Although he drove under the radar for most of the race, the main race was no less successful for the Miata. Already on lap 1, Stanek, the previous day's winner, spun, while in the first stages there was a fierce battle between Antonelli and Hagar.

Maini and Martins also did a lot of overtaking maneuvers in the first few laps and on lap 9 Maini overtook Dennis Hagar to take the race lead. Hagar crashed his Formula 2 car into a tire wall on lap one and was thrown out of the main race.

The crash created a strategic mess and gave some drivers unexpected winning opportunities.

Later in the race, Maloney and Miata found each other again, with Maloney successfully attacking Miata in Turn 1, but this time Miata was unable to counter. Maloney was in a league of his own at this point and overtook one after another.

However, it was Hajar who ensured victory in the main race. Aaron Maloney finished second ahead of Antonelli and Miata.

After the weekend in Australia, Jane Maloney continues to lead the championship with 62 points, Paul Aaron is second with 47 points and third is Dennis Hagar with 41 points.

Ritomo Miyata achieved his best Formula 2 result to date and managed to finish tenth in the championship.