The third round of the 2022 Formula One Championship has concluded as F1's return to Albert Park did not disappoint, producing another exciting race of the new era.
The new track layout certainly did not disappoint, providing fast and ferocious racing. We look at which drivers impressed and which disappointed.
1 Charles Leclerc FERRARI
It was a familiar face at the top of the podium on Sunday, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc capping off a dominant weekend.
He joined a prestigious list of drivers who have managed to achieve a grand slam over the course of a weekend, picking up the win from pole position, leading every single lap and managing to grab the fastest lap to round off a stellar display.
The Monegasque driver was simply unrivalled and unmatched throughout the weekend, and strengthened his position at the top of the drivers standings, as well as Ferrari's position at the top of the constructors, despite Carlos Sainz's struggles.
It seems as though Leclerc is finally living up to his potential, having been given the car to compete for the title, it could prove to be the year for the Ferrari man to get his hands on the drivers championship.
2 Max Verstappen RED BULL
Despite the Dutchman once again being forced to retire due to mechanical problems with his Red Bull, I found it difficult to put him any lower than second on this list due to the pure pace he has been managed to show alongside Leclerc.
Max Verstappen we could say has had an inconsistent start to the new era in Formula One, retiring in two out of the three races so far, however picking up the win in Saudi Arabia.
The car and Verstappen have managed to display some rapid pace in all three weekends, providing some brilliant wheel to wheel racing with Leclerc in Bahrain and in Jeddah, and locking up at the penultimate corner in Melbourne in his final qualifying lap in which would of otherwise been a lap to contend with Leclerc's pole lap.
By no means has it been the perfect start for Verstappen, or I'm sure in his mind even a good one but there is potential in the Red Bull, and if they can fix the reliability problems of their Honda engine, he can go on to contend for race wins right until the checkered flag.
3 Carlos Sainz FERRARI
The second Ferrari man in the top three of these rankings shows how dominant Ferrari have been in the opening rounds of the season. And whilst Carlos Sainz has not managed to extract the pace out of the car that his teammate has, he has still managed to pick up a bunch of points for the team.
Sainz has endured a tricky start to the Championship, and despite this he has still been able to achieve a 1-2 finish for Ferrari in Bahrain, which was their first 1-2 in the season opener since the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was also able to finish in 3rd in Jeddah, picking up another podium place. But he has not hidden his frustrations, especially after what he had described as a 'disaster' at the Australian Grand Prix, where he not only didn't conjure up a competitive lap in qualifying but retired in the race, spinning off into the gravel.
"I will be angry until I go to sleep"
However, Sainz now has the car to contend for race wins and potentially the Championship, and he will be looking for his first race win of his career this season, where he will look to do so when we return to Formula One in Imola.
4 George Russell MERCEDES
Now this may come as a surprise to many, due to Mercedes' lack of race winning pace so far this season, but for me, George Russell has made an impressive start to life for the Silver Arrows, which merits him being in the top five.
In terms of performance, Russell hasn't really put a foot wrong, finishing fourth and fifth in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively, whilst picking up his maiden podium finish in Australia, showing off the decent race pace the Mercedes has, if not over one lap.
The Brit hasn't been involved in much drama in the opening weekends as he along with his teammate Lewis Hamilton have been focused on ways to extract more pace out of the W13. You could say Russell has been Mr Consistent and has began the season in impressive fashion for Mercedes despite their struggles for pace to match Ferrari and Red Bull.
There is no doubt that he and the team will want to be competing for pole positions and race wins in weeks to come, there is surely more to give, and with upgrades rumoured to be arriving at Imola, George will be hoping that his first race win comes sooner rather than later.
5 Sergio Perez RED BULL
To round off the list, I have Sergio Perez, who like Verstappen has suffered from reliability issues with the Red Bull. Also retiring in Bahrain alongside his teammate due to similar power unit problems.
However, Perez bounced back in impressive style in Saudi Arabia picking up his first ever pole position and with that being the first Mexican to ever do it in Formula One. He rather unfortunately came fourth in the end due to pitting at the worst time possible which took the race win away from him.
Unlike his teammate however, he managed to finish in Melbourne, finishing in second place, albeit a mighty 20 seconds adrift of Leclerc. Seen as damage limitation, even this early in the season, but it was certainly a decent result for the Mexican and one he will look to build on in Imola, where he and Red Bull will look to put their power issues behind them in order to make up for lost ground in both Championship standings.
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