How the Australian GP gave F1 a much needed tonic

OPINION: Formula 1 had been shrouded in various forms of controversy for almost six months when it arrived in Melbourne, but the party atmosphere and engaging yet inoffensive events at the Australian Grand Prix provided the series with middle of the road normality that had been missing for too long

Matt Kew Apr 13, 2022, 9:42 AM

Upd: Apr 13, 2022, 9:51 AM

The 2022 Australian Grand Prix is unlikely to be added to the Formula 1 pantheon of all-time great races. It wasn’t a thriller by any stretch, let alone arriving hot on the heels of the Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen DRS battles that played out in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. But the 58 laps at Albert Park remained on the right side of being a humdrum snooze fest.

Leclerc’s victory was a little conventional in so far as the fastest car and driver prevailed. The win was not decided by strategy hijinks, an ill-timed shunt nor relied heavily on an artificial overtaking aid. The contest was run of the mill. Anything better than what transpired last weekend can be classified as a good race. Anything considerably worse, a bad race. By occupying the middle ground, the three-day event at Albert Park was a palette cleanser.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.