Zak Brown believes Liam Lawson does not deserve his Red Bull seat (Image: Getty)
Your F1 news headlines on Tuesday, March 17.
Kimi Antonelli penalty reversed by FIA after the Australian Grand Prix
The FIA for an unsafe release following an appeal from the team.
Antonelli finished fourth on the road at the Albert Park Circuit following a gutsy move on Williams driver , but the Italian teenager was demoted to fifth in the provisional results after the stewards judged his final pit stop to have included an unsafe release.
The 18-year-old was subsequently hit with a five-second time penalty for impeding , who finished seventh for Sauber. appealed the decision, and hours after the chequered flag drop, Antonelli’s fourth-place finish was reinstated. The result capped a historic debut for the Italian, who impressed the paddock on his first-ever start.
“I learnt so many things,” Antonelli said. “Yesterday was disappointing, it could have been a different result. We don’t want to start that far behind anymore. It was also a good experience learning the intermediate and how it works.
“It was good. A very interesting race. The team did a great job. After my mistake, they did well to keep me calm, and they made all the right decisions.”
: Tsunoda deserved seat over Lawson
believes that deserved to be driving for in 2025, rather than Liam Lawson.
The two academy graduates were assessed as possible replacements for the struggling last term, and, despite Tsunoda outqualifying his team-mate six times in a row at the end of the 2024 campaign, Lawson was the driver promoted.
On his debut in Australia, the New Zealander endured a miserable weekend. After missing FP1 due to a power unit issue, Lawson was eliminated in Q1 after two costly errors and struggled to make headway in the Grand Prix before crashing out while navigating rain-soaked tarmac on slick tyres.
Kimi Antonelli’s penalty was overturned (Image: Getty)
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Tsunoda, meanwhile, turned in a complete display. He qualified fifth in one of Saturday’s big shocks and spent the majority of the Grand Prix running in P6 before an ill-fated strategy decision from Racing Bulls cost him a shot at points.
“I think it’s going to be a very exciting year,” Racing CEO Brown told Sky Sports F1. “Yuki did a great job, [he’s] probably the guy that should be in the if you look at how he’s performed. But they seem to make some strange driver choices.”
boss admits error that left frustrated
team principal Fred Vasseur has admitted that his team should have given better radio communications during the Australian GP.
The seven-time world champion linked up with new race engineer Riccardo Adami for the first time but was frustrated by the steady flow of communications during the Grand Prix. Hamilton’s tone became more and more frustrated as he brushed off attempts to coach from the garage.
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“It was the first race, the first time that we have to communicate between the pit wall and the car, and we can do a better job and know each other more,” Vasseur explained.
“For sure, it was not a clean one at all, the strategy was difficult, and we need to find a better way to communicate between the car and the pit wall, but we will learn from race one, and it is not an issue.”
The team principal added: “We need to improve the communication, understand what Lewis needs from the communication, and it is only in this situation that we can be in the situation. We will be much better next week.”