Martin Brundle reviews the 2013 curtain-raiser in Melbourne, ponders Saturday's qualifying frustration, and shares McLaren's confusion...
Monday 18 March 2013 16:02, UK
What an action-packed day of Formula 1 the Australian GP turned out to be. The second and third parts of qualifying on Sunday morning and a 58-lap ninety-minute thriller in the afternoon.
The McLaren performance confuses me, and it seems I'm not alone on that one. They looked so good at the first winter test but it transpires that this was a lower fuel confidence-boosting run. With key personnel and sponsors departing it's difficult times at the mighty team, but history tells us that they have the resource to sort it out. The question is, how quickly? I've never seen JB so despondent on the grid. Many ask me if I'm nervous doing the podium interviews in front of hundreds of millions of people. I hadn't really thought about it, so I probably will be now! It's an absolute pleasure and privilege to be up there with three great champions who are all happy and mostly chatty after a good day at the office. Sweaty Malaysia, we're inbound. MB
