Melbourne is one of those tracks where setup matters more than raw downforce, and Red Bull nailed the balance this weekend. Max won pole, won the race, and set the fastest lap. Twenty-six points and a championship lead heading to Suzuka.

The qualifying lap

Watching Max’s pole lap on the team radio replay was a thing of beauty. He kept saying “no grip” through Q2, then dialled up the front wing one click and went 0.4s faster on his first Q3 run. That’s the difference between a driver who can adapt and one who sets up the car for one specific scenario.