It didn’t take long for McLaren to find a ready and willing substitute for Fernando Alonso, after revealing this week that the Spaniard would be missing the Monaco Grand Prix in favour of racing a McLaren car in the Indy 500. The team are bringing back Jenson Button, who retired at the end of the 2016 season as a full time F1 racer, to become the reserve driver this year and focus on other interests.

First practice at the Sakhir circuit was completed in super hot conditions, so teams weren’t gathering particularly relevant data for the rest of the weekend. Mercedes were running longer and heavier, so finished middle of the timesheets, whilst it was Ferrari on top. Sebastian Vettel went fastest, but Kimi Räikkönen broke down due to mechanical troubles. Stoffel Vandoorne also stopped out on track in his McLaren, whilst Felipe Massa had something of a spin but finished in the top five anyway.

McLaren announced today that they would be racing a car, powered by Honda, in the Indy 500 event set to take place in May. The team’s car will be run by Andretti Autosport, and will be driven by the one and only Fernando Alonso. The timing of the Indy 500 means Alonso will miss out on the Monaco Grand Prix which takes place on the same weekend, May 28th.

It was a wet start to the race, with almost all the drivers opting for intermediate tyres. Lance Stroll went off into the gravel immediately, causing a virtual safety car, meaning many quickly took the option to change to slicks. Antonio Giovinazzi followed up with a huge crash into the main straight pit wall. He was fine but the real safety car was called.

As is often the way with qualifying, all the action seemed to happen in the first and last sessions. Max Verstappen suffered a power unit problem on his Red Bull that meant his fastest lap was only good enough for 19th on the grid. Meanwhile, Antonio Giovinazzi, perhaps suffering from the lack of preparation time, spun on his final flying lap and crashed into the barriers.

The future of the Malaysian Grand Prix has been in doubt following action taken by the local government to cut costs. It was anticipated the contract would end after the 2018 event but that has been brought forward so that this year’s running will be the last. At the time, Malaysia’s tourism minister said: “From the longer term perspective, it’s probably the correct decision because it’s more expensive and no longer that attractive.”

There was exceptionally limited running during Free Practice Friday in Shanghai, with drivers being unable to prepare properly for the rest of the Chinese Grand Prix Weekend. FP1 endured a 40 minute red flag period due to misty conditions that grounded the medical helicopter, and the session was brought to a premature end after Nico Hülkenberg beached his Renault in the gravel.

Wehrlein is still getting back up to speed after his Race of Champions accident in December last year, and is set to sit out the second round of the 2017 season, after missing out in Australia a fortnight ago. The German driver said: “For me, the most important thing is that I can train intensively to ensure a 100% performance from my side as soon as possible. Hopefully this can be in Bahrain but if not, then we will take the time it needs until Russia to make sure I am completely ready.”

The race in Albert Park was perhaps not as chaotic as we might have imagined, but it delivered a fascinating start to the season with Sebastian Vettel returning to the top step of the podium for the first time in over a year. Ferrari navigated their one-stop strategy well, timing it right to jump Lewis Hamilton for the lead midway through the race. Lewis came in for some late pressure from his teammate Valtteri Bottas, but held him off for a double Mercedes podium.

The Sauber team were forced to make a late replacement for the still-recuperating Pascal Wehrlein after the German driver confirmed he was withdrawing from the first race of the year after two practice sessions. Wehrlein suffered a back injury in a Race of Champions crash in December, and now says: “My fitness level is not as it should be for a full race distance because of my training deficit."