MELBOURNE, Australia -- After two races in back-to-back weekends to kick off the season, Formula One is Down Under for the third round of the championship.
While the series must contend with Max Verstappen obliterating the competition and winning for fun, and the cloud that continues to hang over F1 amid multiple issues that have highlighted a lack of transparency in the sport, this is not the place for those stories. This is our Paddock Diary, which looks to some of the lighter moments in the build-up to each F1 weekend, bringing you inside the paddock and telling the stories that might otherwise go under the radar in the sport's rapid news cycle.
Fernando the politician
With a Lewis Hamilton-shaped hole still to fill at Mercedes, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso has been carefully answering questions on his future since the start of the year. Add into the equation the considerable speculation over Verstappen's future at Red Bull and it has been an ongoing topic of discussion.
As he did at the launch of Aston's AMR24 in February, Alonso -- who hasn't even decided whether he wants to race beyond 2024 yet -- said first dibs on his services will go to Lawrence Stroll's team.
"When I make that decision, the first office that I go will be Aston Martin office," he said on Thursday. "That will be my priority.
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"My loyalty to them ... I'm thankful for the opportunity they gave me two years ago. And if we get to an agreement, that will be the decision, if I keep racing and we get to an agreement. If we do not get an agreement with Aston I will look elsewhere, but that will be second opportunity."
Alonso declined to comment directly on other questions about Mercedes or his future. He was then asked if he ever fancied racing in Aston Martin's upcoming World Endurance Championship entry, which led to an answer on the Valkyrie supercar the company built under a previous partnership with Red Bull.
"Yeah, not now. I love the Valkyrie," the two-time world champion said. "I receive mine in July. I'm waiting for so long, because it's one year to deliver! So why not? Maybe, if I drive that car at home and then drive it on a circuit, that will be beautiful."
With time for only one question left, one opportunistic journalist pointed out it would be the first time he could drive a car built by legendary Red Bull designer Adrian Newey. In response, Alonso laughed, stuck his thumb up in the air and said "Yeah," before standing up and walking away to end the session.
Alonso was not the only driver to be noncommittal over his future on Thursday. Drivers who are out of contract at the end of the season face questions about 2025 on an almost regular basis, given the packed nature of the modern F1 schedule. In Australia, at least, none in that conversation appeared willing to go out on a limb about their next move.
With seats seemingly available at teams at both ends of the grid, it continues to feel like everyone is waiting for the first domino to fall.
New year, new Yuki?
Yuki Tsunoda's profanity-filled radio outbursts at the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix drew headlines, as they have throughout his career. Ahead of the second race of the campaign, he vowed to stop pressing the button on his steering wheel -- which not only sends his message to the RB pit wall but, with what he felt has been increasing regularity, to F1's global audience.
Tsunoda had an immediate opportunity to test his newfound zen approach, spending much of the Jeddah race behind the much slower Haas of Kevin Magnussen. The Danish driver kept faster cars at bay in a smart piece of defensive driving that allowed teammate Nico Hülkenberg to claim the single point on offer for finishing 10th.
It made for a long and painful race for Tsunoda, but he was happy to have avoided creating a soundbite for the watching world.
"Definitely very pleased with how I handled the last race," Tsunoda said. "I would say if it was normal me, I would have pressed radio. But as I said in Saudi press conference, I want to change myself and I'm sure you'll see that from that race onwards. I'm pleased I was able to prove that a little bit."
He added: "But it wasn't easy, obviously. In the helmet I was chewing my tongue like hell!
"I didn't know that, actually, it takes a lot of energy -- more than usually the neck with the G-force -- to hold on to my stress. I'm sure it will take some time to get used to it."
The new Tsunoda might take some getting used to but, given that ESPN sources with knowledge of the situation repeatedly point to his fiery temperament as the main reason why Red Bull have never promoted Tsunoda to the senior team, there are obvious longer-term benefits to his new approach.
Lando's Chicken Shop Date
Good evidence of F1's recent global boom can be seen in the new media its drivers continue to appear in. Lando Norris is the latest to step into uncharted territory, as the latest guest on viral sensation Chicken Shop Date. The hugely popular interview show -- held in the style of a date between two people in a fast-food restaurant -- is famous for host Amelia Dimoldenberg's awkward and deadpan interview style.
"It was good fun," Norris said. "It was my first time meeting Amelia. As awkward as it is, it was enjoyable at the same time. She was lovely. They're all very lovely, everyone that was working there.
"There's moments you don't know what to say. I'm not always the best at making conversation, I'm a bit of an introvert. Not my forte!"
Although it's a show with huge popularity, Norris said his main reason for going on is that he's a fan of the format.
"You don't really think about it [from a PR perspective], honestly. It's a cool opportunity for them to interact with your fans from racing, and vice versa. It's more just the opportunity of doing it that's cool rather than who's going to be watching."
Norris also joked about avoiding a penalty for a jump-start at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which avoided further action because it did not trigger a sensor in the transponder alongside the start-finish straight.
"The worst thing is I said it on Sky Sports interview, the day before quali," Norris said. "They said, 'What are you going to do?' And I said, 'I'm going to jump the start.'
"People found it and said, 'Oh, he's manifested it.' That's the first evidence for me of manifesting it and it turning out. It didn't work. I'll try and manifest it in a different way this time."
It remains to be seen if at some point later this week Norris tells the media he will win Sunday's race.
Valtteri the Aussie
A promotional poster in downtown Melbourne has attracted a fair bit of attention in the lead up to this week's race. The image features F1's two Australians, Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri ... and Finland's Valtteri Bottas, who has taken on the mantle of honorary Australian in recent years.
"At first, when somebody sent me the photo, I thought it was a joke, but then when I arrived in Melbourne I saw this big billboard with Oscar, Daniel and me, so it's pretty cool," Bottas said on Thursday.
Bottas, whose girlfriend is Australian professional cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, currently looks more like someone you'd find on an Aussie rules pitch, sporting a dyed blonde mullet and a mustache. Ahead of this week's race, he also took part in an advert for Uber for the Australian market, which included him wearing overalls that looked like the lycra he wears when he joins Cromwell on two wheels.
"We actually did it pretty much when I got off the plane in Australia, so we got it done and it was so much fun." Bottas added that the costume, which he wore for six hours straight during filming, was "actually pretty comfortable."
Asked if he would have done such a shoot when driving within the more corporate Mercedes team, Bottas said: "Good question. Maybe I would have struggled with my confidence to do that, but now with more age, more experience, I've learned not to take myself too seriously."