This past Sunday was the much-anticipated opening race of the 2023 Formula 1 season. The race took place in Gulf Air Bahrain, and it was nothing short of breath-taking. Red bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez drove phenomenally, taking first and second place.

Fernando Alonso performed well the entire weekend, setting the fastest lap in practice one and placing in the top three in practice two and three. Alonso started P5 on the grid but had a terrible start to the race, where he immediately lost the position after making contact with teammate Lance Stoll. The two-time world champion was able to regain the position by overtaking both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz pushing him up into third place, putting him back on the podium.

Max Verstappen started his season the way he ended the last, winning his 36^th race of his career. The two-time world champion dominated the race, ending with an 11.987 second gap from his teammate in second place Sergio Perez.

Charles Leclerc started in P3 but managed to overtake Checo into turn 1. Leclerc had an incredible first stint and looked certain that he would be getting a podium at the end of the race. However, everything changed on lap 41 when his engine cut, and he could not complete the race.

Ferrari weren’t the only team suffering from continuous woes. McLaren’s Lando Norris had several issues but managed to complete the race coming in P17 after three other cars retried. Alpines Esteban Ocon would not want to remember this race. Ocon faced three penalties- the first was when he overshot his starting position and received a ten second penalty. After pitting, he was told that he did not serve his penalty correctly and was given another 5 seconds. After his second pit and completing his penalty, he was given another five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. By the end of lap 43, Alpine decided to retire the car. His teammate Pierre Gasly seemed to have better luck on his debut for the team, starting at the back of the grid and making it up all the way to the points in P9.

 There have many changes to this season’s grid, with three new rookies- Nyck de Vries driving for AlphaTauri, Oscar Piastri driving for McLaren and Logan Sargeant driving for Williams. De Vries made an appearance last season and managed to score on his debut race for Williams, this weekend he started in P19 and ended in P14. Oscar Piastri was the second and most anticipated debut driver this weekend having his first race in an F1 car after being promoted from F2, however things looked bleak since he started in P18 and was forced to retire his car after his engine cut off. The third rookie on the grid, Logan Sargeant who started the race in P16 and ended in P12 giving hope to Williams to finish in a better spot in the constructors in comparison to last season.

Could the first race have set the tone for the rest of the season? Or will there be a massive turn of events within the next few races.

The next race takes on the 19^th of March in STC Saudi Arabia at 19:00 local time.

Pre-practice

F1 is back with a new season, twenty-three races in five different continents. This year the grid is filled with three new rookies- Oscar Piastri replacing Daniel Riccardo for McLaren, Logan Sergeant replacing Nicolas Latifi for Williams and Nyck de Vries replacing Pierre Gasley for Alpha Tauri. This season Haas also welcomes back Nico Hulkenberg. The first race is set to take place this Sunday March 5^th at 17:00 in Bahrain.

Practice 1

As the session begins, the Red bull’s look as though they have come back with a dominant car, for the second year in a row. The Aston Martin and two time world champion Fernando Alonso could be competing for second best, as the car looks “easy” to drive. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Mercedes are looking better this year, rather than last year this time. Lance Stroll is set to race, even though he missed last weeks testing due a wrist injury. McLaren don’t look too good, both cars are sitting in the middle and bottom of grid with come of the slowest times- Lando Norris- 9th with a time of 1:31.570 and Oscar Piastri 15th with a time 1:32.024. Charles Leclerc rear wing looked extremely loose, as Ferrari test to which wing is the better fit for the track. As the session comes to as end, Perez set the fastest lap with a time of 1:32.758, Fernando Alonso 2nd and Max Verstappen 3rd with a time of 1:33.375.

Practice 2

As the session went on, several drivers seemed to have issues with their cars. Charles Leclerc complained that there was something with his clutch, Verstappen mentioned the car was “jumpier” than last weeks testing and Perez said that the settings of his car was not right. However, Red bull seemed to have sorted out there issues shortly after the drivers complained. This gave them an opportunity to get better lap times, leaving them with second and third the best times for the session. Both Williams drivers, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant were part of the slowest drivers on track; whereas Haas Nico Hulkenburg set the fifth best of the session. Fernando Alonso set the best lap, finishing the session with a time of 1:30.907. The second practice session seems to have run smoothly for all drivers, it gave teams good information for tomorrows qualifying. Max said “There’s still a bit more work to do, we know we have a competitive car, it’s just about putting it all the pieces together.”

Tomorrow practice session three starts 13:30 and qualifying starts at 17:00, stay tuned for all the update

Improved transport system, but will security be maintained?

Over the past several years, there has many been numerous fatalities on South Africa’s roads. Government has spent billions of Rand’s on maintaining and fixing road infrastructure. Their key objective is to improve and maintain an efficient transport system.

The number of fatalities on the roads increases every year. A large number of people die due to poor infrastructure or because of recklessness. Improving the rail infrastructure is important, as more people will begin to use public transport instead of private transport. Furthermore, with a low rate in ticket prices people would save a lot of money on the increasing price of petrol. Transport is essential for people to get where they need to be, therefore, it is important to have a reliable and dependable transport system.

The transport system in South Africa can be upgraded. Although, the country has a high crime rate and security is not maintained, public transport will not be effective.

I mean if you look at the infrastructure on transport systems in the country you will clearly see that there is not much security especially if many tourists do not use it. Therefore, improving infrastructure will be better for middle- and lower-class people but also making sure that they are completely safe is also important.

https://youtu.be/VPGB7CTP-jE

Interview by Naziya Davids 

Interview by Naziya Davids 

The future of journalism is changing, where to next? 

The future of journalism is changing drastically. These days, anyone that has access to the internet can write news. It is important to have the proper training when reporting a story. There are many legal aspects that need to be followed before publishing a news story.

Technology is becoming an essential tool in journalism. As many people have access to the internet and it is easy for them to take a video and post it online. Although, it is important for them not report fake news. Journalist need the formal training, in terms of editing a video or audio. They need to be taught the correct way of doing an interview and the legal aspects behind reporting a story.  Legal restrictions are always ignored and therefore it is important for future journalist to have the proper training at a tertiary institution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfKo4hU9lOY

Monash South Africa is filled with a diverse cultural community with students, staff and visitors who have varies religions, cultural beliefs, and ethics. The Students with specific dietary requirements are unaware that the canteens on the campus do provide halaal food on the menu. Many students with dietary requirements often leave campus to buy food from places which are more expensive than the food on campus. Additionally, they would rather bring their own lunch than support the canteens on campus.  Hotspot’s manger, Grant Marshall says that they do cater Halaal food, although they are not certified, as they do sell bacon.

Students eating at Chill Out, one of Monash South Africa’s canteens.

First year student, Sheherazade Farred explains why she does not support the canteens on campus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZH-NGClZr0

Lerushka Naidoo, also explains why she is also does not eat food on campus

https://youtu.be/yfF5foeds0Y