Max Verstappen took a dramatic victory at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in an action-packed race that saw multiple red flags throughout.
The Dutchman took pole position on Saturday ahead of George Russell and Hamilton, but he had to have his work cut out with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team pair getting ahead of him at the start of the race. The two-time World Champion had to work his way back to the front from third with a number of safety cars and red flags along the way.
Hamilton finished second and drove an impressive race after starting third, albeit he was helped by a cruel end to the grand prix for his team-mate, Russell, who got caught out by the first red flag after pitting early and then had a mechanical issue that saw his car set on fire.
Fernando Alonso rounded off the podium, despite losing a lot of positions after the final red flag restart. The FIA ruled that the race order would return to the one that restarted the race on lap fifty-six, meaning the Spaniard climbed back onto the podium from eleventh place after he was spun around on the restart.
Pointless Ferrari Left Stunned
The biggest loser of the weekend was the Scuderia Ferrari team, who came away from the Albert Park circuit pointless, a track that Charles Leclerc won at just last season. Leclerc, who started seventh after an out-of-character qualifying, was tagged by Lance Stroll on the opening lap sending the Ferrari driver into the gravel, meaning his race was over.
The stewards declared it was just a “racing incident” meaning Stroll got away without a penalty after leaving Leclerc’s race in pieces before even completing a lap. The incident continues Ferrari’s miserable start to the 2023 season and Leclerc in particular who has just six points to his name after three races, to put that in perspective the Monaquise driver had seventy-one at this point in 2022.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was set for a podium finish some thought after he moved up to third after the restart on lap fifty-six. However, once the order was returned the Spaniard dropped to fourth and to make matters worse, he was handed a five-second penalty. There was nothing Sainz could do, with the race being finished behind the safety car meaning he eventually dropped to twelfth and last of the cars that finished.
Red Flag Drama Costs Alpine but Helps McLaren
BWT Alpine F1 Team were running an impressive race with Pierre Gasly in fifth and was looking set for his highest finish of the season so far and Esteban Ocon looking set for points too. However, the third standing start of the race saw Alpine throw it all away.
Gasly returned to the track after an off on the first corner, causing the two Alpines to come together, wiping them both out of the race and losing out on a potential big points haul for the French outfit.
McLaren F1 Team were the opposite of Alpine and may have been the biggest beneficiaries of the red flag drama with both cars scoring points for the first time this season. Despite moving up positions due to the red flag drama, Lando Norris did deserve a points finish and drove a brilliant race that saw him battle in the midfield with Nico Hülkenberg, the British driver moved up to sixth in the final classification to score his first points of the season.
Oscar Piastri will be one of the happiest drivers on the grid though, with the Australian finishing in the points for the first time in Formula 1 and what a way to do it at his home grand prix. The rookie looked set to go yet another race without points but while he benefited from the final red flag, he drove an impressive race to keep out of trouble.
What Happened Elsewhere?
Stroll went under the radar throughout the race and the Canadian driver managed to finish in his best position of the season, fourth, having gained a place due to Sainz’s penalty. The big points haul for Stroll means that he has now overtaken his tally of points from last season, just three races in, showing the improvement from both himself and the team.
Sergio Pérez finished in fifth and minimized the damage to his world championship fight after starting at the back of the grid due to an issue in qualifying on Saturday. The Mexican made a number of overtaking moves and earned himself the Formula 1 ‘Driver of the Day’ award for his efforts. The fifth place means he made up a remarkable fifteen places throughout the race.
Hülkenberg would have been a contender for the driver of the day award as well with the German driver scoring his first points with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team after his three-year break from Formula 1. However, despite a point-scoring race, he may feel aggrieved after the race order was returned to the original one before the red flag restart on lap fifty-six. The alternative order that Haas are protesting that should have been used, would have seen the German driver on the podium due to Sainz’s penalty.
There were the first points of the season for Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake‘s Guanyu Zhou, who were big beneficiaries of the final red flag after looking down and out in Melbourne with just a few laps to go before Kevin Magnussen hit the wall and brought out that subsequent red flag. Yuki Tsunoda also scored his first points of the season, which will please the Japanese driver after just missing out on points finishing eleventh in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Williams Racing will be feeling like they have missed an opportunity after Alexander Albon was running sixth before his spin that brought out the first safety car, which later led to a red flag with gravel strewn across the track. Logan Sargeant also didn’t finish the race but was one of many victims of the chaos on the final standing start of the race as he collided with AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries.
Formula 1 now heads into nearly a month’s break before returning to the Baku City Circuit for the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix from April 28th-30th.
