F1 Australia

Max Verstappen won a chaotic Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, in a race that was red-flagged three times.

That elevated Alonso back to third, ahead of Sainz – who was given a 5s penalty that dropped him from fourth to 12th. A spirited battle between Lando Norris (McLaren) and Hulkenberg looked sealed with six laps to go when Norris dived past, but the second red flag meant they lined up again for a two-lap sprint. Verstappen cruised past Hamilton with DRS on the ultra-fast run to Turn 9 and was already 2s clear when they next crossed the finish line. That meant a second standing start, with Hamilton starting on pole this time, ahead of Verstappen and the Astons. But the FIA chose to red flag the race to clean gravel and debris from the track surface, handing those who hadn’t pitted a free tyre change in the pits – ruining the strategies of Russell and Sainz. Despite a brief off, Verstappen looked to be cruising to victory when the race was red-flagged again as Kevin Magnussen crashed his Haas.

With a third red flag being brought out, the FIA elected to go for another restart – although this time it was behind a safety car and the cars only went around ...

[PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/why-drivers-are-the-least-of-ferraris-f1-worries/10448581/) [PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/ranking-the-top-10-pre-war-grand-prix-drivers/10447980/) [PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-state-of-play-in-f1s-technical-silly-season/10449298/) [PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-cycle-of-f1-upheaval-williams-must-end-to-rediscover-past-glories/10449257/) [PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/how-f1s-new-era-has-exposed-the-downside-of-its-most-important-rule/10449931/) All such cars will then be permitted to resume the sprint session or the race.”

Max Verstappen's victory in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix was far from straightforward... Watch the highlights here.

[Russell's race soon ended with his engine in flames](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.its-just-such-a-shame-says-mercedes-russell-after-retiring-with-power-unit.1BhfnePPs7NbkXPJg5yOc1.html), with team mate Lewis Hamilton seemingly set for second place and Aston Martin's Alonso close by in P3. [Williams' Alex Albon crashed out at high speed](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.must-see-williams-alex-albon-crashes-out-of-promising-sixth-place-in-the.5pU9MTNZpMNFyvIm9m35Z1.html), bringing out a Safety Car – during which leader Russell pitted – and then a red flag, allowing Mercedes' rivals to take a free stop for tyres. [Charles Leclerc made contact with Lance Stroll](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.its-the-worst-start-to-the-season-ever-says-ferraris-leclerc-as-he-laments.6l47BVt3xKLFvYliofwJYU.html) and spun out of the race, bringing out a Safety Car.

After a hugely dramatic Australian Grand Prix that featured three red flags, Formula 1's officiators are once more coming under scrutiny for their ...

"How the hell you can put a red flag before?" "(In) the second half, and especially with four laps to go, I feel like you ruin a lot of things. And, because they try and put on a show, you just get unlucky, and everything can get taken away from you all of a sudden. I guess, maybe in the first quarter of the race, I understand it. "I'm not going to disagree with this red flag," Sky Sports F1's David Croft said. "We come all the way to Australia, but it's so much hard work to drive 56, 55 laps perfectly. [Stream the biggest moments on NOW](https://www.nowtv.com/promo/sky-sports?dcmp=articlelink) There was little dispute over the final red flag, with the heavy impact the Alpines experienced and the need to check on their safety - along with all the resulting debris and chaos - a valid reason for the stoppage. It's just strange, but I do understand safety-wise as well." The McLaren driver said: "I kind of hate it. With both the debris and the possibility of the race finishing behind the Safety Car in mind, another red flag was thrown, setting up a theoretical two-lap sprint to the end from a standing start. The clean-up operation began with a recovery vehicle coming on track and lifting the Williams off the ground, but as that was going on, a red flag was thrown with the presence of debris and gravel on track the reason for the decision.

That led to a standing restart in which Carlos Sainz tapped Fernando Alonso into a spin, both Alpines crashed out, and Williams' Logan Sargeant also collected ...

Race Control determined that the last point at which it was possible to the determine the position of all cars was when the last grid was formed. “Very shortly thereafter, there was a further Red Flag incident within the first two corners of the resumed race and Race Control had to determine what the order of the grid ought to be for the next restart based on Art 57.3. They suggested that if that line was used then the starting grid position of their car would have been different. “Having considered all the arguments made, we made the following determination… That led to a standing restart in which Carlos Sainz tapped Fernando Alonso into a spin, both Alpines crashed out, and Williams' Logan Sargeant also collected AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries. “In this instance, the race was resumed after another Red Flag incident,” they wrote.

DRIVERS 1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing) 2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)3 – Fernando ALONSO (Aston Martin) TRACK INTERVIEWS(Conducted by David Coulthard) ...

I know there was a piece of tyre debris in the first straight but the car itself was on the inside of Turn 4 so it felt quite safe there. I think if you would have had a Safety Car and then just had a normal rolling start we wouldn't have had all these shunts and then you have a normal finish. I was surprised with all the red flags, to be honest, because the first one, I think, was [because of] a Williams in Turn 6, but we went through there one lap, I think, behind the Safety Car and there was a little bit of gravel, but nothing really too bad on track. MV: To be honest with you I think I braked a bit late and then I lost my reference a bit but then I looked and I was like I still have a little bit more space. For us, it's just an opportunity, so yeah, I was pretty sure that I could be second, to be honest, in the last start, because we've been very good, very strong on the starts and it was good again, I was side-by-side into Turn 1. But then he had a moment where he backed off and I was able to save a bit and then got into a good rhythm and I was able to just keep that gap exactly the same for those last 10 laps or whatever. He had two or three charges which I had to then really up the ante and try to match him, which was which was tough. But I think the race itself towards the end was a bit of a mess with all the calls. We had a very poor start and then lap one, I was careful, because I had a lot to lose and they had a lot to win, you know. MV: Yeah, just a tiny lock-up and they want to flat spot the tyres, so I ran a bit wide, cut the grass a bit, saved Melbourne a bit of money to cut the grass there. And it's just part of racing, but I didn't see the replay properly, but for me, it feels to hard. So, yeah, after that I mean I think the pace of the car was quick, you could see that straightaway.

Max Verstappen criticised F1 governing body, the FIA, after he won a chaotic Australian Grand Prix.

“I thought the red flag was totally unnecessary,” he said. “I just didn’t understand why we needed a red flag. The world champion dismissed it as a mess and accused the FIA, the governing body, of being responsible.

Here's our writers' final verdict on the biggest winners and losers from the race. Winners. Max Verstappen. Motor Racing Formula One World Championship ...

Bottas and Alfa took a big risk by pitting for the hard tyre on lap one, opting to essentially do a reverse of Albon’s point-capturing 2022 strategy by running to the end on those tyres. The fact Pierre Gasly looked by far the most comfortable he has at Alpine so far up to that point and was keeping pace with the podium battle could be a reason to take consolation from this painful day. But the battle it’s in is too close and its competitive position too precarious for Williams to be able to afford to let any opportunities slip. But a point at the very least felt like just deserts for a driver who’s not been without his sceptics during his time in F1 but set a new personal benchmark at the start of 2023. Even when you factor in that penalty, it was only that allowing Tsunoda and AlphaTauri to get off the mark for 2023. – JS

Race stewards have referred Australian Grand Prix organisers to the World Motor Sport Council after fans allegedly made their way close to the track during ...

The Australian Grand Prix was also the scene of a track invasion towards the end of the 2017 event. I hope this is a message to everyone to dig deep and keep pushing, it is not that far away and it is relatively close to your reach. It occurred on the final lap with the race under the provision of a safety car. The Australian Grand Prix Corporation was summoned to a meeting with race officials and apparently accepted there were ‘serious’ safety and security breaches. The AGPC admitted it was an "unacceptable situation that could have had disastrous consequences". However, videos later emerged on social media of fans climbing the track-side barriers.

Max Verstappen's early dominance continued in Melbourne as he won a hugely eventful Australian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

We have definitely got the car in a better window and it is promising. If not, it will be the grid prior to the restart. "Race resumption behind safety car in the order of the previous start minus cars out. However, a number of crashes that resulted in four late retirements brought out the red flags for a third time, with the drivers eventually being reinstated to the positions they were in prior to the stoppage before embarking on a processional final lap behind the safety car. "My eyes are forward, my eyes are on Max. Clearly the penalty is too severe." [Charles Leclerc](/latest/charles-leclerc) spinning out on the very first lap to bring out the safety car before Alex Albon's high-speed crash into the barriers sparked a brief red-flag period. [George Russell](/latest/george-russell) went on to become the next casualty of the race due to a power unit failure that saw his Mercedes car burst into flames on the edge of the circuit before another red flag with just two laps remaining sparked more drama following Kevin Magnussen's brush with the barriers. The Mercedes driver led at one stage but was simply unable to compete with the superior pace of his long-time rival, with [Fernando Alonso](/latest/fernando-alonso) crossing the finish line in third. The second one probably didn't help us." Russell takes the lead](#live-1753650-zg5j)06:04 [Starting grid](#live-1753650-1ihbd)05:50 "Otherwise to get those points is really amazing today.