Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Red Bull's Max Verstappen claimed his first Australian Grand Prix on Sunday in remarkable circumstances after a chaotic F1...

“It left a lot of drivers confused as to why we needed a second red flag. “It was very unexpected,” he said. On the restart on lap 55, Verstappen was able to hold off Hamilton to the first turn as bedlam unfolded behind his Red Bull, resulting in a reshuffle of the finishing order. The race resumed with Verstappen stalking Hamilton at the front of the field and the two-time world champion used his Red Bull’s superior speed to take the lead on Lap 12. “Of course we are happy to win the race, but I think the race itself towards the end was a bit of a mess with all the calls,” Verstappen said. Verstappen was pleased to clinch victory but queried the decision by stewards to issue a red flag after a crash on lap 55 of the 58-lap race instead of deploying a safety car.

Three red flags, three standing starts, and at least three distinct crashes on the final green flag lap of the race could not stop Formula 1's reigning ...

Finishing results were determined by the order on the restart, minus the cars that had crashed out on the restart that was not scored. It led to a bigger issue, too: that extra lap under safety car ended up deciding most of the race, as it meant the restart procedure would begin on lap 56 rather than 55. The race was mathematically over by any sense of the word, but officials waited a very long time for clean-up as they discussed how the disastrous third restart would be officiated and how the race would end. The race was resumed under safety car to finish just one lap, as a full restart procedure would require that warm-up lap and then a second lap of actual racing and there were not enough laps left in the race. A lap into the safety car procedure, F1 officials upgraded the stoppage to a red flag. The real mess started much later, when Kevin Magnussen came to a stop on track with just 3 tires on lap 54 of 58.

Max Verstappen won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday after two late red flags and a slew of crashes threw the race into chaos before the Red Bull driver ...

"Otherwise, to get those points is really amazing today. Verstappen had to recover from a poor start as he lost his lead to both Russell and Hamilton in the first three turns. His Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz survived all the carnage and was in line to finish fourth but a five-second penalty for making contact with Alonso left him demoted to 12th and raging on the team radio. Mercedes' first podium of the season was soured with George Russell suffering his first retirement for the team after losing power and rolling to a halt with his engine on fire early on. That allowed Verstappen to claim his second win of the season ahead of Hamilton with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso third in a race in which eight of the 20 cars failed to finish. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story

The reigning champion was the heavy favourite coming into the race, but the Dutchman was overtaken by Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the ...

For fans in Canada, TSN will carry the English-language telecast of races. Anticipation is building at Albert Park for the third race of this F1 campaign. 30 mins to lights out: Perez and Bottas nearly have a collision as they make their way around the track. A number of drivers - including Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez - have pitted for hard tires and will potentially look to go the distance. He has jumped out of the car and is okay. Cars will now return to the pit lane. He then speeds off in his Red Bull and establishes a two-second lead by the end of the lap. Stroll is the next driver in his sights, but he has over four seconds to chase down. Magnussen's right rear tire has completely come off, but the Dane has managed to move to the side of the track. The drivers have been pulled in to ensure we get some racing action to finish the race. The race will resume in a standing start format. They need to wait until the race is finished and then discuss it with me," Sainz said on the team radio.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen won the Australian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton finished second in an incident-packed race in Melbourne on Sunday.

Verstappen enjoyed a second win of the season, with Hamilton finishing on the podium for the first time this year. That moved Alonso back up to third, with Sainz down to 12th because of his penalty. Sainz went on to receive a five-second penalty. According to the rules, two racing laps would remain after the restart. Fernando Alonso, despite finding himself in a spin with two laps to go, was third. “After that, the pace of the car was quick - you could see that straight away.

The start of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix was full of drama as pole-sitter Max Verstappen lost out to the Mercedes pair before Charles Leclerc was tapped into ...

[2022 Australian GP winner](https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2022/Australia.html) into a spin and ended his race almost instantly. The start of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix was full of drama as pole-sitter Max Verstappen lost out to the Mercedes pair before Charles Leclerc was tapped into a spin at Turn 3, ending his race early. RACE START: Russell and Hamilton pass Verstappen at the start of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix as Leclerc spins out

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.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen claimed his first Australian Grand Prix on Sunday in remarkable circumstances after a chaotic F1 race filled with drama from the ...

"Of course we are happy to win the race, but I think the race itself towards the end was a bit of a mess with all the calls," Verstappen said. "It left a lot of drivers confused as to why we needed a second red flag. 🙌#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Lz9Qvv2qF0— On the restart on lap 55, Verstappen was able to hold off Hamilton to the first turn as bedlam unfolded behind his Red Bull, resulting in a reshuffle of the finishing order. 😅

The Dutchman's victory marks @redbullracing's best-ever start to a season!! Verstappen was pleased to clinch victory but queried the decision by stewards to issue a red flag after a crash on lap 55 of the 58-lap race instead of deploying a safety car.

One car ended its day spraying gravel on the first lap. A second sent its driver to safety after it burst into flames. A third team lost both of its.

Perez, who was sent to the back of the early stages after his car adrift in a sea of gravel during qualifying on Saturday, methodically worked his way through the field throughout the day. The decision was made due to debris on the track after Kevin Magnussen clipped the wall and destroyed his right rear tire. “No, it can’t be, it’s unacceptable!” — Carlos Sainz, of Ferrari, was given a five-second penalty for spinning Alonso on a late restart after learning. It was a bright day for Alpine’s pink cars, but everything turned dark on the final restart when Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon – running fifth and 10th – came together in a chaotic few moments and eventually took out half a dozen cars. . Within seconds, the two hopes for Alpine’s points slid into a wall in the grass one after the other. His engine caught fire on lap 18 and he stopped and looked for a place to exit. “What?!?!?” — Multiple drivers, after the second red flag with two laps to go in the race. He took the lead from Verstappen at the first turn, but rarely had a chance to enjoy the view. Alonso finished third again, the same position he held in the first three races of the season. That position was briefly in doubt after he was spun by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the last race restart of the day. On a day when neither was likely to beat Verstappen, that qualified as its own victory. Verstappen pulled away from it all, leading by more than 10 seconds at one point, on a day when he wasn’t really challenged.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton came home second ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who made it three podiums from three this year.