Verstappen wins after three red flags

Max Verstappen extended his championship lead to 15 points after winning an incident-packed Australian GP.

Verstappen made it three wins from three this season for Red Bull and was joined on the podium by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Williams’ Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon and Alpha Tauri’s Nyck De Vries all crashed out in a race defined by safety cars and red flags. George Russell of Mercedes would also suffer a mechanical failure.

The race was stopped three times for red flags, including twice in the last three laps. From start to chequered flag, the race took over two and a half hours.

Russell took the lead from Verstappen at turn one after an excellent start from second on the grid. Lewis Hamilton boldly, but fairly, dived down the inside of Verstappen into turn three to make it a Mercedes one-two at the start.

In the melee of the first lap, Leclerc was hit off into the gravel by Lance Stroll, ending his race before the end of the first sector. That incident brought out the first safety car of the race.

On lap 7, Alex Albon crashed out from the points after an excellent qualifying on Saturday. Once again, the safety car came out due to the debris all over the track. Several cars, including Russell, came in to the pits for a cheap stop, relegating him from P1 to P7. Just as he came out of the pits, the FIA changed the safety car to a red flag, meaning all the cars were to return to the pitlane and could change tyres. Russell, in an instant, had lost his chance at victory.

At the restart, Hamilton reacted well and led. Within a few laps, Verstappen caught Hamilton and swept round him on the long straight before turn 9. Verstappen’s Red Bull is supreme on the straights. Such is his car advantage, within half a lap of the move, he was close to two seconds clear of Hamilton.

The pain for Mercedes continued on lap 18 with Russell retiring from an engine failure.

With one lap left, the cars left the pit lane for a single lap under the safety car to the finish… Verstappen came across the line to win the 37th race of his career.

For the next 35 laps or so, the race calmed down. The action was limited bar Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, fighting through the field, after starting last following a horrifying qualifying. He would put in an impressive display and finish fifth, earning the Driver of the Day vote from the fans.

A stale race became chaotic when Kevin Magnussen brushed the wall on the exit of turn one, and broke his suspension. Once again, a safety car was called to remove the car, only to be followed by a red flag.

Once the red lights went out and the race resumed, carnage ensued. Fernando Alonso, sitting third, was tagged and spun by Carlos Sainz from fourth. Lance Stroll inherited third, only to lock up into the gravel and mud at the next corner. Perez went straight across the grass at turn one. The Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon careered into each other and the wall causing major damage and two DNFs for the French team. Logan Sargeant and Nyck De Vries also came together.

Inevitably, another red flag came out. Confusion rained. For thirty minutes, what was going to happen next was unclear. Would the race resume? Would the running order after the chaos stay? The FIA decided, as the cars had not reached the end of the first sector of the first lap, the restart would not count. That meant that the tagged Alonso could return to P3 and Stroll could return to P5. Yet, despite the lap not counting, Sainz received a penalty for hitting Alonso and all the cars that received damage could not go out again.

With one lap left, the cars left the pit lane for a single lap under the safety car to the finish. Sainz, with his penalty, was relegated from fourth to out of the points. Verstappen came across the line to win the 37th race of his career.