Final chaos in Australia for Verstappen, red flags spark controversy again

The first morning race of the season for European fans is over. Max Verstappen took his second win of the season in Melbourne, Australia, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso completing the podium. The race offered three red flags, the second of which came with two laps to go instead of the Safety Car. After the ensuing restart, a series of crashes occurred that took four cars out of the race.

Both Mercedes cars made excellent starts to the race. In fact, both “Black Arrows” outsprinted leader Max Verstappen and retook the top of the standings after a long time. However, the race was quickly neutralised by the Safety Car, which had to take to the track after a collision between Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc, which left the Monegasque in a duck.

The restart was uneventful, but Bernd Mayländer had to return to the track quickly. On lap seven, Alexander Albon made a driving error and crashed. The blow to the barrier eventually caused a reassessment of the situation and a red flag, which greatly angered George Russell and Carlos Sainz.

In fact, both headed to the free pit stop under yellow flags and dropped several positions due to the change of pace. They had to prepare for a second start from a strong position in this race. As in the opening stages, Verstappen got off the line badly, but the pressure from Fernando Alonso held off.

And then he went back into the lead of the Grand Prix as well. The Dutchman handled Lewis Hamilton with consummate ease and circled first for the first time since the opening corner. By lap fourteen, two circuits after the change of positions, the double world champion had a lead of more than three seconds.

Just when the spectators thought they were in for a quieter passage of the race, the virtual Safety Car was activated for a change. Russell had engine problems and had to shut down his car at the exit of the pit lane.

After 23 of 58 laps, the top 10 standings were as follows: Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Gasly, Sainz, Stroll, Hülkenberg, Norris, Pérez, Cunoda. As the race progressed, we started to look more at the durability of the hard compound tyres, which most drivers had fitted since the restart on lap 10.

While most of the time from the VSC onwards it was mainly a battle for fourth and tenth place, by lap thirty-three a duel for second began to take shape. Alonso began to pull away slightly from Hamilton and Sainz and Gasly were also in range.

From then on, however, the situation stabilised again, with Pérez’s drive from last position getting the main attention. Verstappen offered an interesting moment as well, finding himself on the grass for a while. But he held on to the situation and only lost a little bit of his lead.

The European F1 fans were at least partially woken up by Kevin Magnussen, who hit the wall and first activated the Safety Car. But then came the big twist. For on lap 55, race directors had the red flags displayed on the track, which brought a great final twist. The spectators were treated to a two-lap sprint. Just like two years ago in Azerbaijan.

The start turned into absolute chaos and carnage. The two Alpines, Logan Sargeant’s Williams and Nyck de Vries’ Alpha Tauri, both ended up in the barrier after colliding with each other. Both Aston Martins dropped out of the points. In a word: Armageddon. The red flags came out again, waiting to see how the results would pan out. The drivers hadn’t completed a single lap.

The wait was never ending. And what came next caused a great deal of discussion. The FIA ordered a return to the track with a flying start, but without the cars that crashed. That left both Alpinas out of the top ten, a potentially crucial eleven-point loss for them.

To make matters worse, Carlos Sainz took a five-second penalty for a collision on the restart and was condemned to drop from fourth place. On a more positive note, Oscar Piastri scores his first points on home soil.

The drivers eventually took to the circuit for the Safety Car and then just crossed the finish line for the formal end of the race. It didn’t change the fact that the third race of the season was also dominated by Red Bull, with Max Verstappen triumphing for the second time in the year.

1. Max Verstappen, 2. Lewis Hamilton, 3. Fernando Alonso, 4. Lance Stroll, 5. Sergio Pérez, 6. Lando Norris, 7. Nico Hülkenberg, 8. Oscar Piastri, 9. Zhou Kuan-yu, 10

Source: Sport TV