The 2023 Australian Grand Prix was a thrilling yet chaotic race, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking the chequered flag. In a race filled with multiple red flags, safety car deployments, and multiple laps behind the safety car. The race was a marathon for the drivers and teams, with many twists and turns throughout.
The Start
“Lights Out”, and we had a brilliant start to the Aussie GP. George overtook Max for the lead, and Lewis jumped at the opportunity to make a questionable move on the inside of Max to take P2. Max, surprisingly very conservative in defending. Almost like he knows, he get the places back easily. And behind him Alonso kept P4.
Early Incidents
The first incident of the race, unfortunately for the already dejected Tifosi was Charles Leclerc retiring at Turn 3 after contact with Lance Stroll, prompting a safety car deployment. The safety car period lasted for one lap, and the race resumed with Mercedes still 1-2. Lap 7 – Albon bins it at turn 6 and scatters gravel all over the track, bringing out the safety car.
Mercedes Drama
During the short time that Mercedes had a 1-2, George complained about his teammate attacking him… Pitted during the safety car to put on hards to go to the end of the race… Hamilton whined about not having the better strategy cause they were too close to pit both cars… Then a Red Flag is called due the gravel on track that hands the race lead to Hamilton… To make George’s day worse his engine blew up bringing out a VSC to recover his car.
Magnussen’s Crash
The race was halted for a second time on lap 53 after Kevin Magnussen hit the wall on the exit of Turn 2, causing significant damage to his car. By this time Max had breezed past Hamilton with his DRS Black Magic, pulled a 10s gap and locked up and ran onto the grass at the last corner cause he was bored. This crash essentially created a 2 lap mini sprint race with all the drivers on soft tyres.
Restart Mayhem
The second race restart after Magnussen’s crash is where all hell broke loose. Max covered off Lewis to keep the lead… Logan rear-ended Nyck at the back… Sainz spun Alonso… Perez and Lance went off losing many positions… and the 2 Alpines collided taking each other out. And the race was red flagged once again.
The decision was made that the race would be restarted and finished behind the safety car. But the order would be the same as the second restart. As the drivers hadn’t finished one sector and no reference point was available for the order. Max and Lewis shared the first 2 spots once again, Alonso was P3, Perez took P5 from a pit lane start and the Alpines DNF as they crashed and weren’t able to finish the race. So long story short the order was reversed to the 2nd restart but only for the cars that survived.
Sainz’s Penalty
Carlos Sainz was given a five-second penalty for his role in a restart crash that took out Alonso, put Carlos outside well deserved points for the Ferrari driver. His radio message shows him nearly tearing up when told about the penalty and was too angry to even speak at his interview.
Red Bull Curse Broken
Red Bull had a pretty good day considering their Australia curse with their drivers finishing P1 and 5. Perez starting from the pit lane gave us majority of the overtakes and drove excellently. And Gasly’s crash and Sainz’s penalty gave Checo P5. Overall, a pretty good weekend for Red Bull and Aston Martin too.
Final Thoughts
The 2023 Australian Grand Prix was an eventful race that saw several incidents and multiple red flags. Verstappen’s win was well-deserved, and he showed his class throughout the race. Hamilton also put in a good performance, finishing in second place, while Alonso impressed with a podium finish. However, the race will be remembered for the chaos that ensued after the final restart, with Sainz being penalized for an incident that did not affect Alonso’s finishing position. Overall, it was an exciting start to the F1 season, and fans will be eagerly looking forward to the next race in Azerbaijan – nearly a month form now.