Red Flag Restarts Dominate Australian F1 Grand Prix As Verstappen Clinches Victory

Drama struck late in the afternoon with four laps to go. Haas's Kevin Magnussen tagged the barriers out of Turn 2, ripping off his right-rear wheel and prompting another red flag three laps from the end of the race. With the formation lap taking one from that, that would leave just two laps of racing without DRS.

Verstappen cut Hamilton off beautifully into Turn 1, but as Alonso - starting in 3rd - carved around the outside, he was tagged by Carlos Sainz and spun. Meanwhile, the two Alpine drivers (Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly), who had been running a superb race, tangled messily, resulting in another red flag.

As all active drivers hadn't passed through the first sector, the FIA reset the race for another restart, using the same grid - saving grace for Fernando Alonso - as was the precedent set at the 2022 Silverstone Grand Prix. The race 'resumed' with a formation lap behind the safety car, but the remainder of the field would not go racing again, as the formation lap ended with a chequered flag, Verstappen ahead of Hamilton, Alonso, Stroll, Perez, Norris, Hulkenberg, Piastri, Zhou, and Tsunoda occupying the remainder of the points placings. Only 12 drivers finished the race, with Bottas in 11th and Sainz in 12th as a result of a last-minute penalty.

The final result doesn't tell the full story, though, and the Australian F1 Grand Prix was filled with takeaways throughout the field.

After an utterly dismal start to the season that saw McLaren lying in last in the Constructors' standings, struggling with reliability issues, and bluntly, a complete lack of pace, Australia yielded big improvements. Lando Norris stayed well within the top 10 and put on a fantastic display to fend off a charging Sergio Perez, who had started from the pits in last. He was lapping as quickly as the front-runners, too, and despite remaining largely anonymous throughout the broadcast, raced beyond the car's capabilities to come home in 6th.

Teammate Oscar Piastri, in his first home F1 race, struggled for pace early on but was running just outside of the points for much of the race. The final melee and the ensuing retirements bumped him up into 8th place, picking up points in his home Grand Prix. McLaren is now up to 5th in the Constructors' standings.

For once, Ferrari wasn't its own worst enemy. Lance Stroll prematurely ended Charles Leclerc's race on Lap 1, but on the final race resumption, Sainz was handed a five-second penalty for his collision with Alonso on the penultimate race restart. Instead of finishing 4th behind the safety car, the other racers bunched up behind him to capitalize on his penalty, dropping him down to 12th and out of the points entirely. Some may argue the incident with Alonso was a racing incident and not worth a penalty, but the biggest problem with the decision was Race Control announcing the penalty before the race resumed, allowing those behind Sainz at the restart to bunch up tactically to take higher places.

We expect Ferrari to lodge a formal appeal.

Kevin Magnussen may not have finished at all, but Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg had a fantastic race, battling within the points for the entirety of the race and having a wonderful time. Had it not been for the confusion of the final race restart, Hulkenberg may have finished 4th. He eventually finished 7th, breaking down after the finish but picking up valuable points.

Neither of the Alpine drivers finished, which was a pity as they were in for a big points haul, both drivers running firmly in the top 10 for almost the whole race. Sadly, in the mess of the last standing start, the two collided and both ended in the barriers, with neither to blame for a maelstrom of confusion that wiped out a quarter of the remaining field. After running at the head of the midfield last year, things are looking good with two competitive drivers in a car with pace waiting to be unlocked.

After failing to qualify and then starting from the pits after mechanical changes in breach of parc ferme regulations, Perez charged through the field and ultimately finished 5th, picking up an extra point for the fastest lap of the race. Checo thrives in these situations, and had it not been for Norris holding him up for several laps, he may have even challenged for the podium. The gloves are off at Red Bull this season, and while there are still 20 races left of the 2023 season, we may be facing a big rivalry at the tail-end of it all, provided Perez can keep up this early form.

Standing in his way is not only championship leader Verstappen (ahead by 15 points) but Fernando Alonso, who took his 101st career podium today and has finished third in as many races. The oldest driver in the field has proven age is but a number, turning back the years and showing exceptional race awareness. So far, he has driven the socks off an Aston Martin car that looks like a real competitor. If there's one to watch for the remainder of the season, Alonso will be waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces in any scraps between Verstappen and Perez.