F1 Australian Grand Prix: Verstappen wins chaotic race down under with three red flags

A crazy race in Melbourne saw 8 drivers unable to finish the race as Max Verstappen returned to winning ways as the race finished behind the safety car.

Yesterday’s race was a thrilling watch but was not short of controversy and questionable decisions from both drivers and the FIA. On the weekend in which Michael Masi returned to the paddock, the sport’s governing body’s decision making was once again bought into query.

The race start provided early entertainment as both Mercedes drivers overtook the champion, Max Verstappen; firstly, George Russell into turn 1 followed by Lewis Hamilton into turn 3. It was blatant that the Red Bull was quicker than the Mercedes but the Brackley team will certainly be satisfied with this weekend. The W14, which is suited to tracks that are not rear limited benefitted from Albert Park’s circuit. Charles Leclerc was stuck in the gravel after contact with Lance Stroll and was out of the race.

The order was very much unchanged in the opening phases until Alex Albon’s accident on lap 8, which bought out the safety car. The Williams driver will be gutted, as he was in sixth position before the accident. The view from Nico Hulkenberg’s onboard was particularly frightening as he luckily avoided Albon through a sea of dust and gravel.

The red flag was bizarrely bought out for the incident due to gravel on the track. It felt as if it could have been swept under safety car conditions. The story of this race was certainly the FIA were acting extremely precautionary. While safety is vital, stopping and starting races repeatedly does not make for compelling viewing.

Unfortunately for race leader at the time, George Russell, he pitted before the red flag and dropped to 7th while everyone changed their tyres under the red flag, surely a rule which must be changed. Russell’s day was set to descend into disaster after the restart. On lap 18, The Mercedes caught fire as a rare reliability issue caused retirement for the one-time race winner.

Russell's Mercedes on fire (via F1)

The race was relatively non-eventful barring the Alonso and Hamilton cat and mouse until the final four laps as Kevin Magnussen clipped the wall and lost his right rear tyre. The tyre was on the racing line, and the second red flag was waved. It was slightly surprising to see the race stopped, with the thought of ending the race behind the safety car unpractical.

We were set to be gifted a two-lap sprint to end the race, but chaos ensued. From lights out to the red flag, four cars exited the race. It started unsurprisingly at turn 1, as Sargeant out-braked himself and punted himself and De Vries into the gravel. It was shocking that the American was not gifted a penalty.

A man who was given a penalty, but quite harshly was Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard was another man who misjudged his braking as he spun around compatriot and his hero, Fernando Alonso who was in 3rd. It feels unfair that a penalty was given for a lap which was eventually voided through another red flag. He was inconsolable post-race, as he finished out of the points after the five-second penalty.

Two more drivers went off at turn 1 but managed to continue. Pierre Gasly, who locked up, went onto the grass, which pushed Sergio Perez onto the gravel. Gasly was all out of shape, and failed to spot his teammate in his mirror, who he ran out of room and took out of the race with himself. More could be made of this crash between two teammates who used to despise each other, but it was simply a moment of stupidity from Alpine’s newest addition. They seemed distraught with the result, but any potential frustration is not with one another.

Lance Stroll went straight on just as a red flag was issued as four drivers were stopped on track. The FIA decided to countback the lap as sector one had not been completed, a rule which many disagree with. As a result, the order was reinstated (minus those out of the race) of that on the restart. This meant Alonso, who had fell down the order retained a podium position.

This caused inevitable frustration with Haas and the likes of Nico Hulkenberg, who were 4th. Haas eventually protested the race result but that was dismissed. If all drivers had made it through sector one and finished in the order of that time, Hulkenberg would have earned his first podium after Sainz’s penalty.

Verstappen went on to win behind the safety car in a race with plenty of stories. It is a shame that the next race in Baku is not until the end of April, but that was a race full of incidents and controversy that the FIA have to review. The sport is nothing from perfect at this moment in time.