If you’d turned off the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (Sunday, April 2) after 54 of 58 laps, seeing the news that Max Verstappen earned his 37th career Formula 1 victory wouldn’t come as much surprise. However, a shock red flag on lap 55, for debris from Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, set off a standing restart and a whole lot of controversy.
Taking to the track for two last laps of racing, the 16 remaining drivers didn’t even make it two corners. Contact between Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso sent the Aston Martin spinning, forcing Sergio Perez into the gravel trap and triggering a heavy crash between Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon and a separate incident between Logan Sargeant and Nyck De Vries. Then, entering turn three, Lance Stroll out-braked himself and ended up in the gravel.
As the ticker marked “58/58 laps” and “RED FLAG” simultaneously, Sky Sports pundits searched the rulebooks for any clues as to what the finishing order would be.
Finally, the FIA reached its decision, declaring the field would re-form the original restart order, exit the pit lane, complete the 58th and final lap at safety car speed with no overtaking allowed, and cross the finish line. Any cars (such as the two Alpines) incapable of completing the final lap under their own power would be excluded from the results.
So after all that, the podium finishers remained the same. Verstappen led home Lewis Hamilton and Alonso to form the first all-World Champion podium since Hungary in 2018.
“We had a very poor start,” Verstappen told Sky Sports’ David Coulthard. “Lap one I was careful because I had a lot to lose and they had a lot to win … after that, I think the pace of the car was good, you could see that straight away, we were always there, waiting for the DRS to open up …”
He continued, voicing his displeasure with the FIA stewarding: “With these red flags, I don’t know. The first one, maybe you can do it, but I think that second one, I don’t really understand, it was a bit of a mess … and of course, we won, which is the most important thing.”
The usually stoic Dutchman also had words for runner-up and ex-title rival Hamilton after a close call on the first lap, saying, “From my side, I just tried to avoid contact. It’s quite clear in the rules what you’re allowed to do now on the outside, but clearly, it’s not followed.”
It was a great afternoon in Melbourne for Hamilton, who…
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