Verstappen lost his lead from pole at the start, as the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton passed him in the opening corners. But Verstappen took control after a restart following Alex Albon’s big crash, passing Hamilton using DRS in the ultra-fast section ahead of Turn 9 – while Russell went out with an engine fire.
Despite a brief off, Verstappen looked to be cruising to victory when the race was red-flagged again when Kevin Magnussen crashed his Haas. A two-lap restart was attempted but that ended in a multi-car crash, that led to another red flag.
Those cars that were still running then completed a final lap behind the safety car in the order of the previous restart.
2023 F1 Australian Grand Prix results
How the 2023 F1 Australian Grand Prix unfolded
Verstappen got wheelspin away from the startline and couldn’t maintain his pole position advantage on the run to Turn 1, where Russell beat him to the apex and grabbed the lead.
Hamilton then muscled past Verstappen for second at Turn 3 as, behind them, last year’s race winner Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari spun into the gravel after clipping Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, causing a safety car.
The race went green on Lap 4, with Russell leading Hamilton, Verstappen, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). Alex Albon ran sixth early on for Williams, ahead of Stroll.
The top three ran nose to tail, but the safety car was required again when Albon crashed out heavily at Turn 7 and was just missed by Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) as he bounced back on to the track shrouded in a cloud of dust.
Russell pitted for fresh hard tyres, dropping to seventh, allowing Hamilton to inherit the lead, ahead of Verstappen, Alonso and Stroll. Sainz was another to pit, falling back to 11th.
The FIA chose to red flag the race to clean gravel and debris from the track surface, handing those who hadn’t pitted a free tyre change in the pits – ruining the strategies of Russell and Sainz.
That meant a second standing start, with Hamilton starting on pole this time, ahead of Verstappen and the Astons. Hamilton held the lead from Verstappen and Alonso, with Gasly passing Stroll for fourth and Russell doing likewise to run fifth.
Verstappen cruised past Hamilton with DRS on the ultra-fast run to Turn 9 and was already 2s clear when they next crossed the finish line. Russell passed Gasly for fourth on Lap 14, while Sainz caught Stroll napping…
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