Max Verstappen strolled back to victory at the Australian Grand Prix two weeks after falling all the way to second place at the Saudi Arabian GP. His win, the second in 2023, stretched his lead over teammate Sergio Perez (69 – 54). Verstappen enjoyed his 37th career win, while Red Bull found victory lane in Australia for the first time since 2011.
Lewis Hamilton started third, found himself in first at one point, but could never match pace of Verstappen and finished second, the 192nd podium of his career. Fernando Alonso rounded out a podium of champions, with 11 combined between the three of them. Alonso has finished third in all three races of the season and is looking rejuvenated driving for Aston Martin.
Lance Stroll followed his teammate to the finish, giving resurgent Aston Martin a solid points day that puts them in second place in the constructors’ standings (though trailing Red Bull 123 – 65). Perez started from the pit lane after failing to set a time in qualifying and made his way to take fifth.
Lando Norris, who has suffered through a terrible start to 2023, wound up sixth on the day, with Nico Hulkenberg securing a surprise seventh.
Oscar Piastri, racing at his home track for the first time in Formula 1, took eighth, giving McLaren a double-points finish, its first of the year. Zhou Guanyu earned ninth for Alfa Romeo, his first points of the season.
Likewise, Yuki Tsunoda took the final points-paying position and stopped his pattern of two consecutive 11th-place finishes in Australia.
The Race
The results belie that this race was anything but a commonplace clinic given by Verstappen. With Michael Masi in attendance, the former race director and overseer of the infamous 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, the signs of an ominous and peculiar race had been proffered.
Include the fact that Sky Sports commentator Ted Kravitz criticized his attendance by saying, “And he’s been saying hello to drivers – he hasn’t been saying hello to Mercedes people.
“I don’t really … well, I do want to get into it, you know I do. But I won’t. What’s he doing in Australia? He’s in charge of the V8 Supercars, the Australian Touring Cars now. But what’s he doing coming back into the F1 paddock?”
What was Masi doing? He was bringing the chaotic juju that changes a race from a standard affair to something resembling havoc and inanity. Just ask Charles Leclerc, who found himself punted into the…
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