Max Verstappen won a chaotic Australian Grand Prix which was interrupted by three red flags and finished under Safety Car after multiple crashes at the final restart.
The world champion led the field over the line behind the Safety Car after the race was red-flagged on the penultimate lap after the second standing restart of the day. Lewis Hamilton finished second, with Fernando Alonso completing the podium in third despite being hit by Carlos Sainz Jnr on the final restart and dropping down the order.
George Russell led the early stages of the race after making a good start and drawing alongside pole winner Verstappen on the inside on the run to turn one. The Mercedes driver aggressively held his line into the corner and took the lead as the field filtered through the narrow right hander.
Verstappen lost second to Hamilton at turn three, while Charles Leclerc spun off into the gravel trap after contact with Lance Stroll. The Safety Car was deployed to recover the Ferrari, with the race resuming at the start of lap four with Russell leading away from Hamilton, Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jnr in fourth and Fernando Alonso in fifth.
Verstappen ran close to Hamilton for second place, while Hamilton kept well within a second of his team mate leading ahead. Russell briefly went defensive into turn 11 feeling pressure from Hamilton behind him, with the top three pulling a small gap to Alonso behind.
On lap seven, Alexander Albon in sixth place lost control of his Williams through the fast turn six kink and crashed into the barriers, putting him out on the spot and littering the track with gravel and debris. The Safety Car was deployed for a second time, with Russell opting to pit out of the lead and switch onto the hard tyres, presumably to run until the end of the race. Russell dropped to seventh, while Sainz also pitted for hards and fell to 11th place.
Hamilton inherited the lead ahead of Verstappen. However, less than a lap later, the race was red-flagged due to the level of gravel and debris on the circuit. Cars were brought into the pit lane and remained there for over ten minutes while the circuit was cleared. The red flag allowed every driver to change tyres, effectively giving Hamilton the lead over Verstappen with Russell down to seventh.
The race restarted with a standing restart on lap ten, with the entire top 10 now on fresh hard tyres. Hamilton successfully kept the lead from Verstappen on the run to turn one, with Alonso third and Pierre Gasly sitting…
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