If you stayed up for the Australian Grand Prix, you were either rewarded by witnessing a lot of carnage and wild activity, or you were punished by staying up all night. I guess that depends on your perspective.
Anyway, in case you missed the race, only 12 cars finished the race after three red flags and a couple of safety car periods. While everything behind first was totally random, the guy on the podium’s top step was predictable. Max Verstappen easily drove by Lewis Hamilton on Lap 12, and despite going off with 10 laps to go, held on for the win.
The race started with Charles Leclerc going out in Turn 3 of Lap 1, causing a safety car. It wasn’t long after the safety car ended, but Alexander Albon lost control and hit the wall, resulting in a red flag.
Verstappen had a bad start and was passed by both Mercedes. When the cars got underway on the second standing start, it didn’t take Verstappen long to pass Hamilton. After George Russell’s car caught fire, we had a relatively calm race until the end.
On Lap 54 of 58, Kevin Magnussen slapped the wall, breaking his rear suspension and ripping the right rear tire off the rim. That caused the second red flag of the race, and when things resumed, there would be a two-lap shootout.
We only got to the second corner of that two-lap shootout as the F1 drivers re-enacted last week’s NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas. Carlos Sainz got into Fernando Alonso, turning him and receiving a five-second penalty for avoidable contact. Sergio Perez drove through the gravel to avoid carnage, while Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon crashed into each other. Behind all that, Logan Sargeant got into the back of Nyck De Vries. In the next turn, Lance Stroll went off.
That resulted in Haas F1’s Nico Hulkenberg in a surprise fourth place position. Unfortunately, because the red flag was displayed, none of that counted. Because not everyone passed the first timing line, the lineup reverted to the restart, so even though Alonso was spun, he got to finish third.
Many reacted to what they saw.
These guys clearly saw our COTA restarts and copied our homework. #F1 #NASCAR #AusGP pic.twitter.com/0dEBh60Soq
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) April 2, 2023
Leclerc watching this drama from his hotel window #AusGP
pic.twitter.com/36cKv3ReHl— Brian Mbunde ™ (@Brianmbunde) April 2, 2023
What have we just watched?!#AusGP #AustraliaGP #AustralianGP #F1 #Formula1 #MelbourneGP pic.twitter.com/czR8GnbANo
— 𝙇𝙊𝙊𝙆𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙋 (@lookship_) April 2, 2023
We’ll be recovering for a while 😂#AusGP pic.twitter.com/HcK7wpSgzq
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) April 2, 2023
Highlights of #AusGP pic.twitter.com/inWnn44xLT
— The Instigator (@Am_Blujay) April 2, 2023
Leclerc watching this drama from his hotel window #AusGP pic.twitter.com/T41W1ppkQf
— WN✨ (@wanjikujoanne) April 2, 2023
Some might enjoy this kind of racing, but this seemed like the worst of all worlds. I get that you can’t extend the race because of a lack of refueling, but throwing a red flag and negating the final start was kind of BS. At the very least, let it end under a safety car. You can’t even call this “NASCAR” because, amid all the carnage, NASCAR at least finishes their races either under green or based on the final caution.
Anyway, the podium consisted of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso. Fourth through tenth included Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg, Oscar Piastri, Zhou Guanyu, and Yuki Tsunoda.
