The support and enthusiasm from the fans in Australia had been truly astonishing throughout the week, and after braving the cold and rain, they were finally rewarded with serene conditions for race day at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.
It remained to be seen whether more showers on Sunday were exactly what was required to ensure pole-sitter Max Verstappen would be challenged by those behind him, with the reigning world champion the clear favourite to give Red Bull a third win in as many races in the 2023 season.
The big question is how aggressive Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, starting second and third respectively, would be at the first corner and whether Scuderia Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc would be able to make up some places at the start to get involved in the battle for the podium after a difficult qualifying session, as the Spaniard started from P5 and the Monegasque from P7.
Mercedes had to make a late change to George Russell’s gearbox after the failure of a sensor on it. The unit was within his allowance for the season, therefore there was no penalty for it. The top 8 all started the Australian Grand Prix on mediums, including the two Ferrari drivers.
Max Verstappen led the cars around on their formation lap and we were just moments away from the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix! And George Russell too the lead! He got away well and took the lead from Max Verstappen! With pressure then on he Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton moved past too for a Mercedes 1-2. Unfortunately for the Maranello team, Charles Leclerc was off the track in an opening lap of carnage around Albert Park. He was out of the race as the Safety Car came out.
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Charles was attempting to get around Stroll but was tagged by the Aston Martin man. Stewards looked at the incident but did not take any action. Just 19 drivers were left on track now after the Monegasque’s exit. After that early exit, the Safety Car was out tp deal with the Ferrari and the pit stops were already starting.
The Safety Car was ending and the racing was about to restart! And it was a great restart from George Russell as he got some space between himself and his teammate Lewis Hamilton in second. But just a few laps later, Alex Albon was out of this race. He ran wide at Turn 7 and spun off, losing some of his front wing. That was unlucky for the Williams man as he was running in the top six. The Safety Car was now deployed once again. George Russell came into pit with the Safety Car deployed once again, meaning his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton now led this race. Carlos Sainz was also called in for a tyre change, but then the red flag come out as Alex Albon’s car threw some gravel onto the track. And that is not what George Russell and Carlos Sainz wanted after coming into pit! The British driver now had to start seventh at the restart, while Carlos Sainz was out of the top ten.
On the other hand it put Max Verstappen back at a huge advantage and made Lewis Hamilton happy after he had been on his team radio to complain about not being pitted like George Russell.
At the restart, Lewis Hamilton initially managed to hold onto his lead as Fernando Alonso put the pressure on Max Verstappen, but that didn’t take long: Max Verstappen got DRS on Lewis Hamilton and we know how powerful that Red Bull is. The Dutchman regained the lead of the race.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz had a solid race pace and was able to gain several places, overtaking Lando Norris, Nico Hülkenberg and Lance Stroll, before getting P5 following a power unit issue for George Russell, who had to retire on lap 18. The Virtual Safety Car was now out and the race was neutralised. As Russell’s hopes went up in flames – literally – things were looking rosy for Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull racer in a great spot to make it three wins for his team in as many races in 2023.
On lap 25/58, Carlos overtook Pierre Gasly and was now in P4! The Spaniard threatened to overtake him on the outside but then went on the inside to move into fourth place, behind Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso. Carlos was getting closer to Fernando Alonso, 1.4 seconds behind, but the race pace was rather similar and did not allow the Ferrari man to attempt an overtaking move on the Aston Martin. Still, it was a good sign for Ferrari to see that the SF-23 car was able to match the pace of Aston Martin and Mercedes in the race.
With four laps until the end, as he was coming out of Turn 2, Kevin Magnussen completely clipped the wall, lost his right rear tyre and it went flying into the wall. The Safety Car was now out. But eventually we were going to get more racing! The cars made their way back to the pits and we were going to have a standing start as the debris was cleared from the track.
After a 15-minute wait, the cars were making their way around the track to get set for two laps of racing. And what a chaos start it was: carnage, absolute carnage. That should be the end of the race with cars going off all over the place upon the restart. Max Verstappen went across to cover Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso was then tagged by Carlos Sainz. That started the commotion and caused a long line of accidents. That forced Sergio Perez off the track and dropped him to 10th. Lance Stroll was then briefly ahead of Carlos Sainz but lost control at the corner.
The decision was a race resumption behind the safety car in the order of the previous start minus cars out. There was a rolling start and as there was only one lap left, the chequered flag was out as the drivers came back across the line.
Unfortunately Carlos Sainz found himself in a difficult situation: he was handed a five second time penalty for causing the collision with Fernando Alonso and those behind him were bunched up as much as possible to keep within five seconds of him.
The procession was under way and once the Safety Car crossed the line, Max Verstappen took the win as the chequered flag came out under the terms of a rolling start. It was a late nightmare for Carlos as he was handed that penalty which put his chance of points up in the air as he finished 12th.
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