F1 Australian GP: Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton to win chaotic race
The race ꦬwas suspended on restarted on thr🦩ee occasions due to a multitude of incidents and ended in bizarre circumstances when a late standing restart caused mayhem.
A late red flag looked to🥀 set up a thrilling two-lap dash to the finish after Kevin Magnussen lost a wheel, but carnage ensued at the second starting restart when several cars including Fernando Alonso and the two 🌠Alpines were all taken out.
That resulted in a lengthy stoppage and initial confusion as to how the race would conclude before the FIA confirmed the race would resume for one final lap with the order being taken from the standing s📖tart due to the cars not going through the first sector of the lap at the time the red flag was flown.
That decision acted as a saving grace for Alonsꦇo, who despite being spun off by Carlos Sainz, claimed his third con🅺secutive podium finish behind Verstappen and Hamilton.
Sainz finished fourth on the road but a five-second t🦩ime penalty for causing the collision with Alonso knocked him out of the points and down to P12, promoting Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll into P4.
Following his disastrous qualifying, Sergio Perez recovered f🐓rom the pit lane to take fifth, ahead🥃 of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
Home-favourite Oscar Piastri scored his first F1 points🔴 in eighth on his grand prix debut at Melbourne, with Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda completing the top 10 for Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri respectively.
Late chaos aside, it was ultimately another easy victory for Verstappen despite making a slow start that saw him drop behind the Mercedes pair 🐬of George Russell and Hamilton.
But the reignin𝕴g world champion recovered after the race was suspended following a crash for Alex Albon to easily breeze past Hamilton with the aid of Red Bull’s super powerful DRS.
The only slight concern for Verstapp🦩en was a brief trip over the grass at the final corner in the clꦕosing stages, but he was still able to claim his second win to extend his early championship lead.
Russell, who was unfortunate to lose out during the first red flag after p💦itting under the intitial Safety Car, ultimately retired with an engine issue.
The Briton joined both Alpines, both Williams, 💃Magnussen, Nyck de Vries, and Ferrari's 𝓀Charles Leclerc in failing to finish the race.
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