F1, today the 2023 Australian GP: Verstappen wins, retirement for Leclerc’s Ferrari, Sainz 12th

Melbourne is a Wild West. But Verstappen he doesn’t care and runs to his elsewhere. Max also wins in Australia in a race interrupted (also) by three red flags, two restarts under the traffic lights, the second two laps from the end which causes great chaos: Sainz spins Alonso for 3rd place but is penalized, the two Alpines touch and end up against the wall. One last departure for a lap behind the safety car with a return to the positions before the clashes.

Verstappen, first time in Melbourne. Hamilton 2nd and happy

In the general confusion, only one thing is clear: the Red Bull and its rider fly in the race and in the standings. Max leader at 69 points: success n° 37 in his career, the 2nd of the year, the first at Albert Park. Behind him a revived Lewis Hamilton on the Mercedes, who had dared to overtake him in the first few meters and even found himself leading the race for a few laps, but before the final stop he was traveling 8 seconds behind the Dutchman. Lewis: “Crazy race. Russell was unlucky but our reliability was excellent. Mine is an extraordinary result, I didn’t expect to finish second. There was a good battle at the start. Our car? Long-term project. It was fantastic to be here battling Aston Martin. Now we have to keep fighting.”

Third for the third time in three races, the magical Fernando Alonso on the Aston Martin. The Spaniard put back in his rightful place before Sainz hit him on the second restart: “Rollercoaster of emotions, difficult to understand what was happening at the end”.

Sainz penalized: “We were robbed”

In the end there is none Ferrari in points: Carlos Sainz is 12th, due to the 5-second penalty he received for having sent his compatriot into a spin. It’s a shame, because the Spaniard had run an exceptional race up to that moment, he had moved up to 4th, even recovering one position from the start. Carlos: “I’d rather not talk about the penalty, otherwise I’ll make a mistake, I want to talk to the marshals, now I feel we’ve been robbed.”

Leclerc, the race lasts a few meters

It’s a cursed Sunday, like the whole weekend and this start of the championship, though Charles Leclerc: the Monegasque’s race lasts only three corners. Back from a very nervous qualifying, due to his own driving but also due to misunderstandings with his teammate, he is 7th at the start. He gets off to a good start and tries to attack Stroll’s Aston in front, he joins the outside, but there isn’t much space, he touches the Canadian’s front left with his right rear, the redhead turns and ends up in the gravel . Charles obviously very disappointed: “Frustrated with qualifying? No, I put it aside, with Carlos it was just a communication problem. I knew the race was long, in turn 1 I was careful, in turn 3 I took up space outside Lance. Unfortunately Fernando (Alonso) braked even more, Lance got between Fernando and me. It’s not Lance’s fault, I think it’s a racing incident, even if the frustration is great now: it’s been three weekends in which everything went wrong, between problems, penalties and now also this retirement. It is true that the season is long but the points are few. We have to move forward and recover from Baku”. In a month.

Verstappen starts badly, then does what he wants

Meanwhile, Max does what he wants. They try to give him a hard time: the Mercedes at the start putting him behind, first Russell then Hamilton. But the Dutchman doesn’t care about the insult, he knows that the laps will be enough (58) to put the order of things back in order. Nothing touches him: the three neutralizations of the race, the first for Leclerc on the gravel after a few meters, the second for Or with (Williams) which causes an inexplicable red flag to remove stones on the track, the third for Magnussen which breaks the rim and touches the wall with two laps to go. Another red flag and restart from standstill. Ghosts of the past roam the track. In fact, everything happens: apart from Verstappen who remains in the lead, Sainz attacks Alonso and spins him, the two Alpines of Gasly and Ocon crush each other against the wall, De Vries and Sargeant also out. Another stop, and long discussions to figure out what’s going on. The management decides to restart behind the safety for a lap with re-established positions. Just to see the race finish under the checkered flag, nobody can overtake.

The engine gives Russell away

Max untouchable. He had already regained his head as soon as possible (on lap 12, passing the 7-times world champion with ease) and he doesn’t give up anything. Russell he had already finished behind penalized by the pit and then by the stop, then his Mercedes leaves him on foot with the engine on fire. Max is there in front and flies past everyone and everything: not even a bird, which he had spared in qualifying yesterday, stops him. “The start was bad, on the first lap I was cautious, so much so that I lost more than I gained. The pace was fast, I waited for the drs to open to pass, then, with these red flags… I don’t know. The first, maybe, there could have been, the second one was a mess. We survived everything. We had good pace in the race. I finally won here”. Not just here.