Australian Grand Prix

The 2023 Australian Grand Prix saw a chaotic race which included 3 different red flags. Max Verstappen took to the top step of the podium for the second time in 2023 ahead of 2nd place Lewis Hamilton and Spaniard Fernando Alonso.

The race finished under hectic circumstances as a late race red flag to clear debris from Kevin Magnussen's tyre failure. This lead to more choas on the restart as six different drivers collided with each other or came to near blows. Turn 1 saw Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso collide sending the Aston Martin driver into a spin and to the back of the field. Sainz was later given a 5 second time penalty and made him finish in last place. Further back on the last row of the grid rookies Logan Sargeant and Nyck De Vries came to stop in the gravel trap. Sargeant driving into the back of De Vries after a double front lock up on cold softs.

In avoidance of the Sainz and Alonso collision Pierre Gasly ran wide through turn 1 and rejoined the track in the middle of turn 2 and coming to blows with his teammate Esteban Ocon. The two Alpine drivers were unhurt but clearly annoyed as the team were on for a good haul of points. Meanwhile at turn 3 Lance Stroll was looking for a move on Sainz and over shot the corner seeing him in the gravel and nearly the wall after he locked up on a cold set of soft tyres as well.

Due to the multiple collisions and debris sprawled all over the race directors had no choice but call another red flag causing confusion up and down the grid. The race directors in the end came to the decision to end the race under safety car with the drivers finishing as the order before both red flags but removing the Alpine's, De Vries and Sargeant from the classification as they had all DNF'd.