(Melbourne) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) crushes the competition! Despite a failed start, the double world champion won the Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the Formula 1 World Championship, on Sunday after a race stopped three times due to accidents.
The Dutchman, who was on track to win by a wide margin before two interruptions occurred in the last three laps, beat former world champions Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
Quebecer Lance Stroll finished 4th.
At Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit, Verstappen confirmed the supremacy of the Red Bull single-seaters and escapes the drivers’ standings as he now leads teammate Sergio Pérez, who finished fifth on Sunday after starting last, by 15 points.
With two victories in Bahrain and Australia, and a second place in Saudi Arabia (after starting in 15th position), the Dutchman made a superb start to the season and appeared totally untouchable at the wheel of his RB19. Apart from Pérez, whom he now leads by 15 points, no one is in a position to worry him for the moment.
Red Bull, which had not won in Australia since 2011, crushed the constructors’ championship (123 points).
After two fifth places, Lewis Hamilton clinched his first podium of the season which seems to validate the rise of Mercedes, even if George Russell was forced to retire with his engine on fire.
“I didn’t expect to finish second, I’m super happy […] but we still have performance to go for,” said the Briton.
Fernando Alonso won his 101st podium at the age of 41, the third in three races this season at the wheel of his Aston Martin which never ceases to amaze.
“The race was not easy so to finish third again is incredible. To have 45 points [in the World Championship] after three races is fantastic”, welcomed the “Bull of Asturias”.
Ferrari, on the other hand, had a nightmarish day since the Monegasque Charles Leclerc had to abandon at the third corner. He finished in the gravel after hitting Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin while trying to pass him.
Then Carlos Sainz was penalized five seconds after causing Alonso to leave the track on the third start with two laps remaining. The Spaniard therefore tumbled from fourth to twelfth place, meaning the Scuderia did not score any weekend points.
The other loser of the day is the French team Alpine, which saw its two French drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon collide shortly after the third start when they had left in fifth and tenth place respectively.
“They both apologized. But it was just chaos at that time. It is unfortunate that they collided but blaming one or the other is not the right thing to do, analyzed Otmar Szafnauer, the boss of Alpine. It’s a shame because we were close to scoring very good points with a deserved fifth place for Pierre because we were very fast here. »
The race was interrupted three times, after the accidents of Alexander Albon (Williams) on the 7th lap, Kevin Magnussen (Haas) on the 53rd and the two Frenchmen on the 57th. Drivers and spectators were therefore treated to three starts on the grid, while the last lap of the race was completed behind the safety car.
These red flags were not to everyone’s taste, and in particular the winner Max Verstappen.
Following the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, the Formula 1 World Championship will experience a four-week hiatus and will resume at the street circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, on April 30.