One car ended its day in a spray of gravel on the first lap. A second sent its driver scrambling to safety after it caught fire. A third team lost both its entries when they collided only minutes from the finish. Red Bull? Its top driver cruised into his usual position, first place, and stayed there all day.
Max Verstappen snatched the lead of the Australian Grand Prix with a ruthless early pass and then never gave it back on Sunday, powering to his second Formula 1 victory of the year and reinforcing the suggestion — put forth by some of his top rivals — that his Red Bull team might just be unbeatable.
Verstappen’s dominant performance was the highlight of a day that included multiple stoppages, a thrilling duel between former world champions for second place, and a chaotic late restart that crumpled a half-dozen cars and rearranged the finishing order. Verstappen all of steered of clear , opening a lead of more than 10 seconds at one point on a day when he was never truly challenged.
“It was a bit of a mess but we survived everything,” Verstappen said. “We won, which is of course the most important.”
Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion in the midst of a frustrating season, held off Fernando Alonso, the veteran champion now driving for Aston Martin, for second place. On a day when neither had a chance of beating Verstappen, that qualified as its own kind of win.
Sunday’s Race in Photos
Where the Race Turned
A red flag on Lap 9 stopped the race for 16 minutes and, crucially, gave Verstappen a free run at the early leader, Hamilton. He took it almost immediately, passing Hamilton like a roadside fruit stand and continuing to pull away. The gap was soon two seconds, then four, then eight. And the racing, at least for first place, was effectively over.
Magic Number: 3
Alonso finished third again, the same spot he has held in each of the season’s first three races. That was position was briefly in doubt, though, after he was spun by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the last competitive restart of the day. some tense minutes as race officials reviewed video, considered penalties and decided the order for the last, slow-speed lap that ended the race. “We had a roller-coaster of emotions today, many things going on at the beginning, and the last half an hour,” Alonso said. “Mercedes were very fast and Lewis did an incredible job. I could not match the pace, but we’ll take P3.”
Worst Days, Ranked
Charles Leclerc. His race ended before he could complete a lap, nudged off the track and into the gravel in a collision with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on Turn 3. That is two DNFs in three races for Leclerc. But Ferrari’s forgettable day somehow got worse when a five-second penalty on Sainz sent him down to 13th, and pushed Ferrari out of the points altogether.
George Russell. If Leclerc had a nightmare day, Russell’s wasn’t far behind. He took the lead from Verstappen on the first turn but barely got a chance to enjoy the view. He soon came under pressure from his own teammate, Lewis Hamilton, and then went in for an early pit stop and got trapped there when Alex Albon’s crash spread gravel across the track and brought out a red flag. The nadir for Russell? His engine caught fire on Lap 18, leaving him looking for a place to stop it and scamper out. He walked away from the smoking wreck and didn’t look back.
Alpine. It had been a bright day for the pink cars of Alpine, but it all went dark on the last restart when Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon — running fifth and 10th — came together in a chaotic few moments that eventually took out a half-dozen cars . Within seconds, Alpine’s two hopes for points were sliding along a wall in the grass one behind the other. “Unbelievable,” was about all the team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, could muster as analysis.
This Week’s Red Bull Rally
Two weeks after Verstappen rallied from 15th place to finish second, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez got a chance to show off the team’s clear competitive advantage. Sent to the back of the starting grid after beaching his car in a sea of gravel during qualifying on Saturday, Pérez methodically clawed his way through the field all day. He wound up fifth at the end, salvaging some points — and his weekend.
What They’re Saying
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“There’s not way I’m losing out to him.” — Hamiltonon the radio, focused on the driver behind him (his old rival Alonso) rather than the one in front of him (Verstappen).
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“What?!?!?” — Multiple driversafter the race was red-flagged for the second time with two laps to go. The decision was caused by debris on the track after Kevin Magnussen clipped the wall and destroyed his right rear tire. Little did the drivers know it would not be the day’s last stoppage; the restart led to a third red flag, and another day, before the race mercifully crept through a parade lap to the checked flag.
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“No, it cannot be, it’s unacceptable!” — Carlos Sainzof Ferrari, after learning he was assessed a five-second penalty for spinning Alonso on a late restart. The penalty pushed him out of the top five, and out of the points.
Drivers Championship Standings
Where the title race stands after Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix: