Sunny. Dry. Air +18…17С, rail +35…25С
In 2023, the Australian leg was again the third of the season, but the situation has changed over the year. The Red Bull Racing drivers won two victorious doubles in a row and came to Melbourne as clear favourites.
In the first practice, Verstappen showed the best time, the second rain shower split into two parts and Alonso was on the first line. On Saturday morning, Max again led protocol, also winning qualifying after taking the second pole of the season.
On the car of his partner Sergio Perez in the third practice there were problems with the brakes, he flew into the gravel several times, but for some reason the team could not solve them and the departure at the beginning of qualifying brought the Mexican out of the fight. In the conditions of a closed park, elements of the power plant were replaced for him, Bottas had the suspension settings adjusted – they both started from the pit lane.
Verstappen and Russell started the race from the front row of the grid, from the second – Hamilton and Alonso, from the third – Sainz and Stroll.
Pirelli brought to the stage the “middle” trio of compositions – C2, C3 and C4 in the role of Hard, Medium and Soft. Perez, de Vries and Sargent started Hard. Gasly, Okon, Zhou and Bottas are on Soft, the rest on Medium.
At the start, Russell and Hamilton were ahead of Verstappen. Stroll hooked Leclerc, the Monegask flew into the gravel and fell out. The safety car drove off.
Okon, Zhou, Sargent, Perez and Bottas switched tyres.
Top ten in round 2: Russell – Hamilton – Verstappen – Sainz – Alonso – Albon – Stroll – Gasly – Hulkenberg – Tsunoda.
In the 4th round, a restart was announced. Russell kept the lead. There were no changes.
On lap 8, Albon crashed the car in turn six. The safety car pulled out again. Russell, Sainz and Magnussen swapped tyres.
On the 9th lap, the race was stopped with red flags – it was necessary to clear the gravel from the track.
Top ten at the time the race was suspended: Hamilton – Verstappen – Alonso – Stroll – Gasley – Hulkenberg – Russell – Tsunoda – Norris – Piastri.
The riders could change tires. Sargent and de Vries opted for Medium, the rest opted for Hard.
The break lasted 16 minutes, after they announced the start from the spot. On the formation lap, Okon hit de Vries’ car – Nick flew off the track, but kept driving.
At the restart, Hamilton retained the lead. Russell was ahead of Hulkenberg and Stroll. Sainz was ahead of Piastri and Norris.
Top ten in round 12: Hamilton – Verstappen – Alonso – Gasley – Russell – Stroll – Hulkenberg – Tsunoda – Sainz – Norris.
On lap 13, Verstappen passed Hamilton to lead the race. Russell overtook Gasley for fourth.
On lap 14, Sainz overtook Tsunoda and Hulkenberg to move up to seventh. Norris – Tsunoda in battle for ninth.
On lap 15, Sainz beat Stroll to sixth and Pérez beat Magnussen for 14th.
On lap 16, Okon overtook Zhou for 12th.
On lap 17, Gasly overtook Russell for 4th.
On lap 18, Russell’s power plant caught fire – he stalled on the track and fell out of contention. The Race Directorate has announced the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) mode.
Top ten for VSC: Verstappen – Hamilton – Alonso – Gasly – Sainz – Stroll – Hulkenberg – Norris – Tsunoda – Piastri.
A restart was announced on the 20th lap. Positions have not changed.
On lap 21 Pérez overtook Okon, on lap 23 Piastri and Tsunoda moved up to 9th place.
On lap 25, Sainz overtook Gasly for fourth.
On lap 26 Okon overtook Piastri and on lap 28 Tsunoda moved up to 10th.
On lap 30, Piastri overtook Tsunoda for 11th.
Top ten in round 35: Verstappen – Hamilton – Alonso – Sainz – Gasly – Stroll – Hulkenberg – Norris – Perez – Ocon.
On lap 36 Zhou and Magnussen were ahead of Tsunoda and Bottas ahead of Sargent.
On lap 37, Magnussen overtook Zhou for 12th. Sargent changed tires.
By lap 43 Pérez was ahead of Norris and by lap 45 Hulkenberg moved up to seventh.
On lap 47, De Vries changed tires.
On lap 48, Verstappen crashed on the grass, lost four seconds, but kept the lead.
On lap 51 Norris beat Hulkenberg for eighth place after a hard battle.
On lap 54 Magnussen hit the barrier, the car lost the right rear wheel, which remained on the track. The safety car drove off.
Top ten behind the safety car: Verstappen – Hamilton – Alonso – Sainz – Gasly – Stroll – Perez – Norris – Hulkenberg – Ocon.
Bottas, Piastri and Zhou switched tyres.
On lap 55 the race was stopped with red flags – it was necessary to remove the wreckage.
The riders were able to change tires and were given Soft for the final two laps of the race. The break lasted 15 minutes, then the riders started from the spot.
Verstappen retained the lead at the restart. Sainz touched Alonso’s car – she flew off the track. Okon crashed on Gasley from behind, Sargent crashed on De Vries from behind – four of them immediately fell out of contention. Stroll flew into the gravel. Red flags appeared again.
Top ten at the time of the race stoppage: Verstappen – Hamilton – Sainz – Hulkenberg – Tsunoda – Norris – Piastri – Zhou – Bottas – Perez.
The restart was announced behind the safety car in order for the last restart minus the retired cars.
The order of the riders at the restart: Verstappen – Hamilton – Alonso – Sainz – Stroll – Perez – Norris – Hulkenberg – Piastri – Zhou – Tsunoda – Bottas
Sainz received a five-second penalty for the incident with Alonso, adding to the race result.
On the restart, the safety car led the peloton of the 12 remaining cars behind, left the track and the race was immediately over – 2 hours and 37 minutes after the start.
After the finish, Hulkenberg’s car stopped on the track.
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Max Verstappen won the Australian Grand Prix with his 37th career victory, his second of the season and his first in Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton finished second, his first podium of the season, while Fernando Alonso finished third in a row for the third race in a row.
In three weeks the battle will continue in Baku, where the first stage of this year will be held with a Saturday sprint.
Racing results
Pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Pete |
1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | – | 3 | |
2. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.179 | 3 | |
3. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.769 | 3 | |
4. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +3,082 | 3 | |
5. C. Perez | Red Bull | +3,320 | 5 | |
6. L. Norris | McLaren | +3,701 | 3 | |
7. N. Hulkenberg | hare | +4,939 | 3 | |
8. O. Piastri | McLaren | +5,382 | 4 | |
9.G Zhou | Alfa Romeo | +5,713 | 5 | |
10. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +6,052 | 4 | |
11. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +6,513 | 6 | |
12. K. Sainz | Ferrari | +6,594 | 4 | |
13.P Gasly | Alps | meeting | 2 | |
14. E. Okon | Alps | meeting | 3 | |
15.N. deVries | AlphaTauri | meeting | 4 | |
16. L. Sargent | Willems | meeting | 6 |
best lap: Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) – 1:20.235 (lap 54)
Reasons for leaving
Pilot | Team | Circles | Cause |
Sh.Lecler | Ferrari | 0 | departure |
A. Elbon | Willems | 6 | accident |
D.Russell | Mercedes | 20 | PowerPoint |
K. Magnussen | hare | 54 | accident |
Championship position : Individual
Championship Position: Constructors’ Championship
Source: F1 News

I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.