Verstappen started the race slowly, behind George Russell and Hamilton before the safety car appeared twice as Charles Leclerc retired from the collision and Alex Albon crashed.
Albon’s crash eventually led to the first red flag and the drivers’ return to the pits. When the race resumed, it didn’t take long for Verstappen to take the lead and hold the lead solidly to the finish line to record his second win of 2023.
10 standout stats from the 2023 Australian Grand Prix:
Max Verstappen’s first victory at the Australian Grand Prix
Arriving in Australia this year without pole or career victory, Max Verstappen left the country with both. For Red Bull Racing, it was the first victory in Australia since Sebastian Vettel in 2011.
Of the circuits that have featured on the F1 calendar during Verstappen’s career, Singapore now remains the only circuit where he has yet to win.
Incidentally, the Dutchman also set the course record at Albert Park with a lap time of 1 minute 16.732 seconds in qualifying.
Fernando Alonso has the longest streak of podiums in a decade
After Fernando Alonso finished third in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the Spaniard finished third in Melbourne, recording his longest podium streak in a decade. The last time the Spaniard was on the podium three times in a row was in 2013 when he was in the top 3 in Belgium, Italy and Singapore.
Max Verstappen’s 17th victory with car number 1
Max Verstappen’s first victory in Australia was also his 17th victory in the No. 1 car (championship) in Formula 1. The Dutchman took third place in this indicator.
He is ahead of the Germans Michael Schumacher (52 wins) and Sebastian Vettel (29 wins).
Lewis Hamilton has been on the podium for 17 consecutive seasons
By finishing second in Australia, Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to reach the podium in 17 different F1 seasons. During the race he also became the first driver to lead in 17 F1 seasons, replacing Michael Schumacher at the top of the list.
Max Verstappen has caught up with Michael Schumacher and Ariton Senna in the number of victories and podiums at different tracks
Albert Park in Melbourne is the 23rd track where Max Verstappen has won an F1 race. This makes him equal to Michael Schumacher and shares second place with him in this indicator.
It was also Verstappen’s 80th F1 podium, equaling Ariton Senna, together they occupy 7th place in F1.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Unwanted Achievement
Nico Hulkenberg passed Nick Heidfeld as the driver with the most starts without a win (183). The German is now second behind Andrea de Cesaris (208).
First podium for Honda Down Under in Australia for over three decades
It is the first Honda-powered car to win in Australia since Gerhard Berger (McLaren) won the race in 1992.
champions podium
For the first time since Hungary 2018, the F1 podium was filled with world champions Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton shared the podium with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen at the Hungaroring in 2018.
red flags
The 2023 Australian Grand Prix was the first Formula 1 race to have 3 red flags. The previous record with two red flags was held by five different races: Belgium 1981, Japan 2014, Brazil 2016, Tuscany 2020 and Saudi Arabia 2021.
Verstappen and Hamilton back in action
It was the 34th time that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had finished first and second (in any order) in an F1 race. That’s more than any other pair of runners in history.
<!–
Подпишитесь на Athletistic:
–>
Source: Sport
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.
