Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the 2023 Australian Grand Prix which was tossed into chaos by a trio of red flags throughout the 58-lap race. Verstappen edged out the Mercedes of seven-time Formula One world champion, Lewis Hamilton while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso claimed the third and final podium position.
Verstappen began the race on pole position but was quickly overtaken by both Mercedes of Hamilton and his teammate, George Russell. The first red flag emerged with the crash of Williams’ Alexander Albon and a pit decision by Russell gave Hamilton the lead over Verstappen with Alonso in third. Two laps later, Verstappen passed Hamilton on track for the lead and six laps later, Russell’s engine expired and he was out for the race.
That left just Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso to grapple for the victory when a second red flag was brought out by a crash from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen on Lap 55. A race restart on Lap 57 was pure chaos as three crashes brought out the final red flag and, essentially, the race’s end under a safety car finish.
With the victory, Verstappen extends his 2023 driver’s standings lead over his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, to 15 points – 69 points to 54 points – with the surprising Alonso in third with 45 points and the equally surprising Hamilton in fourth with 38 points.
2023 Australian Grand Prix Top 10 Finishers
1] Max Verstappen – Red Bull
2] Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
3] Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
4] Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
5] Sergio Perez – Red Bull
6] Lando Norris – McLaren
7] Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
8] Oscar Piastri – McLaren
9] Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
10] Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri
