Max Verstappen (Red Bull) crushes the competition! Despite a failed start, the double world champion won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, the third round of the Formula 1 world championship, 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). Canadian Lance Stroll finished just off the podium (4th), his best result of the season.
On the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Verstappen confirmed the supremacy of the Red Bull single-seaters and escaped the drivers’ classification as he now leads his 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), Max Verstappen made a superb start to the season and appeared completely untouchable at the wheel of his RB 19. Apart from Pérez, that he is now ahead by 15 points, no one is in a position to worry him for the moment.
“Obviously I’m very happy to win. The car had a good pace. But the end of the race was a bit of a mess,” said the Dutchman.
Red Bull, which had not won in Australia since 2011, crushes the constructors’ championship.
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.
Ferrari’s Nightmare
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 look for”, underlined the Briton.
Fernando Alonso, for his part, 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 Canadian Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin while trying to overtake him.
Then Carlos Sainz was penalized five seconds after causing Alonso to leave the track on the third start with two laps to go. The Spaniard therefore tumbled from fourth to twelfth, meaning the Scuderia didn’t score any weekend points.
Accrochage Gasly-Ocon
Fernando Alonso, at the age of 41, won his 101st career podium, the third in three races this season at the wheel of his Aston Martin which never ceases to surprise.
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 Canadian Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin while trying to overtake him.
Then Carlos Sainz was penalized five seconds after causing Alonso to leave the track on the third start with two laps to go. The Spaniard therefore tumbled from fourth to twelfth, meaning the Scuderia didn’t 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.
The race was interrupted three times, after the accidents of Alexander Albon on the 7th lap, Kevin Magnussen 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.
After the cancellation of the Chinese GP, the Formula 1 world championship will experience a four-week break and will resume on the street circuit of Baku, Azerbaijan, on April 30.