F1

All-time great podium features the two-time defending champion, along with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso.

Rookie team-mate Logan Sargeant had a quiet weekend in the sister car. “With all the accidents, it was a good chance to score points this weekend, so I’m very sorry to the team. Williams’ slippery FW45 was rapid around the streets of Albert Park, particularly in the hands of Alexander Albon, who qualified a promising eighth. When the pack bunched together at the tricky right-hander Leclerc got a tap from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and wound up beached in the gravel. Leclerc has had a wretched start to the 2023 campaign and his woes continued in Australia, an event he utterly dominated 12 months ago. That restored the spun Alonso up to third, but Sainz was penalized for the incident and handed a five-second penalty, plunging him down the order because of how close the field was over the line. The only certainty at that stage was Verstappen first, Hamilton second, but behind it was a mess. Haas driver Magnussen, running 12th, drifted wide through Turn 2 and clipped the wall, removing his rear-right tire from the wheel rim, and prompting the deployment of the Safety Car. Hamilton held second, keeping a buffer to third-placed Alonso, while Carlos Sainz held fourth for Ferrari. The first red flag came on the eighth lap of 58, after Williams’ Alexander Albon binned it at Turn 6, dragging extensive debris and gravel onto the track. Max Verstappen claimed victory in the Australian Grand Prix to open up a 15-point championship lead over teammate Sergio Perez. Max Verstappen won the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

It was McLaren's Ron Dennis and Ekrem Sami who decided, back in the 1980s, that sponsors were no longer sponsors. Instead, they were partners. Commercial ...

[PlusPlusFormula 1Australian GP ](/f1/news/the-recent-australian-gp-form-history-that-will-boost-ferrari-in-f1-2023/10449455/) [PlusPlusFormula 1Australian GP ](/f1/news/the-convoluted-tier-system-that-reveals-an-f1-strength/10450815/) Being a sponsor suggested something altogether different.

After a hugely dramatic Australian Grand Prix that featured three red flags, Formula 1's officiators are once more coming under scrutiny for their ...

"How the hell you can put a red flag before?" "(In) the second half, and especially with four laps to go, I feel like you ruin a lot of things. And, because they try and put on a show, you just get unlucky, and everything can get taken away from you all of a sudden. I guess, maybe in the first quarter of the race, I understand it. "I'm not going to disagree with this red flag," Sky Sports F1's David Croft said. "We come all the way to Australia, but it's so much hard work to drive 56, 55 laps perfectly. [Stream the biggest moments on NOW](https://www.nowtv.com/promo/sky-sports?dcmp=articlelink) There was little dispute over the final red flag, with the heavy impact the Alpines experienced and the need to check on their safety - along with all the resulting debris and chaos - a valid reason for the stoppage. It's just strange, but I do understand safety-wise as well." The McLaren driver said: "I kind of hate it. With both the debris and the possibility of the race finishing behind the Safety Car in mind, another red flag was thrown, setting up a theoretical two-lap sprint to the end from a standing start. The clean-up operation began with a recovery vehicle coming on track and lifting the Williams off the ground, but as that was going on, a red flag was thrown with the presence of debris and gravel on track the reason for the decision.

The Australian Grand Prix promoter has been found in serious breach of FIA security protocols and safety measures after Formula 1 fans invaded the track before ...

[PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-cycle-of-f1-upheaval-williams-must-end-to-rediscover-past-glories/10449522/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/how-f1s-new-era-has-exposed-the-downside-of-its-most-important-rule/10450392/) the car was in an unsafe condition with possible electrical discharge".

Max Verstappen criticised F1 governing body, the FIA, after he won a chaotic Australian Grand Prix.

“I thought the red flag was totally unnecessary,” he said. “I just didn’t understand why we needed a red flag. The world champion dismissed it as a mess and accused the FIA, the governing body, of being responsible.

Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to win Formula 1's 2023 Australian Grand Prix, which ended in farcical scenes following a late second red flag of three and a ...

[PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/how-vasseur-has-begun-ferraris-mission-to-keep-leclerc-on-side/10447929/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/why-drivers-are-the-least-of-ferraris-f1-worries/10448693/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/ranking-the-top-10-pre-war-grand-prix-drivers/10449084/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-state-of-play-in-f1s-technical-silly-season/10449427/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-cycle-of-f1-upheaval-williams-must-end-to-rediscover-past-glories/10449522/) [Lando Norris](https://www.motorsport.com/driver/lando-norris/289316/) and [Nico Hulkenberg](https://www.motorsport.com/driver/nico-hulkenberg/9327/) put in a thrilling battle during the pre-Magnussen red flag events and they ended up sixth and seventh ahead of home hero [Oscar Piastri](https://www.motorsport.com/driver/oscar-piastri/828689/). [PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/how-f1s-new-era-has-exposed-the-downside-of-its-most-important-rule/10450392/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1Australian GP ](/f1/news/the-recent-australian-gp-form-history-that-will-boost-ferrari-in-f1-2023/10449759/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1Australian GP ](/f1/news/why-piastris-f1-homecoming-will-be-a-landmark-occasion/10449894/) [Indy IndyCarTexas ](/indycar/news/oward-palou-excited-by-texas-race-despite-missing-win/10452522/) [MGP MotoGPArgentinian GP ](/motogp/news/bagnaia-very-angry-argentina-motogp-crash/10452527/) [Indy IndyCarTexas ](/indycar/news/texas-winner-newgarden-admits-he-felt-race-slipping-away/10452556/)

Double defending champion Verstappen was leading Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton with a few laps left when Kevin Magnussen crashed his Haas into a wall, leaving debris ...

"Otherwise, to get those points is really amazing today. But after two early safety cars and a red flag when Williams driver Alex Albon crashed out, Verstappen reclaimed the lead by passing Hamilton at the 12th lap after Russell pitted for an early tyre change. Verstappen had to recover from a poor start as he lost his lead to both Russell and Hamilton in the first three turns. That allowed Verstappen to claim his second win of the season ahead of Hamilton with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso third in a race in which eight of the 20 cars failed to finish. It was a dark day for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc knocked out of the race at the first turn after being clipped by Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. The cars returned to the grid with fresh tyres for a two-lap sprint to decide the winner but in a chaotic restart, Williams driver Logan Sargeant drove into the back of AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries to knock both of them into gravel at turn one.