Verstappen wins Australian Grand Prix after seven crashes in the last laps

Max Verstappen won a crazy Australian Grand Prix, with a restart with two laps to go it was anyone's race to win, fortunately for the Dutchman he got the best restart and managed to avoid the carnage that collected six drivers, so when the red flag was brought out again, he was awarded the win ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso when the FIA reset the grid to the one before the third red flag, as they restarted and finished under the safety car.

The late Magnussen crash creates high tensions.

Sergio Perez finished the race how he started as he continued to push up through the field setting the fastest lap in the process, the Mexican eventually getting as high as seventh before the red flag drama at the end. While further up the field it was Alonso that started to chase down Hamilton setting the fastest lap in the process, however, the Brit was able to match the pace of his former teammate and keep him at bay.

The promised tension would come to an exciting end, as Kevin Magnussen hit the wall coming out of turn two bringing the end to his race, bringing the safety car out and eventually bringing out the red flag, allowing the race to end a two-lap sprint to the finish.

It was the world championship leader that got the best of the third start and led into turn one, behind him was all drama, as not only did Carlos Sainz clip Alonso, spinning the Aston Martin around, which hindered his teammate forcing them both down the grid, as later, in turn two the two Alpines would take each other out. Also out at the first turn were Logan Sargeant and Nyck De Vries who both ended up in the gravel during that mess.

Carlos Sainz was handed a five-second penalty for his collision with Alonso relegating him to

Drama from the start

A good start from the entire top four meant it was close going into the first corner, George Russell with the inside line, managed to get ahead of Verstappen after the first corner. Further pressure from both Hamilton and Alonso, challenged the reigning world champion, and eventually led to Hamilton overtaking the Dutchman at turn three.

Also at turn three, it was a disaster for Charles Leclerc, who hit Lance Stroll at the third corner, spinning him out and bringing the end to the Ferrari’s race. With the safety car brought out for the Leclerc incident, it saw a few drivers dive into the pits early, including Sergio Perez.

Intense opening period

With the safety car restart all the leaders followed suit into the first corner, as Russell and Hamilton looked to use both cars to control the front of the race. The second safety car of the race was brought out by Alex Albon when he had a big shunt at turn seven after losing the rear of the car, once again neutralising the race. Russell and Carlos Sainz pitted from first and fourth respectively, to get on a set of hard tyres which the teams hoped would bring their drivers to the end of the race. However the safety car would be turned into a red flag, neutralising any advantage Russell and Sainz would have got from the safety car pitstop, as both Hamilton and Verstappen were able to put on new tyres with no net loss.

The red flag was resumed with a standing start, a poor start from Verstappen left him in danger of falling to third at the hands of Fernando Alonso, but the Verstappen held on. The Dutch driver chases down Hamilton after his poor restart and eventually pulls past Hamilton and into the lead on lap 12. Once Verstappen hit the front he managed to pull away and assert his dominance over the rest of the field. The only driver able to match his pace throughout the restart period was Sainz, who restarted in 10th but managed to gain four places in six laps, to bring himself back into the race after the red flag compromised his strategy.

Things went from bad to worse for Russell’s side of the Mercedes garage as his power unit would blow up in the third sector, before setting on fire forcing the Brit to pull over and bring a premature end to his race.

Strategic middle period

Perez continued his charge throughout the field, as he surged through a DRS train, and was well within the top 10 by the halfway point, meanwhile it was the other two Spanish speakers putting on a show in Melbourne, as Sainz continued to battle Pierre Gasly, eventually getting into fourth by the halfway mark. While Alonso continued to chase that 33rd win, he puts the pressure on Hamilton in second, forcing Hamilton to use more of his tyres than he would have liked. As we got deeper into the race, it calmed down a little bit as a train behind Hamilton in second was established, forcing the drivers to start saving their tyres and bring strategy back into the race. Tsunoda would later suffer a problem and drop back throughout the field dropping out of the large train, and forcing him to manage for the rest of the race.