Eight suspensions and a fire-breathing exhaust pipe – in the Australian F1 race, the finish line was boringly followed by the safety car

The Australian GP was one of the most confusing in F1 history with many crashes and restarts. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the race, for whom the victory was the 37th of his career and the first in Australia.

Red Bull Max Verstappen drove behind the safety car for his second win of the F1 season in Australia. In second place was Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and third was again by Aston Martin Fernando Alonso.

Alfa Romeo’s Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas started the race from the pit and was 11th in the end, when eight drivers fell from the front and Ferrari’s who was fourth Carlos Sainz received a five second time penalty.

The Australian race was colored by several exit races, when the safety car was called to the track three times and the start was renewed three times. Despite the bad crashes, luckily no driver was injured.

The Australian race started quite difficult when the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc cleared the initial starting amount, but still drove out on the first lap. The safety car was called to the track.

After a while, the race continued as usual, but then the Williams driver Alex Albon apparently made a steering error and his car skidded off the track. The exit sent a wreath onto the track and Albon’s car had to be picked up with a crane. Safety car on the track and moments later the race was stopped before 10 laps were completed.

At the restart, Hamilton was stronger than Verstappen and he was able to lead a few laps. Verstappen’s driving and car was stronger again when he got past and led the race for a long time.

Mercedes driver of George Russell the race ended on the 18th lap when his car’s power unit failed and the exhaust started spitting flames.

Four laps to go for the Haas driver Kevin Magnussen failed miserably as his drive line led to a rail fence. The right rear tire of the car came off and fell onto the track. The track had to be cleaned again and it was time for the third start.

The second restart was wild when seven cars ran off the track and four drivers had to stop due to crashes. An Aston Martin driver from outsiders Lance Stroll survived with a jolt when he was able to get back on track.

Fernando Alonso was also forced off the track when Carlos Sainz crashed into him. However, Alonso was able to continue the race, and Sainz received a five-second time penalty, which dropped him to 12th in 4th place.

– Can not be true. This cannot be accepted. Ask (the judges) to discuss this with me, Sainz raged on the Ferrari team radio.

We wondered for a long time whether to drive the last lap of the race and finally the drivers went for a lap of the track following the safety car. The end of the Australian race was quite anticlimactic compared to the nuanced events of the race.

Update 4/2/2023 at 12:23: Clarified the crash situation of Sainz and Alonso. Added Sainz’s comment.