The Grand Prix in Melbourne ended with another victory for Max Verstappen, but what will be remembered from him is mostly enormous chaos. Several crashes, three red flags and eight driver retirements are part of the crazy third race of the 2023 season, one that miraculously didn’t end with serious injuries.
Already in the first round it looked like it was going to be a mess when Charles Leclerc, one of the top drivers in the round ended the race earlier than expected. The first hard crash that warranted a red flag was Williams’ Alex Albon, who lost control of the car in the seventh lap, drove into the gravel and got stuck in the wall.
Then, before the end, came the big rush. In the 57th lap, Kevin Magnussen’s Haas lost a wheel after getting stuck in the wall, which led to another red flag and a stoppage of about half an hour. Once the month of the race came a huge crash that included the retirement of several drivers and several smashed vehicles and another stop and the race itself ended with all the drivers keeping their place.
In total, as mentioned, eight drivers retired: George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Logan Sargent and Nick de Vries. The two Williams cars and the two Alpin cars (which stuck together in the last crash) did not finish the race.
???? RED FLAG ????
MULTIPLE CARS ARE OUT!!! #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/zycwEEjlWs
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023
LAP 54/58
⚠️ SAFETY CAR ⚠️
K-Mag is stopped and looks to be missing a right rear tyre#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/voBWDd69sJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023