To say that the 2023 Australian GP was dramatic would be an understatement.The race started with a bang as Russell took the lead from Verstappen, closely followed by Hamilton in P2. Further behind, Stroll and Leclerc were battling it out when Turn 3 when Leclerc ended up in the gravel, and out of the race. This brought out the first safety car of the race. Soon after a host of drivers came in for a quick change of tires, the race resumed.
Three laps after, Albon crashed into the barriers at Turn 7, which resulted in another safety car. Some chose to pit, the others didn’t. And those who didn’t: what a good decision indeed! The debris from the crash, resulted in the first red flag of what turned out to be a fairly long race.When the race resumed after a standing start, Russell suffered an engine failure, which ended his strong run that weekend. After a bried Virtual Safety Car, the race resumed to normal. Max kept pulling away in P1, but the battle for P2 was far more exciting! Watching ex-teammates Alonso and Hamilton race each other for P2 was a treat to our eyes indeed. A while later, on lap 56 to be exact, Magnussen crashed into the wall at Turn 2, which eventually brought out the second red flag of the race. The race had its third standing start in what was supposed to be a two-lap shootout to the end. At the restart though, Sainz and Alonso crashed at Turn 1, Gasly collided with his teammate Ocon, Sargeant and de Vries crashed, and Perez and Stroll went off all on their own. Drama? Drama!
SIX cars out in three turns. Honestly felt like it we were watching a movie playing out. Anywhoo, after the third red flag of the race, we got racing again with a rolling start, and watched Max Verstappen claim his first win in Australia! This eventful race has certainly set the tone for the rest of the season. We’ll see you there?