MAX VERSTAPPEN claimed victory in the Australian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso after a huge PILE-UP at the end of the race.
A late red flag saw the race restart from the grid, with a number of cars, INCLUDING Fernando Alonso, getting caught up in a catalogue of crashes.
This denied Hamilton and Alonso the chance to try and overtake Verstappen, seeing the Dutchman eventually win his second race of the season and claim his first win in Australia.
- Start time: 6am UK time
- TV channel/ live stream: Sky Sports F1
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Official Australian Grand Prix results:
It took us a while to get there, we saw a lot of the safety car and three red flags in the process:
- Max Verstappen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Sergio Perez
Max Verstappen wins Australian Grand Prix
FIA decision update:
The race will resume in 10 minutes.
It will take the format of a formation lap, so nobody will be able to overtake at all.
They will drive to the chequered flag with all places as they start.
For Fernando Alonso, the good news is he will start in third as they had not passed through a section before the third red flag so they have to resume as they started on that occasion.
Cars that got damaged in the previous incident will not be involved.
In addition, Carlos Sainz has been given a 5 second penalty for the contact he made with Fernando Alonso.
FIA decision, race to restart with Alonso back in third
Decisions still ongoing
Stewards are checking the restart
Red flag, six cars taken out
Lap 57/58 – Fernando Alonso out of race
There is major contact and it looks like another red flag.
That will mean the end of the race.
Aston Martin and Alpine having a nightmare.
Race restarting, standing start
Red flag, race is suspended as they clear track
Lap 56/58 – Safety car out, Magnussen loses tyre
The replay shows he clipped a wall causing his tyre to come off and go flying in the air.
Sparks flew off the car, with debris flying everywhere.
With so little racing left it remains to be seen what they do.
Safety car sent out, Magnussen out of race
Lap 54/58 – Verstappen leads, Hamilton in second
Fernando Alonso seems to be going for Lewis Hamilton again.
With four laps remaining, the pressure is on the British driver.
He has had to hold onto his place for so long, it will feel like a win for him to retain second place.
Lap 52/58 – Verstappen leads, Hamilton in second
There will be a few drivers in the running for “driver of the day” today.
Everyone seems to be holding onto their positions and extending the gaps on the immediate car behind them.
Meanwhile, Lando Norris moves up into eighth place.
Lap 50/58 – Verstappen locks up, Hamilton closes gap
Max Verstappen had a lock issue which saw a massive oversteer.
As a result, it gives Hamilton the chance to cut his lead 4 seconds.
He is now only 7.88 seconds behind the race leader.
Lap 48/58 – Verstappen leads, Alonso sets fastest lap
There are some interesting charges out there now.
We are at the stage where teams now if their tyres will see them through to the chequered flag now.
As a result they are all picking up the pace.
Credit: Reuters Lap 46/58 – Verstappen leads, Perez moves into seventh
Max Verstappen’s teammate is looking to improve his position.
The Aston Martin team tell Fernando Alonso his tyres look good and he is free to push it for the remainder of the race.
He is only 1.5 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton.
Lap 44/58 – Battles continue out on circuit
The two duels to watch now are Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez and Lando Norris.
Perez uses the DRS once again and goes ahead of Norris.
This is becoming an interesting battle.
Lap 42/58 – Verstappen leads, Hamilton second
Lewis Hamilton has started clocking some fast times.
He is not looking to catch Max Verstappen, he knows that is unrealistic with their DRS system.
He does not want to lose out to Fernando Alonso though.
Lap 40/58 – Verstappen leads, Hamilton second
Fernando Alonso is looking to put more pressure on Lewis Hamilton.
Carlos Sainz is only 1.1 seconds behind the Spaniard.
Pierre Gasly is less than a second behind him.
Credit: AFP Lap 38/58 – Verstappen leads, Hamilton second
Since that red flag, Max Verstappen has not looked back.
Once he used DRS to go passed Lewis Hamilton, the British driver has not seen him since.
Every car bar one on the track now is on hard tyres.
Lap 36/58 – Verstappen leads, Hamilton second
Verstappen now builds a 9.07 second lead.
Aside from him, the next six cars are all putting pressure on the car in front.
The knock-on effect is causing all these drivers to pick up the pace.
That will certainly cause those tyres to degrade more quickly.
Lap 34/58 – Verstappen leads, Perez puts foot down
Sergio Perez clocks the fastest lap of the day.
A lot of cars are out there on the hard tyres now and will not want to pit before the end.
That will be down to the drivers to preserve the tyres.
Lap 32/58 – Verstappen leads only remaining Mercedes
With no George Russell out on the track, all of Mercedes hopes rest on the shoulders of Lewis Hamilton.
He may need to focus now on keeping other cars at bay rather than trying to hunt down the race leader.
The top five positions have five different teams currently.
Lap 30/58 – Verstappen leads comfortably
Max Verstappen has a 7.3 second lead over Lewis Hamilton now.
He does hold a 1.9 second lead over Fernando Alonso in third.
1:21:772 is the fastest lap of the day, of course, recorded by Max Verstappen.
Credit: AP
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
