MAX VERSTAPPEN won a chaotic and controversial Australian GP – which raised more questions about the FIA’s ability to referee F1 races.
The Dutchman was deserving of his victory while Lewis Hamilton took second-place and Fernando Alonso survived a spin to come home in third place.
Hamilton was delighted with his podium as he was no match for Verstappen’s pace.
But it was the late drama which drew the attention, as a series of bizarre steward decisions again caused confusion.
Ironic that former FIA Race Director, Michael Masi, was in the paddock for the first time given it was his bungling of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP which cost him his job.
The three world champions all held their nerve but it was heartbreak for George Russell, who had a nightmare.
After a dream start where he beat Verstappen off the line, the Mercedes man came under pressure from his team-mate.
He radioed his team saying: “You’re asking me to manage and I am being attacked by my own team-mate!”
Mercedes responded by calling him in from second place to pit for tyres but it happened at the worst possible time as the race was red-flagged.
The stop was caused by Alex Albon’s crash and allowed Russell’s rivals to make free pitstops for fresh tyres.
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It was a controversial decision to stop the race with many drivers feeling that the stewards were too cautious.
The pitstop dropped him to seventh place when he had been running in first but things soon turned even worse when his engine blew up on lap 18, sending him out of the race.
Meanwhile, Hamilton, who had inherited the lead from Russell’s pitstop, held off Verstappen at the restart after the red flag.
But it lasted just two laps as the Dutchman breezed past Hamilton around the outside before turn nine.
He then set about opening up a staggering TWO SECOND gap over Hamilton, which he made in just half a lap, such is the speed advantage of his Red Bull.
But for a lock-up late on, Verstappen was untroubled as he maintained his advantage over Hamilton.
The real excitement was between Hamilton and his old nemesis Alonso, as they battled for second place.
At one point Hamilton radioed his team saying: “There’s no way I am losing to him!”
The two sparred over the duration of the race until it was turned on its head just three laps from the end.
Kevin Magnussen crashed his Haas, sending debris onto the track and, just as they had done with Albon’s crash the stewards again stopped the race.
It meant that the race came down to the final two laps – just as the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP should have done.
But Verstappen was furious and radioed his team saying: “What the f***! We don’t need a red flag.”
It was the third standing start of the race and it sparked even more chaos as a total of SIX cars were all involved in collisions.
Carlos Sainz clipped fellow Spaniard Alonso, earning himself a five-second penalty, which was hard on the Ferrari man.
Alonso was spun and dropped back but the FIA decided to re-rack the grid for the THIRD standing start, moving him back into third place.
“No!” said Sainz as he was told the news. “They need to wait until after the race to discuss it with me.”
He was livid and it was understandable.
The two Alpines hit each other too, sending debris all across the track, as they were both knocked out of the race when it had been looking so good for the team.
Amid the chaos, the stewards again red-flagged the race with just a lap remaining.
This time, the FIA CHANGED their rules and opted for a finish behind the safety car, so it was a rolling start.
It was another spell of confusion, and big delay, as the stewards tossed up and thumbed through their rulebook to again decide the outcome of a race.
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It resulted in a damp squib, as they were told not to overtake and the final lap was a processional finish.
It was anticlimactic, but this time it was fair – perhaps how the Abu Dhabi race should have ended too.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
