Verstappen thrilled to survive red flag 'mess' as Alonso enjoys 'rollercoaster'

By Sports Desk April 02, 2023

Max Verstappen was thrilled to seal his first victory at the Australian Grand Prix and emerge unscathed after three red flags caused chaos in Melbourne.

Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to claim his second win from three races in 2023.

The two-time world champion extended his championship lead to 15 points over team-mate Sergio Perez, who recovered from a pit-lane start to finish fifth.

Red Bull have the fastest car on the track, but Verstappen was made to work hard for his latest victory, the team's first in Australia since Sebastian Vettel triumphed in 2011.

He dropped from pole to third as he was passed by George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap, which he suggested was partly due to caution on his part.

Verstappen also made a mental note of what he felt were aggressive moves after earlier complaining on team radio that Hamilton had run him wide.

Three red flags and a frantic finish meant Verstappen was unable to coast to victory when his big lead evaporated for a standing restart, but he held off Hamilton.

"No, not straightforward!" he said after the race. "We had a very poor start. Lap one I was careful because I had a lot to lose and they [the Mercedes] had a lot to win.

"From my side, I just tried to avoid a contact [on the first lap]."

Asked about the battle with Hamilton, he said: "It's quite clear in the rules what you're allowed to do now on the outside, but clearly it's not followed.

"It's OK, we had good pace and we passed them anyway, but it's something for the next races to take into account.

"After that, the pace of the car was quick - you could see that straight away. We were always there, waiting for the DRS to open up to have the chance to pass. 

"But with these red flags, I don't know... the first one, maybe you can do it but the second one I don't really understand. So, it was a bit of a mess, but we survived everything and winning is the most important thing.

"It's great to win here - my first win here and it's been a while for the team as well since winning in Australia, so very happy."

Fernando Alonso looked relieved to have claimed a third straight podium after a "rollercoaster" race.

He thought he had lost his third place in the final moments when contact with Carlos Sainz at the second restart appeared to knock him out of contention.

But after immediately issuing a third red flag, the FIA handed Sainz a time penalty and Alonso was reprieved when it was ruled the order from the previous restart should be restored.

Asked if he had experienced a race like that before, the 41-year-old replied: "Probably not! It was a rollercoaster of emotions with many things going on at the beginning and then also at the end. 

"In the last half an hour it was difficult to understand what was going on.

"Mercedes were very fast. Lewis did an incredible job. I couldn't match or get close enough, but we'll take P3.

"The first red flag helped us because George and Carlos came in and we got those places for free. The second one probably didn't help us with the incident. But we got lucky.

"P3 and P4 is an amazing Sunday for the team. We have three third places now, let's get higher on the podium, let's go for a second place at least!"

The last occasions Alonso was on the podium for each of the first three races of a Formula One season were 2005 and 2006, the two years when he won the world championship.

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