F1 2023, Max Verstappen wins the Australian GP: Key stats
Defending Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen won the 2023 Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. Red Bull driver Verstappen won a chaotic race that finished under a safety car after a controversial crash-affected restart. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes claimed his maiden podium this season. Fernando Alonso secured a 3rd successive podium finish with his new team Aston Martin. Here's more.
80th podium and 37th race win for Verstappen
Verstappen secured a third successive podium finish in 2023, winning the season-opening Bahrain GP and then taking second place in Saudi Arabia. He has now sealed his 80th podium finish, besides winning his 37th F1 race. Notably, he won a record 15 races in the 2022 season. Verstappen's 15 F1 race wins last season were the most by an individual in a single campaign.
Maiden Australian GP win for Verstappen; 10th podium for Hamilton
Verstappen won his maiden Australian GP and claimed just his second podium here. Hamilton secured his 10th podium finish at the Australian GP. His last podium here came in 2019 when he finished second. Meanwhile, Alonso claimed his 5th podium finish here in Australia. His last podium came in 2013 when he used to race for Ferrari.
191 career podium finishes for Hamilton; Alonso gets to 101
Hamilton's second-placed finish assured him his 191st podium in a glittering F1 career. He had finished two fifth-placed finishes this year in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively. Hamilton's last podium finish came at the 2022 Sao Paolo GP. Meanwhile, Alonso maintained his perfect run to secure his 101st podium finish. Alonso is now closing in on Kimi Raikkonen, who managed 103 podium finishes.
AUS GP: A look at the top 10 drivers
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 2) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 3) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 4) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 5) Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 6) Lando Norris (McLaren) 7) Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) 8) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 9) Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) 10) Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
Driver and Constructor standings
Verstappen leads the 2023 F1 season with 69 points from three races. Perez is second on 54. Alonso is placed 3rd, having claimed 45 points. Hamilton follows suit with 38 points. In terms of the Constructor standings, Red Bull Racing lead the way with 123 points. Aston Martin have climbed to second (65 points) and are above Mercedes (56 points).
Ferrari driver Sainz was given a five-second penalty
Alonso was tagged into a spin at a restart with two laps to go. As per BBC, FIA said the order had to be declared as at the restart for one final lap behind a safety car. Sainz was given a five-second penalty for causing the decisive crash at the first corner by tagging Alonso's car. He dropped from fourth to 12th.
Chaos at the 2023 Australian GP
Earlier in the race, Safety Car made two appearances in quick succession due to Charles Leclerc retiring from a collision with Lance Stroll and Alex Albon crashing out heavily. Mercedes's Russell suffered an apparent engine failure and was ruled out. Meanwhile, another Safety Car and red flag arrived late on when Haas driver Kevin Magnussen thumped the wall exiting Turn 2.
Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon suffer
Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were hit hard by the official FIA decisions. Notably, they took the penultimate restart fifth and 10th but crashed into each other and retired at the second corner.
