George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14 leads at the start of the race. 02.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Race Day.
Max Verstappen prevailed in Australia for the first time in his Formula 1 career during a controversial and confusing Sunday afternoon in Melbourne.
But which drivers survived the chaos Down Under to score a good result and who got caught up in trouble across a captivating weekend of action at the Albert Park Circuit?
Max Verstappen – 8.5
Qualified: P1, Race: P1
Heading into this weekend Verstappen had never stood on top of the podium in Australia but the Dutchman got the job done in qualifying to be well on course to change that.
Although he lost out to both Mercedes’ at the start, Verstappen profited from George Russell’s misfortune in pitting before the red flag and the lightning speed of his Red Bull in a straight line to blitz past Lewis Hamilton and into a commanding lead.
Race winner Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme. 02.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Race Day.
While the late-standing restart threatened to undo his good work, Verstappen held his nerve to see through his second victory of the 2023 season.
Not the reigning World Champion’s most assured performance, however, having made sluggish getaways on two of the three standing starts, with the dominance of his machinery even affording the time for an excursion at the penultimate corner when coasting.
Sergio Perez – 6
Qualified: P20 (Started: Pitlane), Race: P5
A problematic final practice session and complaints of problems with his RB19 resulted in Perez ending up in the gravel at Turn 3 before he had posted a time in qualifying.
His comeback through the field was steady rather than spectacular and the interruption of a second red flag in the closing stages did rather little to hamper his charge through.
Charles Leclerc – 5
Qualified: P7, Race: DNF
Despite being unhappy with a miscommunication with his team-mate wrecking his final run, Leclerc rued not driving at his best level throughout qualifying.
Aiming to make up places from a lowly seventh on the grid, the Monegasque racer spotted an opening on the outside of the Aston Martins at Turn 3.
But with the gap closing on the approach to the corner, Lance Stroll was sandwiched and sent Leclerc spinning into the gravel and out for a second time in three events.
Carlos Sainz – 6.5
Qualified: P5, Race: P12
Having made up a spot at the start, Sainz was unfortunate to be caught out by pitting under the Safety Car before the race was suspended.
Despite dropping to 11th, the Spaniard embarked on a strong recovery drive to haul his way back into fourth place and on the tail of the podium places.
However, over-enthusiasm on the brakes into Turn 1 at the second restart saw him collect Fernando Alonso and receive a five-second time penalty that eventually demoted him out of the points.
Lewis Hamilton – 9
Qualified: P3, Race: P2
Slight hesitancy from Verstappen and clever car positioning from Hamilton enabled the seven-time champion to slip down the inside of the Red Bull at Turn 3 on the opening lap, which became the lead when Russell was caught flat-footed by the red flag.
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates his second position on the podium. 02.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Race Day.
While Hamilton was ultimately powerless to defend against a flying Red Bull on the long approach to Turn 11, the Brit was doing a stellar job in maintaining the gap to a lurking Alonso.
Another mighty getaway on the second restart wasn’t enough to challenge Verstappen for the win but enabled Hamilton to avoid the carnage behind and score his first podium of the year.
George Russell – 9
Qualified: P2, Race: DNF
Out-qualifying Hamilton on a circuit where he has claimed eight pole positions was no mean feat, with Russell then mastering the start to poach the lead at Turn 1.
However, a potentially inspired decision to change onto the Hard compound when the second Safety Car was deployed on Lap 7 turned out to be the beginning of his afternoon unravelling as a red flag was called shortly after, dropping him to P7.
A rare Mercedes engine blowout shortly after would spell an abrupt end to a promising weekend.
Esteban Ocon – 6
Qualified: P11, Race: DNF
Traffic denied Ocon a place in Q3 for the third consecutive Saturday in 2023 and the Frenchman was another to be struck by the poor timing of the race being stopped on Lap 9.
On course to trundle home 10th after smartly picking his way back through, Ocon’s opportunity to accumulate more points with the late restart was written off by his team-mate putting him into the wall on the exit of Turn 2.
Pierre Gasly – 4.5
Qualified: P9, Race: DNF
After emerging as the lead Alpine in qualifying and running a strong fifth in the race, Gasly was all set to string together his most impressive weekend since his winter switch.
Sadly, overshooting the first turn at the restart and subsequently taking both cars out of points positions with a recklessly careless rejoin manoeuvre warrants a big knock to the one-time race winner’s weekend score.
Lando Norris – 9.5
Qualified: P13, Race: P6
Following his open admission that he had been culpable of “overdriving” to make up for the deficiencies of a struggling MCL60 over a single lap, Norris was at his brilliant best on race day in Australia to maximise everything that was on the table and more.
Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60. 02.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Race Day.
The young Brit took full advantage of quicker cars sustaining early misfortune to be running in the points for the majority of the race before profiting from additional chaos to collect more valuable points.
In optimising an incident-ridden afternoon to haul McLaren off the foot of the table, Norris will be hopeful the team’s extensive Baku update package can deliver the necessary gains to fight for points consistently again.
Oscar Piastri – 7
Qualified: P16, Race: P8
Piastri must have been fearing that the home race curse was about to land on his shoulders when he dropped out in Q1 for the second time in three rounds.
While the Australian rookie put in a solid drive to stand on the fringes of the top 10, he also benefitted from the carnage that ensured with the standing restart to bag his maiden F1 points.
Valtteri Bottas – 4
Qualified: P19 (Started: Pitlane), Race: P11
While usually enjoying a quiet run to the flag can often spell a good thing for a driver equipped with midfield-running machinery, Bottas being the sole classified driver without a penalty to not land a point was an accurate summary of how his weekend unfolded.
Puzzled by setting the slowest time of all in qualifying, the Finn failed to make an impression at all on proceedings on race day.
Zhou Guanyu – 7
Qualified: P17, Race: P9
Having had the measure of his team-mate in Saudi Arabia without reward, Zhou would have been delighted that beating Bottas convincingly in Australia yielded his first points of the year.
Despite Zhou being upbeat about the improvement the team’s revised front wing brought, Alfa Romeo requires more developments to ensure points on merit become a regular occurrence.
Fernando Alonso – 8.5
Qualified: P4, Race: P3
Alonso’s third-place finish looked to have gone when Sainz collided with his Aston Martin on the penultimate course but a return to the order before the restart rescued his race.
Although he was unable to mount an attack on Hamilton’s Mercedes throughout with a slightly quicker package underneath him, a third podium in three races continued the good times rolling down at Aston Martin.
Lance Stroll – 7
Qualified: P6, Race: P4
Ending up only a tenth behind Alonso in qualifying was a strong effort from Stroll and he was set for a measured run to another points finish after being an innocent passenger in the first-lap incident with Leclerc.
The Canadian could count himself fortunate, however, that the previous race order was restored when he flew off the track at Turn 3 attempting to get ahead of Sainz on the restart.
Kevin Magnussen – 3
Qualified: P14, Race: DNF
Once again Magnussen was put in the shade by his new team-mate in qualifying and on this occasion the Dane wasn’t able to recover the lost ground on Sunday.
It was rather telling that his primary contribution was causing the incident between Turns 2 and 3 that provided the second red flag and ignited some late-race entertainment.
Nico Hulkenberg – 9.5
Qualified: P10, Race: P7
Hulkenberg hauled himself into Q3 for the third weekend in succession with another sparkling qualifying performance.
But, unlike in the previous two races, this time the German was able to keep it together and convert his strong starting position.
Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Haas VF-23. 02.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Race Day.
Running inside the top 10 for the entirety of the race, the F1 returnee managed to stay out of trouble at the restart and would have been staring at a first-career podium if the red flag wasn’t signalled again.
Nevertheless, a stellar run to seventh represented a solid afternoon’s work and was demonstrative of exactly why Haas was right to bring in his experience.
Yuki Tsunoda – 8
Qualified: P12, Race: P10
Whereas many others suffered from the timing of the opening stoppage, Tsunoda was one of the biggest gainers to be elevated into the top 10.
While persistent trouble impacted an already struggling car and dropped him rapidly out of the points, the Japanese participant was crucially still running to then reap the benefits from the disorder ahead of him.
Following two races where he narrowly missed out on scoring, Tsunoda was ecstatic to finally put points on the board for a flailing AlphaTauri side.
Nyck de Vries – 5.5
Qualified: P15, Race: DNF
De Vries was able to accommodate Tsunoda into Q2 but once again the Dutch rookie was no match for his more experienced but vastly younger team-mate.
With Tsunoda having damaged the upgraded floor on Friday and returned to the previous spec, a 0.2s deficit in qualifying summarised de Vries’ early-season struggles.
The ex-Formula E champion was unlucky, though, to be collected by Logan Sargeant on the restart, denying him any opportunity to snatch an improbable point.
Alex Albon – 4.5
Qualified: P8, Race: DNF
Achieving Williams’ best qualifying result in over five years was supported by an immense start that saw Albon amazingly running in sixth in the early embers.
However, the Thai driver was unable to register a second consecutive points score in Melbourne as he suddenly lost his car into the barrier at Turn 7 on Lap 7.
Logan Sargeant – 3
Qualified: P18, Race: DNF
A weekend to forget for Sargeant: competitive action began with a spin in qualifying as he ended up nearly 0.6s behind Albon in Q1 in machinery capable of reaching the final stage.
The race wouldn’t get much better for him either as an early switch onto the Medium compound proved to be the wrong one from the team while piling straight into de Vries and taking them both out of the running on the resumption of the race only served to round out the American’s miserable weekend.
Keyword: Motorsport Week’s F1 2023 Australian GP Driver Ratings