Formula 1

Max Verstappen criticised F1 governing body, the FIA, after he won a chaotic Australian Grand Prix.

“I thought the red flag was totally unnecessary,” he said. “I just didn’t understand why we needed a red flag. The world champion dismissed it as a mess and accused the FIA, the governing body, of being responsible.

Max Verstappen got the result that he wanted in the Australian GP to keep his place atop the F1 standings, but it wasn't without controversy.

Despite the restart, Max was able to hold on and take the win, Red Bull’s third through three races thus far. Max Verstappen was referring to a controversial decision during the 55th lap as he held a firm lead ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who trailed him in second place. “It left a lot of drivers confused as to why we needed a second red flag.

Spectators managed to break through security and access the track toward the end of the race, with some reaching the car driven by Haas's Nico Hulkenberg as ...

Organisers said a crowd of 131,124 attended Albert Park for Sunday’s race and a record total of 444,631 spectators across the race week. “All of this presented significant danger to the spectators; race officials and the drivers,” stewards said in a statement issued by the governing FIA. Stewards have ordered Australian Grand Prix organisers to urgently produce a “remediation plan” after a large group of spectators invaded the track during the Formula One race at Albert Park on Sunday.

The race in Melbourne emphasized how radically F1's rules can reshape a race, for better and worse.

“Someone does something stupid and turn one locks up, and your race is over because (FIA) just want to make the show more exciting.” It all left 12 cars running in a shaken-up order, with Sainz on the podium, Nico Hülkenberg, and Yuki Tsunoda in the top five, and Alonso out of the points. Combined with the standing restarts, which create excitement but also bring the risk of more incidents, today being a case in point, it all added up to one of F1’s stranger recent races. The stewards had no valid reason (like severe weather) to call it over. He may not have been able to hold on — when The Athletic told Horner that Russell thought Mercedes could have won, he replied with a confused: “Why?” — but it at least would have created some fight and strategic variation. And this would be the one that really confused. Verstappen predictably made light work of overtaking Hamilton, recovering the lead on Lap 12 thanks to the Red Bull’s mighty straight-line advantage with DRS in use, and then established a healthy buffer to the chasing pack. One lap after the safety car was deployed, the stewards upgraded the situation to a red flag, calling all the cars off the track to allow for proper cleanup. [Mercedes](https://theathletic.com/tag/mercedes/) on the opening lap, giving George Russell the lead. Hamilton and Verstappen stayed out, meaning that although they inherited first and second, they would be at a strategic disadvantage to Russell as the time lost in the pits is reduced under the safety car due to the slow-moving train of cars. Because the red flag was called on Lap 9, drivers could switch to the hard compound tire and, with a bit of management, run to the end without pitting again. (“What is the only F1 race to have three red flags?”)

The injured motorhead was in ambulance care after narrowly avoiding disaster while sitting with his fiancé.

“It was quite funny, because after the accident with Kevin Magnussen, my partner said, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I feel safe standing here’. “They let me pose for a picture with it and then took it off. When they held it up, I was quite surprised how large it was.” I didn’t think to look for it; I thought it was quite small. “I haven’t spoken to anyone from the race. I just feel lucky that it wasn’t any worse.