Verstappen wins chaotic Australian Grand Prix in extraordinary conclusion

Max Verstappen has won tonight’s Australian Grand Prix, taking the chequered flag ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

This year’s race in Melbourne will be talked about for years to come following a chaotic and somewhat controversial conclusion.

A late red flag with just three laps remaining turned the race into a sprint to the line, Verstappen losing an 8-second lead following a Kevin Magnussen crash on Lap 55.

Hamilton had been sitting a comfortable second at that point, keeping Alonso at bay throughout proceedings while Sainz and Gasly had rounded out the top five.

That all changed off the restart, a chaotic run through the first three turns, taking six cars out beginning from the front with Sainz spinning Alonso across the front of the trailing field.

A locked-up Pierre Gasly was also caught out with Sergio Perez running through the grass to avoid contact.

Gasly rejoining caught Ocon by surprise, the two Alpine making contact and sustaining significant damage on the inside wall.

Logan Sargeant and Nyck De Vries were involved in a separate Turn 1 incident, both cars becoming stranded in the runoff.

Alonso and his teammate Lance Stroll, who had avoided the incident but ran long at Turn 4, were both able to return to the lane but sat 11th and 12th.

Uncertainty clouded the paddock regarding the approach the FIA would take in assessing the race, determining if it would restart for the final lap or the standings at the previous restart.

Ultimately, the final lap would be run behind the Safety Car in the order the field had stood before the last restart.

Alpine were the biggest losers in this, their cars both out of running and losing out on a good points haul that would have been rightly deserved.

Sainz was also awarded a 5-second penalty for causing the collision, which put him out of the points, making for a scoreless round for Ferrari after Charles Leclerc spun out on Lap 1.

After two and a half hours Verstappen finally crossed the line first for his maiden victory in Melbourne ahead of Hamilton and Alonso.

Stroll was classified fourth over Perez, whilst Norris scored McLaren’s first points of the season with a well-deserved sixth. Nico Hulkenberg was also solid for seventh, one spot ahead of hometown hero Oscar Piastri who scored the first points of his career in front of a delighted Australian crowd.

Guanyu Zhou finished ninth for Alfa Romeo, whilst Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.

In all, eight cars failed to finish the race, Leclerc the first to retire after beaching in the Turn 3 gravel. Alex Albon joined him in the paddock on Lap 8, clipping the wall and retiring with damage, bringing out the first of three red flags.

George Russell had also worked hard after losing out in the first red flag, having led early, a fire forcing him to retire.

Magnussen’s Lap 55 crash put him out and triggered the second red flag, while the pileup above forced Logan Sargeant, Nyck de Vries, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon out.

Header Image: Mark Thompson/ Getty Images