Here’s How The 2023 F1 Australian Grand Prix Went
Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix 2023, source: ferrari.com
Record-breaking Attendance
The 2023 Formula One Australian Grand Prix, held in Melbourne, broke its attendance record for the second consecutive year with over 440,000 fans attending the four-day event.
Although the estimated attendance of 441,631 over four days is a new record for Melbourne, the all-time Australian Grand Prix attendance record remains with the final running of the event in Adelaide in 1995, where an estimated 520,000 fans attended.
Sunday's attendance for the 2023 event was the second highest on record for Melbourne at 131,124, with the highest being the 210,000 fans estimated to have attended the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.
Three Red Flags!
The race was marked by a series of crashes and mechanical failures that resulted in the red flagging of the race three times - a first in Formula One history.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen emerged victorious after a chaotic race, with Aussie rookie Oscar Piastri scoring his first-ever Formula One points with an eighth-placed finish.
The race was marked by several incidents, starting with a safety car being called out on the opening lap to recover the stranded Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who had spun off into the gravel. The second safety car was called on Lap 7 after Alex Albon's Williams spun and crashed into a tyre barrier. The race was soon escalated to a red flag to stop the race while debris was cleared off the circuit.
After the race resumed on Lap 10, Verstappen took the lead from Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Lap 12 and drew an 8.5-second gap before the race was paused again on Lap 53 after the rear-right tyre from the Haas of Denmark's Kevin Magnussen's came off after clipping the wall. The second red flag was called on Lap 55 to recover the tyre, and race officials elected to end the Grand Prix with a two-lap sprint to the finish line.
However, the second race restart led to more chaos as several drivers collided before reaching the third turn, leading to a third red flag for about 30 minutes to clear the four stricken cars. The race was then finished under a safety car procession, with Verstappen crossing the finish line first, followed by Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
Australian Grand Prix Controversy Explained - TL;DR
Essentially: Kevin Magnussen's crash triggered a safety car, which escalated into a red flag. Subsequently, a standing restart led to more collisions, including Max Verstappen blocking Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz clipping Fernando Alonso.
The race ended under a safety car due to another red flag, prompting discussions about whether the order should be restored or remain as was.
Ultimately, the provisional race results mirrored the grid order before the last red flag. Drivers expressed dissatisfaction with the red flag periods and restart decisions, highlighting concerns about fairness and the impact on race outcomes
The main controversy, however, was that Carlos Sainz received a five-second penalty for colliding with Fernando Alonso, which dropped him from fourth to 12th in the final classification. Ferrari expressed frustration and disbelief at the penalty, with team principal Frederic Vasseur criticizing the swiftness of the decision and its impact on the race outcome.
Sainz himself vehemently protested the penalty, calling it a disgrace and stating that he wanted to speak to the stewards before commenting further. Despite efforts by Ferrari to appeal the penalty with new evidence, the FIA dismissed their bid, upholding Sainz's penalty and the subsequent drop in his race result
The drama continued off-track as well, with incidents like a track invasion after the race and a breach of regulations by fans running onto the live circuit. The Australian Grand Prix Corporation faced scrutiny for these post-event scenes and had to address the situation with a remediation plan to prevent future occurrences.
