Hamilton rivalry cools as Verstappen focuses on F1 title - Australian GP analysis

Mark Hughes

A trio of champions assembled on the podium after the 2023 Australian Grand Prix — but only one looks to be in contention for this year's title. Mark Hughes reports from Melbourne

Max Verstappen George Russell 2023 Australian GP

Verstappen's more calculated approach is a marked departure form his previous driving style

Grand Prix Photo

Mark Hughes

High drama and uncertainty at the end, but the main part of the Australian Grand Prix – between laps nine and 54 – was an uneventful high-speed demonstration on a pleasant sunny Melbourne day. A pretty standard 2023 race, with Max Verstappen running way out front, a closely-matched Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari some way behind, all of them managing their tyres so as to make their one-stop medium/hard tyre strategies work.

Just as in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the Red Bull’s advantage on race day was significantly bigger than in qualifying. It uses its tyres much more nicely than the others, but is a little slow in switching on the fronts for qualifying. Especially on such a smooth track on a very cool Saturday. That smooth track also saw the Merc W14 running low, which is where it likes to be. That – and a very messy Q3 from Ferrari – saw George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualify second and third respectively, with Fernando Alonso’s Aston slotting between the Mercs and Ferraris. Sergio Perez’s Red Bull didn’t complete a lap of qualifying. That Red Bull tyre trait may have played its part there too – he locked up and beached in the gravel on his first lap, braking hard and late for Turn 3. The team could find no technical problem with the car.

Charles Leclerc found that same gravel trap on the opening lap of the race, over-ambitious in trying to make up from his poor grid slot and clashing with Lance Stroll’s Aston, which continued without damage. By this time Verstappen was down to third from pole, having been zapped at the first corner by Russell and at Turn 3 by Hamilton. He’s got a championship to win and a super-fast car so no longer needs to go wheel-rubbing with Hamilton, in the full knowledge that he’d be able to pass on track, despite Albert Park being the second-most difficult track on the calendar on which to do that. The RB19’s DRS advantage is huge.

Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2023 Australian GP

Leclerc being dumped in the gravel was indicative of his season so far

Grand Prix Photo

But before he could do that, Alex Albon, running sixth for Williams (having qualified eighth), brought out the safety car on lap eight. This offered a time-cheap pit stop for the others but was much earlier than ideal in switching from the medium tyre (which almost everyone had started on) to the hard. But do-able with a lot of tyre management. Mercedes brought in Russell and Ferrari Carlos Sainz. The others stayed out, Hamilton now leading from Verstappen and Alonso. The 10sec saving from a stop under the safety car was almost certainly going to ensure that Russell beat Hamilton. But given the Red Bull’s raw pace advantage, Verstappen could surely have overcome him if things had just stayed like that.

But they didn’t. A red flag replaced the safety car, meaning those who hadn’t stopped got to change their tyres without the delay of a pit stop. It put Russell seventh on the restart grid, Sainz 11th. Hamilton retained his lead but Verstappen was soon all over him, once the Red Bull got its tyres up to temperature. The pass came on the long DRS run up to the fast Turn 9 and was completed in the first part of that turn. It was an impressive spectacle but a relatively simple move. From there, Verstappen was on his way, and was eventually nursing a lead of 10sec or so.

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Russell’s Mercedes stopped with its engine ablaze, Hamilton concentrated on keeping Alonso out of his DRS reach. Which was a bit of a stretch, but despite Hamilton’s fears, the tyres were up to it. Sainz came aggressively through the field to be sitting a couple of seconds behind Alonso, but Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Stroll were hanging onto him. Perez, from the back, had made it up to fifth and possibly had Sainz in range. Nico Hülkenberg was doing a great job for Haas just behind them but eventually had to give way to Lando Norris’ McLaren. Just behind that team mate Oscar Piastri got the upper hand in a fight with Yuki Tsunoda, and Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa took advantage to also pass the AlphaTauri.

The stalemate was broken just four laps from the end when Kevin Magnussen stripped his right-rear tyre off the rim against the Turn 2 wall. He pulled over, trailing wheel rim and other debris in his wake. Out came the safety car followed by another red flag. And a third standing start.

Verstappen this time got away well, with Hamilton slotting in behind. Sainz, seeing opportunity that wasn’t really there, misjudged things into Turn 1 and hit Alonso into a spin. Chaos ensued and within it the Alpine team was eliminated as Gasly wedged in team-mate Esteban Ocon between himself and the wall. Another red flag. But with not enough laps left to do another racing lap. With the requirement to run the race to full completion if it is still in the time window, the grid lined up again minus the damaged cars – which meant that Alonso’s undamaged car was able to restart from its third position – and escorted to the chequered flag.

Like that, Verstappen won another grand prix, with Hamilton and Alonso joining him on the podium, all having driven like the champions they are. Although Sainz was fourth across the line, his 5sec penalty for the Alonso incident dropped him out of the points.