Verstappen avoids the drama to claim Australian GP victory

Though it was a chaotic Australian Grand Prix behind him, it was pretty routine for Max Verstappen as he cruised to his second win of the season.

Marred by red flags, restarts and crashes, Verstappen overcame his poor initial start, which saw him drop to third behind Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, to open a comfortable lead on course to victory.

A late crash from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen brought out the red flag again, meaning Verstappen would have to defend from Hamilton with just two laps to go, but more drama unfolded behind, with three separate crashes involving Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Nyk DeVries, Logan Sargent and Lance Stroll all forcing the race into a premature end.

The win sees Verstappen open up a 15-point advantage at the top of the driver’s standings after three races.

He said: “My start today wasn’t amazing and then on lap 1 I was very careful as there was a lot on the line, I had a lot to lose and a lot to win. But after that restart, we had good pace and a decent gap for the majority of the race.

“Perhaps we didn’t need all of those red flags today, it was frustrating, but everyone was safe and we won which is the most important thing.

It’s my first win in Australia which feels really good, it’s also been a while for the team so it means a lot to us all.

“It’s been a chaotic day but it’s great to see that the fans had a great time despite the long wait!”

While it was a comfortable one for Verstappen, his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez had to try and negotiate all of the midfield drama as he recovered from qualifying 20th on the grid. Picking his way through, he finished sixth on the road but fifth on the timesheets after a five-second penalty was handed to Sainz at the end.

Perez added: “Generally, it was a good result today. In qualifying, I obviously lost a bit of confidence with the car, but we made a lot of changes overnight so that helped heading into the race.

“I had a really good restart the first time, I jumped 3 or 4 places but then it was a bit of a mess with the DRS train. I was frustrated later in the race because I couldn’t advance any further.

“Maybe if I’d been a bit more aggressive earlier on, I could’ve finished higher, but I’m happy we finished P5 and even managed to secure the fastest lap.”