Sacré Bleu
From warring Frenchmen to penalty pleas, the debacle down under that was the ‘23 Australian Grand Prix
Fifty-eight laps, four DRS zones, 190-some miles, one criminal first corner, 12 retirements, three red flags and three World Champion podium finishers made the 2023 Australian Grand Prix one for the history books.
A brief breakdown.
The Melbourne-based race did in fact make history on Sunday, with the most decorated podium in Formula One (a combined 373 podium finishes between race winner Max Verstappen, runner-up Lewis Hamilton, and third-place pace-master Fernando Alonso). The race also featured an unprecedented waving of three red flags.
As the lights went out and away they drove, the drivers immediately faced a collision as star Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc spun out after clipping Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, resulting in a safety car. Alex Albon, who stunned with a sixth spot hold after a memorable qualifying, had his elbows out and caused the first red flag of many following a high-impact crash. George Russell’s race ended in an engine fire and upset after he pitted for new tires prematurely and missed the red flag advantage.
Lap 52 saw Kevin Magnussen’s Haas ramming into the wall, leaving the track scattered with gravel and Pirelli tire chunks. The resulting red flag and restart saw cars fall like dominoes as DNF after DNF was served up with a side of a third — and final — red flag.
The race ended in an underwhelming fashion with only a dozen drivers finishing under the safety car in the aftermath of Sainz’s turn into the older Spaniard, Alonso.
An air of outstanding overtakes
The reckless spirit of Australia clearly made an impression on some unsuspecting drivers as the second Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, and McLaren’s Lando Norris overtook with a sophisticated first-class flare. Most notably, Sergio “Checo” Perez stunned with a twentieth to fifth-place leap in position — overtaking on high-speed corners and making a strong case for Driver of the Day.
The Frenchies are fighting
The chaotic restart after Kevin Magnussen’s self-inflicted DNF left Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon out for the count as the teammates crashed amid the sea of brake-checking and gravel spray.
Fans were quick to speculate that the French pairing’s newfound comradery was sure to revert back to animosity. The two issued a joint statement that seemed to provide some preventative damage control, but memes referring to the theatric slam as “the French Civil War” prevailed.
A mix-up in what looked like a lackluster season
Between the crashes, spins, and safety cars, a silver lining emerged. While fan favorites, like Leclerc and Russell who are typically series regulars in the front of the grid, unfortunately didn’t finish, room was left room for grid underdogs to strut their stuff.
The final point-scorers featured below 10th mainstays like Nico Hülkenberg (making it up to fourth before dropping down to seventh), Yuki Tsunoda, newbie Oscar Piastri, and Zhou Guyanu. Overall, Australia showed a surprising mix-up in the middle, with hungry fights from less-hyped drivers like Albon, Tsunoda, and Piastri while drivers like Verstappen were uncharacteristically quiet.
Both McLaren drivers seemed elated after the weekend, and rightly so after their traumatic start to the season. The sixth-place finish for Norris and eighth-place finish for Piastri at the Albert Park Circuit meant the team’s first points of 2023 were made even more special at the rookie’s home race.
Above all, the up-front dance that fans, and drivers, have been craving came to fruition. Despite Verstappen’s methodic first-place finish, Red Bull’s unsteady starts with multiple red flags thrown left Mercedes with an advantage. The Russell versus Verstappen battle, with Russell succeeding in taking pole in lap one, was refreshing. The push-and-pull of Verstappen versus Hamilton was pure nostalgia.
A shattered Sainz
Viewers watching from home saw a rare moment of pure emotion from Sainz as the fifth-place sitter was knocked to twelfth. Race control’s slap of a five-second penalty had the Ferrari driver on the brink of tears with his voice wavering as he pleaded for reevaluation. The moment was intimate to the point of uncomfortable. Several people have taken to social media to express concern for or, alternatively, crucify Sainz over hitting Alonso and referring to his punishment as “the most unfair penalty I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Red flag rioting
The fans weren’t the only ones with a bone to pick with race control. Drivers and team principals criticized the inconsistency of decision-making between incidents within this race and previous race weekends.
As Sunday came to a close, the media pen was charged with clashing moods. McLaren energized; Alpine angry; Aston Martin complimentary; Ferrari fuming.
Chiefly, as McLaren said best on their Instagram, it was simply chaotic.