The 2023 Australian Grand Prix was an absolutely action-packed race from start to finish. Red Bull continued their early-season domination as Max Verstappen claimed their third win in a row.
Meanwhile, a trio of red flags led to some tremendous drama, especially at the end of the race, which produced plenty of Australian Grand Prix 2023 highlights.
Those red flags led to a lot of red faces, with the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Alpine all significantly affected by them.
Read on below as SBOTOP shares the top three takeaways from a thrilling Australian Grand Prix.
Verstappen shrugs aside Silver Arrows’ challenge
Max Verstappen remarked before the start of the season that Mercedes would be Red Bull’s biggest rivals, and after two underwhelming races, the Silver Arrows finally showed that sort of form in Melbourne.
George Russell barely lost out to Verstappen for pole, then overtook the Red Bull in the opening turn. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton led the first few laps of the race.
However, Verstappen showed why the Australian Grand Prix 2023 betting odds had him as the favourite as he eventually reclaimed control of the race and didn’t relinquish it until the late red flags made things a bit closer.
Russell will be quite frustrated at his race, which was full of misfortune. After the first red flag cost him during a crucial pit stop early on, an engine blow-up ultimately forced him to retire just as he managed to work himself back up.
But while bad luck played a part in Russell’s race and Hamilton’s second-place showing was encouraging, there’s no denying that Verstappen’s pace was still quite superior to the two Silver Arrows.
Just like the rest of the grid, Mercedes still have much work to do to catch up to reigning champion Verstappen and Red Bull.
More failure and frustration at Ferrari
It has been a rough start to the season for Ferrari and new boss Frederic Vasseur. The Scuderia have a measly 26 points through three races and are already 67 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.
Australia was another disaster for the Prancing Horse, who finished without a single point. Charles Leclerc – who was the defending champion in Melbourne after his hot start last season – was knocked out in the opening lap after contact from Lance Stroll sent him crashing out.
Meanwhile, teammate Carlos Sainz saw his fourth-place finish wiped out after a five-second penalty that sent him down to 12th.
As last season showed when Ferrari seemed to be on the ascendancy and Red Bull were struggling with reliability issues only for the tables to be turned in the end, the Formula 1 season is long and there is still plenty of time to turn things around.
But with the amount of expectation both in and out of Ferrari, especially with their new leadership, there may be a bit of frustration that seeps in should these failures continue this season.
Joy for Aston Martin, woe for Alpine
By far the biggest surprise of this young F1 season has been the absolutely remarkable form of Aston Martin, who are currently second in the constructors’ standings with 65 points.
41-year-old Fernando Alonso has been amazing thus far with a hat-trick of third-place finishes under his belt. And Lance Stroll has been much-improved as well; he finished just behind Alonso in Australia and already has 20 points through three races – two more than he had in all of last season.
Alonso was involved in a crash during the late race restart after the red flag which saw him spin into the barrier. Luckily, Alonso’s car was fine and it was ruled that the finishing order would be how the drivers lined up before the restart and Alonso was able to stay in third.
However, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were not as lucky as the two Alpine drivers were involved in that chaotic final lap that saw them crash into one another. As a result, they were both knocked out of the race and both missed out on valuable points.
While it remains to be seen whether Alpine will get more good performances as they did in Melbourne, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that Aston Martin are the real deal. With Alonso still full of enthusiasm even at age 41 and Stroll showing significant signs of progress, Aston Martin could very well be competing for podium places plenty more times this season.
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