(Reuters) – Team by team analysis of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park, round three of the 23-race Formula One season (listed in current championship order):
RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 5)
Red Bull won the opening three races of a season for the first time. This was also their 350th race. The victory, from pole, was double champion Verstappen’s second of 2023 and first in Australia. The Dutchman lost out to Russell and Hamilton at the start, complaining about Hamilton’s turn three move forcing him wide, but retook the lead by passing the seven-times champion around the outside on lap 12. He now has 37 wins. Perez, winner in Saudi Arabia, started from the pits but was ninth by halfway and was Driver of the Day with fastest lap.
ASTON MARTIN (Fernando Alonso 3, Lance Stroll 4)
Alonso’s third third-place finish in three races for the team he joined this season from Renault-owned Alpine. The Spaniard started fourth, dropped to fifth but was third by the second red flag. He fell out of the top 10 after the chaotic final re-start where he was spun by Sainz but was reinstated when the order was re-set to the final grid position. Stroll started sixth and tagged Leclerc at the start.
MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 2, George Russell retired)
Russell suffered a first mechanical retirement since joining Mercedes last season. The Briton led into the first corner but pitted on lap eight during the second safety car period just before a red flag, dropping to seventh while Hamilton took over at the front. Russell pulled up with his car flaming at the rear on lap 18, triggering a virtual safety car. Hamilton lost the lead to Verstappen on lap 12 once DRS was activated but took Mercedes’ first podium of 2023.
FERRARI (Carlos Sainz 12, Charles Leclerc retired)
Last year’s winner Leclerc spun into the gravel at turn three on the opening lap, bringing out an immediate safety car, after contact with Stroll. Sainz was third at the finish after starting fifth but a five-second penalty imposed on the final lap for the collision with Alonso dropped him out of the points. He had fought back from 11th after pitting during the second safety car period, just before the first red flag.
MCLAREN (Lando Norris 6, Oscar Piastri 8)
McLaren scored their first points of the campaign and Piastri the first of his career, in his home race. They started 13th and 16th respectively. Norris passed Hulkenberg for eighth place six laps from the end and gained places when Alpine’s Gasly crashed out and Sainz was penalised.
ALPINE (Pierre Gasly 13, Esteban Ocon 14)
The two Frenchmen collided after the third and final standing start, taking each other out at the exit to turn two with two laps to go. Gasly was fifth for much of the race with Ocon also on for a points finish. Gasly had run wide at turn one and was hit in the rear by Ocon after returning to the track.
HAAS (Nico Hulkenberg 7, Kevin Magnussen 17)
Hulkenberg bagged his first points of the campaign and lifted Haas to seventh overall. The German was fourth at the final red flag but the positions were reset to the previous grid because no sector had been completed. Magnussen triggered a red flag when he hit the wall on lap 54, ripping the right rear tyre off and spreading debris from the rim across the track. A protest against the results was dismissed.
ALFA ROMEO (Guanyu Zhou 9, Valtteri Bottas 11)
Zhou scored his first points of the season after starting 17th. He finished 10th and gained a place when Sainz was demoted. Bottas started from the pit lane after a suspension change. The Finn pitted for hard tyres at the end of lap one, aiming to go the distance, but switched to softs after 52 laps.
ALPHATAURI (Yuki Tsunoda 10, Nyck de Vries 15)
Tsunoda ended a run of three successive 11th places, dating back to last year’s Abu Dhabi finale, to open his team’s account. De Vries damaged his front wing and retired after a late contact with Sargeant.
WILLIAMS (Logan Sargeant 16, Alex Albon retired)
Albon qualified eighth but retired on lap seven when he went off, hit the tyre barrier and ended up on a kerb, triggering the second safety car of the race and then the first red flag period. Sargeant was classified but did not finish.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)
