Red Bull’s victor Max Verstappen says Formula One officials are to blame for the mess of confusion surrounding his Australian grand prix triumph.
Verstappen survived mayhem in Melbourne as home-town rookie Oscar Piastri collected his first F1 points for finishing eighth at Albert Park on Sunday.
Verstappen led a last-lap motorcade when drivers were barred from overtaking as the crash-laden event ended not as a race, but a scripted procession.
The grand prix featured four starts – the original; two standing re-starts; one rolling re-start – three red flags, and eight of the 20 drivers failed to finish.
Verstappen, who won from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, was powering to victory with an eight-second lead with just two laps remaining.
But a crash prompted the second of the three red flags and stewards ordered a standing re-start from the grid, meaning Verstappen’s well-earned advantage disappeared.
In a boom-or-bust resumption, four drivers crashed out amid manic moves at the first corner. The mass collision forced yet another red flag halt.
But after lengthy discussions, stewards then decided the next resumption for the final lap would be a rolling start behind a safety car – effectively, a ceremonial procession when drivers couldn’t change positions.
“The race itself towards the end was a bit of a mess with all the calls,” Verstappen said.
“I don’t think we needed that second red flag … it left a lot of drivers confused.
“I just didn’t understand why we needed a red flag.
“If you would have had a safety car and then had a normal rolling start you wouldn’t have had all these shunts and then you have a normal finish.
“So they (officials) created the problems themselves at the end of the day.”
Verstappen, the reigning world champion, now has two wins and a second place from three races this year.
And Melbourne-born Piastri now has a wild experience to mark his racing debut at his home city grand prix.
“It was a crazy race,” the 21-year-old said.
“It’s the first race I have had three red flags and I think it’s probably most people’s first race like that.”
Piastri, after finishing last (20th) and 15th in the first two races of his rookie season, now has four points in the bank.
“Definitely happy to get my first points on the board, especially here at home,” he said.
“We kept ourselves out of trouble and ended up in the points.”
A record 444,631 spectators attended the Albert Park circuit over the four days, eclipsing the previous best aggregate crowd of 419,114 set last year.
© AAP 2023
