F1

2023 - 4 - 2

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Sky Sports"

Australian GP: Controversial red flags analysed after Max ... (Sky Sports)

After a hugely dramatic Australian Grand Prix that featured three red flags, Formula 1's officiators are once more coming under scrutiny for their ...

"How the hell you can put a red flag before?" "(In) the second half, and especially with four laps to go, I feel like you ruin a lot of things. And, because they try and put on a show, you just get unlucky, and everything can get taken away from you all of a sudden. I guess, maybe in the first quarter of the race, I understand it. "I'm not going to disagree with this red flag," Sky Sports F1's David Croft said. "We come all the way to Australia, but it's so much hard work to drive 56, 55 laps perfectly. [Stream the biggest moments on NOW](https://www.nowtv.com/promo/sky-sports?dcmp=articlelink) There was little dispute over the final red flag, with the heavy impact the Alpines experienced and the need to check on their safety - along with all the resulting debris and chaos - a valid reason for the stoppage. It's just strange, but I do understand safety-wise as well." The McLaren driver said: "I kind of hate it. With both the debris and the possibility of the race finishing behind the Safety Car in mind, another red flag was thrown, setting up a theoretical two-lap sprint to the end from a standing start. The clean-up operation began with a recovery vehicle coming on track and lifting the Williams off the ground, but as that was going on, a red flag was thrown with the presence of debris and gravel on track the reason for the decision.

Australian GP promoter found in rules breach after F1 track invasion (Motorsport.com, Edition: Global)

The Australian Grand Prix promoter has been found in serious breach of FIA security protocols and safety measures after Formula 1 fans invaded the track before ...

[PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-cycle-of-f1-upheaval-williams-must-end-to-rediscover-past-glories/10449522/) [PrimePrimeFormula 1 ](/f1/news/how-f1s-new-era-has-exposed-the-downside-of-its-most-important-rule/10450392/) the car was in an unsafe condition with possible electrical discharge".

Australian GP: How 3 red flags ruined, then revived, then muddled ... (The Athletic)

The race in Melbourne emphasized how radically F1's rules can reshape a race, for better and worse.

“Someone does something stupid and turn one locks up, and your race is over because (FIA) just want to make the show more exciting.” It all left 12 cars running in a shaken-up order, with Sainz on the podium, Nico Hülkenberg, and Yuki Tsunoda in the top five, and Alonso out of the points. Combined with the standing restarts, which create excitement but also bring the risk of more incidents, today being a case in point, it all added up to one of F1’s stranger recent races. The stewards had no valid reason (like severe weather) to call it over. He may not have been able to hold on — when The Athletic told Horner that Russell thought Mercedes could have won, he replied with a confused: “Why?” — but it at least would have created some fight and strategic variation. And this would be the one that really confused. Verstappen predictably made light work of overtaking Hamilton, recovering the lead on Lap 12 thanks to the Red Bull’s mighty straight-line advantage with DRS in use, and then established a healthy buffer to the chasing pack. One lap after the safety car was deployed, the stewards upgraded the situation to a red flag, calling all the cars off the track to allow for proper cleanup. [Mercedes](https://theathletic.com/tag/mercedes/) on the opening lap, giving George Russell the lead. Hamilton and Verstappen stayed out, meaning that although they inherited first and second, they would be at a strategic disadvantage to Russell as the time lost in the pits is reduced under the safety car due to the slow-moving train of cars. Because the red flag was called on Lap 9, drivers could switch to the hard compound tire and, with a bit of management, run to the end without pitting again. (“What is the only F1 race to have three red flags?”)

Autosport Podcast: F1 Australian Grand Prix review (autosport.com)

Max Verstappen claimed his second win of the 2023 Formula 1 season after beating Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in an Australian Grand Prix that ended in farcical ...

[PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/ranking-the-top-10-pre-war-grand-prix-drivers/10447980/) [PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-state-of-play-in-f1s-technical-silly-season/10449298/) [PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/the-cycle-of-f1-upheaval-williams-must-end-to-rediscover-past-glories/10449257/) [PlusPlusFormula 1 ](/f1/news/how-f1s-new-era-has-exposed-the-downside-of-its-most-important-rule/10449931/) The Briton would eventually retire with an engine failure. It resulted in the Safety Car being called and Russell elected to pit before officials surprisingly then threw a red flag.

Australian GP safety under scrutiny after F1 fan hit by debris and ... (The Guardian)

A Formula One fan at the Australian Grand Prix suffered a cut to his arm when struck by a piece of debris, putting the spotlight on safety protocols.

“My fiancee was pretty spooked by it and borderline shell-shocked.” Part of it was shredded and really sharp, if it hit me in a different angle, it could’ve been horrendous,” he added. “It slapped me in the arm and I was just standing there bleeding,” he told radio station 3AW.

Australian fans invade F1 track before Grand Prix concludes (Bangkok Post)

MELBOURNE: The chief of the Australian Grand Prix vowed a full investigation on Monday after fans invaded the track before the race had officially finished, ...

"Nobody does anything malicious at motorsport, it's an unbelievably well-behaved crowd but they, I think, had a degree of confusion. it could have been horrific. "Motorsport is dangerous...