Australian GP News: Max Verstappen’s post-race rant at Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen may have won the Australian Grand Prix, but he was far from happy with how the officials implemented the rules throughout the race.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 02: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 waits in the Pitlane behind the FIA Safety Car during a red flag delay during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on April 02, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Max Verstappen has sensationally accused Lewis Hamilton of breaking F1 rules during the Australian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman, who won the chaotic Australian Grand Prix under a safety car, went wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton on lap one.

The Brit dived up the inside of Verstappen at turn three, putting him in position to overtake as the Red Bull was forced deep into the corner.

However, a furious Verstappen believed the move was not legal due to him being forced off track.

Verstappen thinks Hamilton pushed him off in their battle for second on the first lap 👀#F1#AusGPpic.twitter.com/v99pYT3S1I

— Autosport (@autosport) April 2, 2023

Over the team radio he fumed: “He pushed me off the track. I was ahead at the apex, he pushed me off.”

When overtaking in F1 a reasonable space needs to left to ensure the other driver does not go off track.

penalty.

After the race Verstappen doubled down, saying: “From my side, I just tried to avoid contact.

“It’s quite clear in the rules what you’re allowed to do on the outside, but clearly it’s not followed.

“It’s okay, we had good pace and we passed them anyway, but it’s something for the next race to take into account.”

Max Verstappen was not happy despite winning the race. Picture: Getty Images

Hamilton would go on to finish second, revealing he was “so happy” to be back on the podium.

But this did not stop him from lambasting his car while describing Red Bull as in “another league”.

Verstappen claimed his first-ever victory in Australia with today’s win, also seeing him pick up his second win of the season.

On the win, the two-time champion said: “It’s great to win here – my first win, it’s been a while for the team as well so very very happy.”

This article appeared in The Sun

DRIVERS FUME OVER AUSSIE GP’S RED FLAG SAGA

Verstappen has hit out at officials after a “messy” and confusing finish at Albert Park, claiming race chiefs created all the late chaos themselves.

After he defied the drama to claim his first Australian Grand Prix victory in a chaotic finish which featured two late red-flags, the Dutch star said drivers were left confused by the decision to stop the race twice in the final five laps instead of using a safety car.

Further down the points pecking order, McLaren star Lando Norris was equally critical of the restart procedure claiming the choice to red flag the race “was just to put on a good show”.

Verstappen avoided carnage at the end of the race to see off Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso to take his second win of the year – and Red Bull’s first win at the Australian Grand Prix since 2011.

The two-time world champion was charging to victory when the race was red-flagged with two laps to go after debris – and a stray tyre – was strewn across the track after Kevin Magnussen hit the wall.

Verstapped claimed victory after a chaotic finish in Melbourne. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

After the race was stopped for 15 minutes, Verstappen held his nerve on the restart, while chaos unfolded behind him as four cars were taken out of the race.

Another red flag was waved with one lap left after Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon both ended up in the wall.

Officials ruled to revert the grid order to what it was before the chaotic restart and Verstappen led a frustrated train of drivers across the finish line behind the safety car.

The Red Bull driver said a virtual safety car would have helped avoid all the late-race “shunts” and allowed for a “normal” finish.

“I was very happy to win the race, but I think the race itself towards the end was a bit of a mess with all the calls,” Verstappen said after the race.

“I don’t think we needed that second red flag. I think it could have been done with a virtual safety car.

“It left a lot of drivers confused why we needed a red flag.

“Today it was quite messy.”

Pressed on whether there needed to be a rethink of the rule-book and more clarity from race control, and his thoughts on fan theories that the drama had been created for the sport’s new Netflix audience, Verstappen said the chaos could have been avoided.

“I think it is quite clear, I just don’t understand why we needed a red flag,” Verstappen said.

“I think if we would have just had a safety car and then just had a normal rolling start, we wouldn’t have had all these shunts and then you had a normal finish.

“They created the problems themselves at the end of the day.”

Verstappen says the end sequence could have easily been avoided by officials. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Norris, who finished sixth to claim his first points of the year for McLaren, was also critical of the restart procedures at the end of the race.

“At the end of the day I know it is a show, but we’re not here to just put on a good show, we’re here to race each other and I don’t think (the restart procedures were) a fair thing,” he said.

The Briton was ultimately helped into a P6 courtesy of Pierre Gasly’s crash, but Norris said his day could have just as easily been ended in similar circumstances.

“I just feel like I could have been so unlucky through no reason – I could have easily crashed with (Nico) Hulkenberg at the end because we have people going off and suddenly swerving and things like that,” he said.

“We’ve come all the way to Australia and it’s so much hard work to drive 55, 56 laps perfectly and because they try to put on a show you can just get unlucky and have everything taken away from you all of a sudden.

“I think that side of it … needs a small rethink.”

When questioned whether drivers should take some culpability for the red flag incidents, given it was through their errors that the stops were required, Norris said the Pirelli tyres were to blame.

Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren, also criticised the restart. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

“Nothing against them, but people making decisions don’t know what’s going on inside the car. We have a soft tyre that’s 65 degrees and I can’t describe how little grip there is on-track,” he said.

“It’s not a bad temperature, but the tyre doesn’t work and on this surface with this track temperature I can’t describe how bad the grip is – it’s why you see people going straight on in turn one and locking up.

“It provides literally no grip so you have to brake so early, which causes chaos and causes incidents.

“We need a tyre that gives us some more grip – a tyre that feels like it should be on a Formula One car at the top of motorsport and at the minute, on a day like today, it feels pretty terrible.”

The chaos at the end of the race followed an equally dramatic start that prompted two yellow and one red flag in the opening 10 laps.

Last year’s Australian Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc, the Williams of Alex Albon and Mercedes’ hope George Russell were early casualties.

After getting the jump on pole sitter Verstappen off the start line to take an early race lead, Russell’s race came to a dramatic and fiery end on lap 18.

The Brit was forced to nurse his car back to the pits as flames poured from the back of his Mercedes after a power unit failure, ending a race full of promise after qualifying second.

In all, eight cars did not finish the race at Albert Park.

Hammo savours ‘unexpected’ podium

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has hailed his podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix as “unexpected” on a day of mixed Mercedes fortunes after a fiery finish to teammate George Russell’s race.

Hamilton claimed the first podium finish of the year for Mercedes when he came in second behind Red Bull winner Max Verstappen, and held off Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso, in a chaotic finish to the Albert Park race.

But there was heartbreak for Hamilton’s teammate Russell, whose race came to a dramatic end on lap 18 after an apparent power unit failure.

The Brit was forced to nurse his car back to the pits as flames shot from the back of his Mercedes, ending a race full of promise.

After a tough start to the year for Mercedes, Russell and Hamilton produced a surprise qualifying performance to book second and third place on the grid behind Verstappen.

The Mercedes pair made an encouraging start when they both got the jump on Verstappen off the start line to take the early-race lead before Verstappen took control.

British driver Lewis Hamilton sprays race winner Max Verstappen . Picture: AFP

After emerging from the late-race chaos on the podium, Hamilton said it had been an “amazing” result for the team.

“It was very unexpected. Obviously getting a second and third in qualifying yesterday really blew us all away and it was a huge boost of energy throughout the team,” Hamilton said.

“So that meant today we had a shot at trying to at least overtake Max for a second.

“We both got ahead, which was amazing to have a Mercedes one-two for a second and obviously he came sailing by at one stage.

“I had a really good battle with Fernando, which was awesome.

“(It was) really unlucky for George. From our side, we’ve got to look into it, our reliability has generally been very good.

“Otherwise, to get those points is really amazing today. I definitely didn’t expect to be second, so I’m super grateful for it.”

Russell said he felt “something go” on the lap before his car engine blew up, but said he would take the positives from the weekend.

“We did everything right this weekend. We had great qualifying yesterday and today, the start was perfect,” Russell said.

“We managed the first stint well and I could have extended it quite a lot more. I’ve felt comfortable and strong in the car on all three days.

“I see no reason why we couldn’t have fought for victory today, so it’s disappointing.

“As soon as I came through the high-speed turn 10, I felt something go. Three corners later, I was stopped. When it’s not your day, it’s not your day.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do to catch Red Bull, but we can take the positives from this weekend. Every time we’ve taken to the track, we couldn’t have done any more. We’ve maximised everything and I’m proud of the job that we have done.”