Max Verstappen was on Sunday over the moon at a maiden grand prix win in Australia, however claimed Lewis Hamilton didn’t comply with racing guidelines when passing him on the opening lap.
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The Dutch Red Bull star took the chequered flag after a drama-filled showdown forward of Mercedes’ Hamilton for his second win of the 12 months and first in Melbourne.
He began from pole however was handed by each George Russell and Hamilton as they jostled for place at the beginning.
His superior Red Bull energy finally introduced him house, however he had a dig at Hamilton however, complaining that the British seven-time world champion pushed him huge.
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“From my side, I just tried to avoid the contact, it’s quite clear on the rules what is allowed to do now on the outside, but clearly, it’s not followed,” he mentioned.
“But that’s OK. We had good pace, we passed (Hamilton) anyway but it’s something for the next race to take into account.”
Max Verstappen by no means regarded threatened
A revived Hamilton, who completed second for his finest results of the 12 months, denied he was within the fallacious.
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“I thought it was pretty decent. He braked early and I braked late. I was fully up to his side and I think we both left space for each other,” he mentioned.
“I didn’t run him off the road, he didn’t turn in on me. We didn’t touch and that’s racing.”
Despite the early shut name, Verstappen was capable of regain the lead and as soon as he did by no means regarded threatened, regardless of the race being purple flagged 3 times, together with with two laps to go.
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“Of course, I was very happy to get the win but I think the race towards the end was a bit of a mess with all the calls,” he mentioned of the red-flag points. “It left a lot of drivers confused.”
Verstappen’s straight line pace was once more clearly higher than his rivals in Melbourne.
But enhancements from Hamilton’s Mercedes and the ever-present menace from third-place Fernando Alonso gave them motive to hope he will be caught.
The Dutchman mentioned it was too early to inform in the event that they had been closing the hole.
“I think it was the nature of the track a bit, that all made it all a bit closer,” he mentioned.
“I think also the warm-up was quite tricky, some teams nailed it better than others, so difficult to say. I think we need to go to a few more tracks to have a full understanding.”
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Australian Grand Prix outcomes on Sunday, the third spherical of the 2023 Formula One world championship:
1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 2hrs 32 min 38.271sec, 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) at 0.179, 3. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 0.769, 4. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 3.082, 5. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 3.320, 6. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 3.701, 7. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 4.939, 8. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 5.382, 9. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari ) 5.713, 10. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 6.052, 11. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 6.513, 12. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 6.594, 13. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 4 laps, 14. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 4 laps, 15. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 5 laps, 16. Nyck de Vries (NED/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 5 laps
Best lap: Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:20.235 on the 52nd lap
Did not end: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1 lap, Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 8 laps, George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 18 laps, Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 53 laps, Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 55 laps, Nyck de Vries (NED/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 55 laps, Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 56 laps, Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 56 laps
World championship standings (after three of 23 races)
Drivers
1. Max Verstappen (NED) 69 pts, 2. Sergio Perez (MEX) 54, 3. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 45, 4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 38, 5. Carlos Sainz (ESP) 20, 6. Lance Stroll (CAN) 20, 7. George Russell (GBR) 18, 8. Lando Norris (GBR) 8, 9. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 6, 10. Charles Leclerc (MON) 6, 11. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 4, 12. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 4, 13. Oscar Piastri (AUS) 4, 14. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 4, 15. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) 2, 16. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 1, 17. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 1, 18. Alexander Albon (THA) 1, 19. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0, 20. Nyck de Vries (NED) 0
Constructors
1. Red Bull 123 pts, 2. Aston Martin 65, 3. Mercedes 56, 4. Ferrari 26, 5. McLaren 12, 6. Alpine 8, 7. Haas 7, 8. Alfa Romeo 6, 9. AlphaTauri 1, Williams 1
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
