It’s lights out and away we go, down under! It’s the Australian Grand Prix! Every moment of this race weekend from free practice to the Grand Prix was absolutely insane. It was one of the most thrilling races I have ever seen, but I am hoping for more this season. Unlike the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, none of the drivers entered the weekend with penalties, so the playing fields were leveled.

Read: ‘The Complete 2023 Australian Grand Prix Preview‘ for more on the race!

Australian Grand Prix: Free Practice

FP1

The first free practice session of the weekend had the least surprising outcomes. Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez finished in the top three. The weather conditions were the best of the free practice sessions, but a mechanical issue among the cars did pose a threat. The GPS systems that the engineers use to direct the drivers failed mid-session. this led to several near misses between drivers as well as a significant amount of traffic.

FP2

The second free practice saw a little more team diversity in the standings. During this session, Fernando Alonso finished first with Charles Leclerc and Verstappen following behind. The weather was a concern here as the rain started to pour at the end of the session. However, most of the drivers were able to put up fast laps.

A few surprises from this free practice were from Nico Hulkenberg and Lando Norris. Neither of the drivers scored points in the opening two rounds of the season, but they finished P9 and P8, respectively, in this session.

FP3

Esteban Ocon was the star of FP3 as he held the third-fastest time of the session. Verstappen and Alonso were the only drivers faster than the Freannch man, and this is his best free practice finish of the season. His teammate, Pierre Gasly, also finished in the top five after an amazing final push.

This session did see a strong amount of mayhem as the harsh weather rolled back in. Additionally, a red flag was waved as a result of Nyck de Vries losing a piece of carbon from his car midway through practice. Sergio Perez also had a rough practice due to a braking issue that decreased his ability in the session.

2014 Australian F1 Grand Prix, J.H. Sohn, Creative Common Attribution 2.0, expanded

Australian Grand Prix: Qualifying

Q1

An easy start to the weekend was not in the cards for Checo. After struggling with his brakes through free practice, he suffered from a lockup that sent him into the gravel. His car was eliminated from qualifying, moving him to the very back of the grid. Also making an early exit from qualifying were Valtteri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu, and Australian native, Oscar Piastri.

Logan Sargeant was another driver who was disqualified from Q1 as his car died on the side of the track. A yellow flag was issued for this incident, but Checo’s ending resulted in a red flag soon after. despite the 90% chance of rain, storms did not hinder this session, and Verstappen was able to set a time of 1:16:732.

Q2

At the end of Q2, Verstappen led Alonso and Caros Sainz. Alex Albon of Williams and Nico Hulkenberg of Haas made it into Q3 ahead of Esteban Ocon who finished P11. Lando Norris sealed his Q2 experience by swerving into the gravel near turn 3, landing himself in P13 for the Sunday race.

Q3

Early on, the drivers and teams expected rain to finish the third qualifying session. This caused many different strategies to emerge, including two separate ones from Ferrari. It was made clear by Charles Leclerc that he and his teammate were told different information. This meant that Leclerc did not have building laps to complete a final push at the end of the session. As a result, he started the race in P7.

Additionally, Max Verstappen was granted pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, but he did have complaints regarding the gearbox and engine in his car. George Russell landed himself in the front row for the first time this season with his teammate right behind him.

Australian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc DNF at the Australian Grand Prix

The heartthrob, Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc was in the Australian Grand Prix for a total of 30 seconds. His race was cut short in turn three following a slight collision with Lance Stroll. After a disappointing qualifying round, Leclerc began in P7, but was quickly the first of eight drivers to DNF.

George Russell Early Lead and DNF

Beginning the race, Russell was on the front row and overtook Max Verstappen at the first turn. He maintained P1 for the early portions of the race until he pitted to refresh his tires. Shortly after they issued a yellow flag, George’s Mercedes visibly erupted in flames from the back end. His power unit caught fire and he was forced to retire early.

Disaster in the Final Laps of the Australian Grand Prix

There were two full red flags in the Australian Grand Prix. The second restart began on lap 56 of 58. This meant that DRS would not be enabled, but the drivers were still expected to race. The alternative to this decision was to complete the race behind a safety car, but the FIA decided to continue racing.

On turn three, the turn where Charles Leclerc DNF’d, several collisions occurred. Carlos Sainz clipped the back end of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin. This move cause Alonso to tailspin, but he was able to continue the race.

The Grand Prix ended when Pierre Gasly of Alpine cut across the track and his teammate, Esteban Ocon, hit him. A third red flag was issued, and this time they finished under a safety car. The race stewards gave Carlos Sainz a five-second penalty for his collision with Fernando Alonso, and this pushed his standing from fourth to twelfth.

Max Verstappen, Lewis Hmilton, and Fernando Alonso finished on the podium. Between the three of them, there are 11 World Drivers’ Championships. This also marks the 17th consecutive season for Lewis Hamilton to achieve a podium finish.

This race was certainly one for the books, and fans were on the edge of their seats for the entire two-and-a-half hours. If the rest of the season is as exciting as the Australian Grand Prix, then it will be an amazing season!