Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen competes during the 2023 Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on April 2, 2023. - Credit: Martin Keep / ANP - License: All Rights Reserved

Sunday, 2 April 2023 - 09:06

Max Verstappen makes it two wins out of three this season with victory in the Australian GP

Max Verstappen won his second race of the season on Sunday in Melbourne by winning the Australian Grand Prix. The 25-year-old is top of the championship rankings after his second win out of three races this season.

Verstappen started in the pole position after a successful qualifying round. Nyck de Vries started in 15th in his Alpha Tauri.

Verstappen lost the lead on the race's first turn as George Russell overtook the reigning champion. To make matters worse, the other Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton also overtook Verstappen shortly after, leaving him in third position after one lap. De Vries also went down one spot after the first lap.

The race was stopped twice in the first seven laps for one safety car and then a red flag as Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Alex Albon of Williams did not finish the race.

Verstappen started the race second after the stoppage due to the red flag. He overtook Hamilton in the 12th lap to take the lead.

As is usually the case this season, the Red Bull vehicle was too quick for its competitors as Verstappen cruised to a 7-second lead over Hamilton, who was in second. Despite the comfortable lead, Verstappen showed some frustration with the car as he told his team, "I keep front-locking there; it's really s**t."

But there was one more twist to come in this race. Kevin Magnussen lost a tire, ensuring a red flag was waved with two laps left. This was due to debris on the track. Verstappen held off Hamilton to keep the lead upon the restart; however, several cars collided, causing another red flag with all the teams and drivers then having to wait for the decision from the officials. Eventually, it was decided that the race would restart in the order of the previous start, with all cars not competing but crossing the finish line. This meant that Verstappen picked up the win, with Hamilton finishing second and Fernando Alonso finishing third. Nyck de Vries was hit in the melee and did not finish the race.

This was the first time Red Bull won the season's first three races. The next F1 race is scheduled for the 30th of April in Baku, Azerbaijan.