Albert Park Drought Is Over And It's Raining Red Bull.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, AGP.

    A friend asked us, "How was the Grand Prix?" The only answer we had was "Totally crazy." An enthralling, captivating, unpredictable and thoroughly entertaining Grand Prix was served up to race fans at Melbourne's Albert Park. Formula One racing sometimes receives criticism for lacklustre races, but every so often dishes up something special and this time it was the Australian Grand Prix's turn. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull won an engaging GP and in our opinion was deserving as he was the dominant force for the majority of the weekend. Red Bull also ended their Albert Park drought as they have only won once before way back in 2011.
    The Australian GP was not without its conjecture though. No F1 race since its 1950 inception has seen 3 red flag stoppages, so the 2023 iteration will certainly not be forgotten quickly. We've read and heard a lot of punters saying that the red flags were not necessary, as first the early Alex Albon Williams crash, then the Kevin Magnussen Haas crash which was then the catalyst for the 2 lap shootout at the end which resulted in another crash at the restart bringing out the final red flag on the penultimate lap, could have been dealt with, with a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car. Certain team principals have since come out saying that we need clarification as to what incident constitutes a VSC, a SC or a red flag. Please tell us how this can be defined? All incidents and crashes result in debris on track. Do we say that if there's one piece of carbon fibre too many strewn across the track that that is the difference between a SC or a red flag stoppage? Remember it was the governing body, the teams and drivers themselves that were all in agreeance to race as much as possible and finish GP's under green flag conditions. Clearing up incidents, debris or even barrier damage takes much longer under VSC or SC conditions. Isn't it better to allow marshals and recovery crews to work more safely and quickly without losing racing laps by imposing a red flag stoppage? Can you imagine the controversy if your favourite team or driver suffers a last lap tyre puncture from debris while leading the race behind the SC?
    Opinions also differ regarding how restart grids are formed after a red flag. If race order can not be distinctly established, then the grid is set from the previous lap. In the case of the Australian GP for the final SC lap to end the GP, the cars had not passed the first sector marker on the penultimate lap after the crash before the red flag was called, and with GPS unreliable at best, there is no alternative but to go back a lap to when they crossed the start line.
    Finally, there's the question of penalties imposed on drivers and teams during a race. Was the 5 second penalty imposed on Ferrari's Carlos Sainz for causing the final restart crash warranted? The penalty pushed Sainz from 4th to last and out of the points at the chequered flag. Should it have been dealt with post race, thus allowing Sainz and Ferrari to plead their case? A 5 second penalty imposed by the stewards is actually one of the more lenient penalties available to them for such an incident. Would there have been as much rancour if it didn't happen with 2 laps to go? Would there have even been that final red flag if the Alpine of Pierre Gasly hadn't collided with his team mate Esteban Ocon when he rejoined the track after avoiding the Sainz and Alonso incident? Could the stewards have imposed a penalty on Gasly for an unsafe return to the circuit? Without the two Alpines crashing, we dare say the race would have finished under green flag. The big winner out of all this was that Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was able to retake his place at P3 for the final lap and collect his well deserved trophy on the podium. Debate still rages. Makes for an interesting episode of Drive To Survive don't you think?

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