Aussie GP Takeaways: Was late red flag the right call? Sainz's nightmare

Following each race weekend this year, theScore’s editors offer their takeaways. We continue the 2023 schedule with the Australian GP.

Was red flag, ensuing chaos the right call?

The line between sport and spectacle is often thin, especially in Formula One. But the aftermath of the decision to invoke a two-lap sprint to Sunday’s finish has many wondering if race control went too far in turning the Aussie GP into theater.

The chaos began when a safety car came out after Haas’ Kevin Magnussen collided with the wall late in the race, sending debris everywhere. By ensuring two laps of all-out action to the checkered flag with a red flag, the FIA quickly answered the initial question of whether the event would end under safety-car conditions or if there would be any laps of racing left. But, as witnessed in the past, the possible desire to make a grand finish backfired again – looking at you, Abu Dhabi 2021 – and only created an abundance of confusion and, in this case, unnecessary carnage.

The two-lap shootout barely made it past Turn 1 before multiple collisions forced another red flag. That left race control with another problem: figuring out the finishing order for the final lap, which was to be run behind the safety car. After a lengthy period of confusion in which no one seemed to have an answer, the FIA decided to use the order prior to the Lap 57 restart, minus all the cars taken out in the madness.

While an identical decision was made at Silverstone last year when Zhou Guanyu’s scary crash called off the race before drivers reached the first sector, the Australian GP decision opened Pandora’s box for race control in a variety of other ways.

It meant that Alpine lost Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon in a self-inflicted collision on a lap that ultimately didn’t matter. In addition to scoring zero points, the ramifications of repairing both cars in regard to the cost cap could be huge for the French team.

However, no one came out as a bigger loser in the ordeal than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard, who had an impressive showing, took out Fernando Alonso on the Lap 57 restart, knocking his fellow countryman off the podium. However, the FIA’s decision to restore the starting order revived Alonso’s third place, though Sainz had to live with the cruel consequences for a Turn 1 incident – which usually are viewed leniently by the stewards – on a lap that technically didn’t affect the outcome. Sainz’s five-second penalty dropped him to dead last out of all the remaining drivers.

The ending of Sunday’s race left nothing to gain but everything to lose for its participants.

The aftermath begs whether it was all necessary or if the race could have ended under a safety car from the get-go. Of course, this depends on who you ask. The FIA said it was necessary due to “wheel rim debris over a wide area.” Meanwhile, championship leader Max Verstappen, who had the most to lose after comfortably leading the race, felt it wasn’t. When told over the radio about FIA’s decision, Verstappen responded, “What the f—. We don’t need a red flag.”

“I just didn’t understand why we needed a red flag,” Verstappen said after the race, according to Josh Suttill of The Race. “I think if we would have had a safety car and then just have a normal rolling start, we wouldn’t have had all these shunts, and then you have a normal finish. So they created the problems themselves.”

Verstappen wasn’t the only driver confused. George Russell expressed a similar opinion on the race’s first red flag, which was caused by debris and gravel on the track after Alex Albon’s crash in the opening stages.

“I don’t really know what’s going on with some of the decisions at the moment,” Russell said. “We’re all trying to work together with the FIA to improve things, but it’s seemingly a bit of a challenge.”

While most sports have decisions that can feel subjective or divisive, F1’s constant struggle with clarity and consistency appears to be a problem it cannot escape. What constitutes a red flag may differ from weekend to weekend, with pundits, fans, and even those on the track sometimes left in the dark on how to interpret different levels of caution.

“I think restarts are great and a great entertainment factor,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Sunday, per Thomas Maher of Planet F1. “We just need to understand, going forward, when are red flags being put out and what is the safety car or VSC. … As long as it’s clear how this is being interpreted, I’m fine.”

Motor racing should involve a level of entertainment. There’s no doubt F1 can provide magical moments that are unlike any other sport when done right. But it falls prey to its own shortcomings far too often. Sunday’s race conclusion, while momentarily exciting, came across more like a circus act than a spectacle. – Daniel Valente

New and dispiriting way for Ferrari to stumble

Sunday’s race was a timely – and painful – reminder that no matter how bad things seem at Ferrari right now, it can always get worse.

The Scuderia’s hopes were pinned entirely on Sainz after Charles Leclerc retired on the opening lap when Lance Stroll sent him spinning into the gravel – contact adjudged, correctly, to be a racing incident. For huge portions of the race at Albert Park, it seemed the Spaniard would salvage the weekend. Sainz pitted under the safety car just seconds before the first red flag waved and dropped to 11th place. But he stormed back through the field following the unfortunate incident and showed an encouraging pace, looking, at least for a moment, capable of challenging Alonso for a podium spot.

Those encouraging signs made Sainz’s late five-second penalty even more difficult to digest. The stewards decided he was “wholly to blame for the collision,” and, as the race finished under a safety car and everyone crossed the line within close proximity, Sainz’s penalty relegated him from fourth place to 12th, last of the cars that finished.

He was apoplectic about the decision.

“It is the most unfair penalty I have seen in my life,” he said. “It is the biggest disgrace I’ve seen in the sport for many years.”

In terms of how many places – and points – it cost him, the penalty was unfairly disproportionate, especially considering it was applied for a Turn 1 incident on a restart lap that, in a sense, ultimately didn’t even count.

Even Alonso, not typically a magnanimous character when he’s been wronged on the track, cut Sainz some slack.

“Probably, the penalty is too harsh because, on Lap 1, it’s always difficult to judge the grip level – we don’t go intentionally into another car because we know we risk our own car and our final position,” the veteran Aston Martin driver said. “Sometimes you end up in places where you wish you were not there, but that’s just part of racing.”

So, yes, in a way, Sainz’s anger is justified. Seeing several other first-lap incidents on the day go unpunished doesn’t help satiate fans’ pleas for consistency from the FIA, either. But, removing all that context, the penalty itself was probably correct. Sainz did drive into Alonso when he appeared to have space on his right side to avoid a collision coming out of the turn. And, as harshly as things unfolded for Sainz and Ferrari, the consequences of an incident can’t be the determining factor in doling out penalties. Either an infringement deserves to be penalized, or it doesn’t, regardless of how things play out.

Considering how Ferrari’s season has gone thus far, we should have all seen the worst-case scenario for Sainz coming the second he made contact with Alonso. How will things deteriorate further for the Italian team at the next race in Baku? Surely there’s a way. – Gianluca Nesci

Checo salvages nightmare weekend, Verstappen pulls ahead

Sergio Perez walked away from the Australian GP with an impressive recovery drive to claim fifth place, the fastest lap, and Driver of the Day honors. Still, it was a weekend the Mexican driver would probably like to forget as he lost significant ground in his championship pursuit.

For Checo, it seemed like the usual Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde theme that’s destroyed his hopes of challenging for a title in the past: a great Sunday to rebound from a poor Saturday. Perez struggled with confidence throughout the weekend, resulting in a Q1 elimination – ultimately resulting in a pit-lane start – after ending up in the gravel. He suspected a technical issue that also hindered him in practice as the cause, but the Red Bull pilot looked miles different than the man who owned the streets of Jeddah just two weeks ago.

For as bad as he looked Saturday, Perez was at his best on race day. He made his way to P5 after numerous jaw-dropping overtakes, one of which even got team principal Christian Horner to proclaim, “You wouldn’t think he had three kids” due to his fearless driving.

“Generally, it was a good result today. Yesterday, I obviously lost a bit of confidence with the car, but we made a lot of changes overnight, so that helped heading into the race,” Perez said. “I was frustrated later in the race because I couldn’t advance any further, but it was so difficult to get through the field with tire degradation low and everyone going on to the hard tires quickly.”

Perez’s damage limitation resulted in 11 points, a good result considering his woes Saturday and Australia’s reputation as a track where overtaking is quite difficult. While that recovery would satisfy most, the circumstances are different when your main championship rival is Verstappen, who collected his 37th career victory and first in Melbourne. – Valente

Mercedes ‘keep pushing’

It’s another race in which Mercedes made even more on-track progress.

Russell and Lewis Hamilton started second and third on the grid after a strong Saturday session, qualifying 0.236 and 0.372 seconds from pole-sitter Verstappen’s time, respectively. Of course, they likely benefited from Perez’s nightmare qualifying.

Both drivers even found themselves leading early at different parts of the race. In the end, neither could equal Verstappen’s blistering pace.

“Max is in another league – his car is so fast,” Hamilton said. “He passed me halfway down the straight, and he was like 10 meters ahead (by the corner). I don’t know how they’re so quick on the straight, it’s insane. They’re just in another league. Until we pick up speed on the straight like they have and have the crazy downforce through the corner, that’s going to continue.”

Despite Mercedes falling back of Aston Martin in the constructors’ standings, there are growing reasons for optimism.

Russell enjoyed a strong race until issues beyond his control railroaded things. He got off to a dream start by passing Verstappen off the line. But Albon’s crash was when the bad luck started for Russell. Pitting under what was initially a yellow flag, Russell got burned after the FIA decided to red-flag the race, moving him down to seventh.

“Sorry, George, that screwed us,” Wolff said over the radio.

Russell quickly made his way back up to fifth before his car caught fire on Lap 18, resulting in his first mechanical failure since joining the team. It’s clear, though, that Russell has the ability to fight for podiums every race.

While it wasn’t Russell’s day, things went much better for Hamilton. He secured his best finish of the season after placing fifth in the two previous races. It’s Hamilton’s fourth second-place finish in seven events dating back to last year. He even had a shot at winning his first race since Dec. 5, 2021, following the third red flag, but he couldn’t pass Verstappen off the restart.

“I feel so happy right now,” Hamilton said. “We’ve arrived with a car that’s been difficult, and for us to be finishing on the podium and getting these points is really remarkable.”

So, what’s been the secret? Apparently, not much.

“We’ve not actually changed the car, it just happened to work pretty well this weekend,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to catch the Red Bull because they came flying past and disappeared. I hope this gives us a real boost of hope and energy. It’s so early on in the season. This is a message to everyone to dig deep and keep pushing.”

Hamilton continues to do well in maximizing points despite saying he feels “uncomfortable in the car.” But it feels like Hamilton has been fighting issues with his car for years. He led Alonso for the better part of the race before the second red flag – keeping the gap around two seconds – as the Mercedes looked superior to the Aston Martin and Ferrari. – Brandon Wile

Alpine’s strong day ends in disappointment

If there’s one team that wishes the red flag standing restart never happened, it’s Alpine.

While Ferrari saw Sainz drop out of the points on the restart, Alpine had both drivers flame out in epic failure. The French manufacturer seemed poised to finish in the points, with Gasly and Ocon restarting the second red flag in fifth and 10th, respectively. That would’ve been a crucial result for a team with upper midfield aspirations.

Instead, while running fifth and sixth amid restart mayhem (which would’ve netted them 18 points), the two French drivers collided with each other before hitting the wall and retiring. Now, Alpine finds itself in sixth, stuck behind McLaren while barely ahead of Haas and Alfa Romeo.

The blame seems to fall on Gasly for not noticing his teammate and leaving no space, but Ocon said he isn’t upset with him.

“After the chaotic restart, it could have been anyone I collided with – a lot of cars were going off,” Ocon said. “It ended up being Pierre not leaving me much space but no hard feelings. He came and apologized.”

Some will doubt Ocon’s sincerity, suggesting he’s just saying all the right things in public while harboring some resentment for Gasly. Don’t forget, the two were rivals earlier in their karting careers.

“I am extremely disappointed with the outcome of the race,” Gasly said. “I can’t believe what has happened in the end. I am gutted.”

Alpine won’t get to flush this result right away, but Gasly and Ocon get some time apart, which likely can’t hurt. If an incident like this plagues the team again in the near term, it’ll be hard for it to continue acting like everything is fine while wallowing in the standings with inferior teams. And, let’s be honest, it’s difficult to race at this level without incidents like these popping up. There are 20 races to go; can it be smooth, or will it be an arduous journey? – Michael Bradburn

Finally something to cheer about for McLaren

Eight retirements surely helped, but McLaren put points on the board for the first time in 2023.

Coming on the heels of another disappointing qualifying session in which Lando Norris failed to get out of Q2 and Oscar Piastri tapped out in Q1, both drivers somehow avoided all the crashes Sunday. Norris came across the line in sixth, while Piastri placed eighth to claim his first F1 points.

“I had a good start, stayed out of trouble, stayed away from damage. Half the job just seems to be avoiding people going out of control, making a lot of mistakes, and crashing into people,” Norris said. “The pace was pretty strong. My first positive race in terms of actual pace, things came together more.”

Norris added that the team remains awful in qualifying, pointing to a lack of pace as the problem, especially on the straights.

“When we open DRS, we don’t really go any quicker,” Norris said.

Even with the points, McLaren is well aware things are far from fixed, but it has to feel good to go into the extended break with something to build on.

“We needed that after the start of the year,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said. “It was about time we got a little bit of luck our way.” – Wile