Max Verstappen wins the bizarre Australian Grand Prix. It was a particularly eventful race in Melbourne, with three safety cars, two of which were turned into red flags and with one more red flag added in the end. Verstappen did not get it for free with 'four starts' nor was he faultless, but was able to defend his lead in the bizarre closing stages.

Atypical start for Verstappen in Australia

A remarkable start to the Australian Grand Prix. Verstappen was outsmarted at the very first corner by Mercedes ' George Russell. Three corners later, it was also time for Lewis Hamilton to pass the Dutchman. It was an atypical start to the race for Verstappen. The starting situation was quickly neutralised by the safety car after the first dropout of the day. Charles Leclerc collided with Lance Stroll and ended up in the gravel pit. Last year's winner scored no points.

On lap seven, it's another crash. Alexander Albon crashes and causes the second safety car. Russell opts for an aggressive strategy at that point and goes to the hard tyre early on, giving up the race lead to fight back with a strategic tyre advantage. The situation then turns into a red flag. The tyre pile-up has been hit and needs to be repaired. All drivers are given free tyre choice and the cards are shuffled again. The restart goes with Hamilton in the lead, followed by Verstappen and Alonso. De Vries has gained three places at that point by not entering the pit lane during the first safety car. Russell is big loser as he did stop.

Second start of the day

F1 fans are treated to another start of the race. Indeed, the restart takes place; standing off the start line. The vast majority of the grid starts on hard tyre, hoping to finish the race with it. Only rookies De Vries and Logan Sargeant gamble on the yellow medium tyre. With 49 laps to go then, it is quite a stint they have to drive.

Hamilton starts strongly again and Verstappen again does not seem to get away well. The Dutchman barely keeps an attacking Alonso behind him. The restart does not turn out well for De Vries. The Dutchman falls back to P17 after a touché with Esteban Ocon. The AlphaTauri even went airborne for a moment. There is surprisingly no damage, although De Vries does say it does not feel good.

Verstappen manages to easily pass Hamilton's Mercedes after his weak start on pace and has regained his leading position by lap 12. Russell who is engaged in a strong catch-up race is unlucky and his engine gives up. On lap 18, the Briton is alongside his W14 with an exploded engine.

Long stints on Albert Park Circuit

From the point he is in the lead, Verstappen seems to easily control the race as expected. The Dutchman is around half a second faster than Hamilton on P2. Halfway through the race on lap 30, teammate Sergio Perez has stayed out of trouble and is driving in the points. With the fastest lap at that point, he seems to have the pace to move to the front. The differences between the seven drivers in front of him are all between one and two seconds.

Carlos Sainz, who started outside the top ten at the restart, steadily drives his way to the front with nice overtaking manoeuvres and is on P4 with twenty laps to go, with Alonso ahead of him by a good second. At that point, Lando Norris (P8), Nico Hülkenberg (P7) and Pierre Gasly (P5) are the surprises of the day. With twenty laps to go, it also becomes clear that De Vries' race is over. He is still driving, but the Dutchman is running the slowest times in the field at the back.

Verstappen and Alonso make final phase exciting

Alonso is let go by his team with ten laps to go. The Aston Martin driver had apparently recharged for a final offensive. Alonso powers up and immediately grabs the fastest lap. His tyres still seem fine and with a second and a half behind Hamilton, he sets off in pursuit. In the end, the Spaniard does not succeed. Meanwhile, Verstappen has a big moment and flies off the track. The Red Bull driver keeps having the same grip problems in the corner. He escapes with a scare and continues his race after losing over three seconds of time and is well in the lead. The Dutchman does not get it and is not faultless, but is still supreme.

Behind the top it is also entertaining. Perez manages to catch Norris and Hulkenberg in fairly quick succession, but the better fight comes with six laps to go between Norris and Hulkenberg. A battle of several laps resulted in a hard overtaking move by Norris. Hulkenberg is startled and almost flies off the track. Norris thus secures two more points for McLaren, the team's first points.

Third Safety Car creates 'ultimate' final phase

The race seems to be finished, until with four laps to go Kevin Magnussen hits the wall at turn two. The race is neutralised for a third time, as the safety car comes onto the track in the closing stages. It is questionable whether the race will still be started with all the debris on the track and the short time left. After one lap behind the safety car, the ultimate closing phase is announced by a red flag. With three laps to go, another restart will take place. Verstappen has to be seriously worried about the multiple world champions Hamilton and Alonso behind with all fresh tyres.

The restart is one big chaos and the promised ultimate final stage fails to materialise. Verstappen is away and can keep Hamilton behind, but then things go wrong. There is almost no telling what crashes are happening. The red flag is immediately out again, which is a record; never before have there been three red flags in an F1 race. Both Gasly and Ocon's Alpines are broken alongside the track. De Vries also drops out after a collision with Logan Sargeant. Sainz bumps Alonso out of turn one and is on P3 after the situation. The restart takes place in the order of the most recent restart behind the safety car. Crossing the finishing line afterwards is the end of the race. Verstappen P1, Hamilton P2, Alonso P3.