International media speaks of 'chaos': 'Nobody is talking about Max'

Max Verstappen reigned supreme again, earning his first-ever victory at the Australian Grand Prix. However, many articles were directed towards the race directors, and their management of the race, with a lot of post-race discussion from the international press.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy)

"It is another message, a stronger message that 'Super Max' has delivered to his rivals and teammate Sergio Perez: from what we have seen, he and the Red Bull together are virtually unbeatable, and the hopes are tied to luck and crazy races. It is harder to imagine a crazier race than yesterday's, but again, Verstappen was able to win," the Italian sports newspaper writes.

Verstappen arrived in Melbourne with a lead of just one World Championship point, but after three Grand Prix, the gap has now grown to 15 points. "Max seems to be shooting ahead of expectations. The enormity of what he is doing is also shown in the resignation of Hamilton and Alonso, and how they accept their role and position to battle for second place and a step on the podium, with this behaviour not really a part of their character."

Blick (Switzerland)

In Switzerland, the media do not understand why the FIA opted for another standing start after the second red flag. "The April Fool's joke at the Australian Grand Prix arrived in Europe a few hours late. It was the 14th time in Grand Prix history that a race ended behind the safety car. And the FIA, with the dangerous restarts and a bizarre reversion of the grid order, is partly to blame for the million-dollar scrap, and a final result that nobody expected."

Het Laatste Nieuws (Belgium)

Verstappen may have won at the Albert Park Circuit, but HLN were not too impressed with the 25-year-old Dutchman and gave him a rating of 6 for his performance. "Verstappen owes his second win of the season much more to his fantastic Red Bull than he does to himself. He was able to be passed far too easily during the first start and later made a rare steering error. That is not how we know him."

Marca (Spain)

In Spain, the race directors come off worst. "Putting on a show is fine, but not at the expense of inconsistency and causing dangerous situations, with the excuse that it is about the safety of the drivers," Marca passionately argues. "There were two standing starts during the Australian Grand Prix, and neither were necessary."

The five-second time penalty for Carlos Sainz was also not understood by Marca. "The very severe penalty for not being able to brake on cold tyres, a situation that was brought about by the decisions of the race directors unnecessarily, robbed him [Sainz] of a brilliant fourth place, one of the most hard-earned of the day. He was not even able to testify to the stewards after the race."

Sky Sports

Sky Sports also focused heavily on the role of the race director. "Since the death of long-time race director Charlie Whiting in 2019, F1 have failed to find a lead referee trusted and respected by all teams." Whiting's replacement Michael Masi was sacked by the FIA at the end of 2021, after his well-known decision at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"This latest episode of confusion and discontent at the Australian Grand Prix will only increase the pressure on current race director Niels Wittich, who is set to be in charge of all 23 races this season after sharing the role [with Eduardo Freitas] last year."

Bild (Germany)

Bild do not have too many things to add, but the FIA are at the receiving end of some harsh words. "What a race! What a mess! After the Australian Grand Prix, no one is talking about the winner, Max Verstappen, but everyone is talking about the chaos regarding rules and restarts. Again, Formula 1 does not understand itself! The problem: there are too many rules and too much discretion for the race directors."

Le Monde (France)

France's Le Monde described the Sunday in Melbourne as 'chaotic'. "That is the adjective that is needed to describe the ending of the Australian Grand Prix. The final restart of the race took place behind the safety car, and the 12 remaining cars led by Max Verstappen crossed the line in slow-motion."