Max Verstappen has won the Australian Grand Prix for the first time in his career following an incident-packed race in Melbourne.
The defending champion extended his lead at the top of this year's driver standings to 15 points courtesy of his victory and a fifth-placed finish for his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished second, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso completed the podium after some late drama as the race finished under a safety car.
Alonso had fallen to the back of the pack with two laps to go after Ferrari's Carlos Sainz sent him into a spin at a restart, but FIA regulations dictated that final positions should be taken from that restart as a result of the race finishing behind a safety car.
In addition to restoring Alonso to third place, Sainz was also hit with a five-second penalty which demoted him from fourth to 12th and saw him miss out on the points altogether.
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Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon also fell foul of the decisions in a controversial race, having begun the penultimate restart fifth and 10th respectively but crashed into each other in a collision which forced both cars to retire.
The third race of the 2023 season had already seen two safety cars and a red flag before the chaotic scenes at the end of the race, scenes which came about due to Kevin Magnussen's crash with two laps to go.
On the first corner from that restart, Sainz nudged Alonso into a spin and the two Alpines took each other out, prompting another red flag to be thrown and the order at the previous restart to be restored as the field had not covered enough ground to set a fresh starting order.
Verstappen largely stayed clear of the drama behind him, although he did have to overcome a sluggish start which saw him fall behind Mercedes pair George Russell and Hamilton into third.
Russell was eventually forced to retire from fourth place when his car caught fire, while Verstappen overtook Hamilton soon after the first race stoppage and never looked in danger of being caught after that.
Charles Leclerc's poor start to the season continued when he was forced to retire following a collision with Lance Stroll on turn three of the first lap, while another safety car period was needed when Alex Albon crashed out on lap six.
> Click here to view the full results of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix
Barney Corkhill
