Max Verstappen has won the Australian Grand Prix after a hectic day on track from lights out to the chequered flag.
After three red flags and numerous slips on track, Leclerc, Albon, Russell, Magnussen, Sargeant, Devries, Ocon, and Gasly, were out of the race before the chequered flag.
Speaking after the jam-packed race came to a calm close behind the safety car, Verstappen spoke about the 58 laps of madness and said: “We had a very poor start, and lap one I was careful because I had a lot to lose and they had a lot to win.
“After that, the pace of the car was quick – you could see that straight away. We were always there, waiting for the DRS for the chance to pass.
READ MORE: Australian GP: Verstappen on pole after beating Russell and Hamilton in hectic qualifying session
“But with these red flags, I don’t know. The first one, maybe you can do it but the second one I don’t understand.
“So, it was a bit of a mess, but we survived everything and we won, which, of course, is the most important thing.
Speaking about his first battle with Hamilton this season, the Dutchman said: “From my side, I just tried to avoid contact.
“It’s quite clear in the rules what you’re allowed to do on the outside, but clearly it’s not followed.
“It’s okay, we had good pace and we passed them anyway, but itut it’s something for the next race to take into account.
“It’s great to win here – my first first win, it’s been a while for the team as well so very very happy.”
Lewis Hamilton then spoke to Sky Sport and said: “It was (a crazy race). I have had the best week here this week.
“It was really unlucky for George today. On our side, we have got to look into our reliability, which has generally been really good, so that is really unfortunate.
“Otherwise to get those points is really amazing today. I definitely didn’t expect to be second. So I am super grateful for it.
“I still feel uncomfortable in the car, I don’t feel connected to it so I am driving as best I can with that disconnect and I am working as hard as I can to try and create that connect but it is a long project.
“But still, considering we have been down on performance and the straight pace compared to the Red Bulls, for us to be up here fighting with Aston, it is just amazing at this point in the season.
“We have got to keep on fighting. Big. big thank you to everybody back at the factory, let’s keep pushing.
“If we can close that gap, it is going to be tough, but it isn’t impossible.”
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso: “Rollercoaster of emotions with many things going on. It was difficult to understand what was going on at the end but it was a good race for us.
“The first red flag helped up because George [Russell] and Carlos [Sainz] came in and we got places for free. The second one probably didn’t help us.
“P3 and P4 is an amazing Sunday for the team. We have three third places now, let’s get higher on the list.”
