Review: Record crowds witness Verstappen claim Victory in Melbourne
Sunday, 2 April 2023
Albert Park shines on a perfect Sunday at the Grand Prix™.
A crowd of 131,124 happy fans witnessed a stirring day of on-track action at the FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023, headlined by a Grand Prix™ that will be talked about for years to come.
Double World Champion Max Verstappen finally added Albert Park to the list of circuit at which he has triumphed, taking a narrow win in a race that he had under control for most of its 58 laps.
It
may have taken three Red Flags to determine the winner, but no one, even
second-placed Lewis Hamilton, could suggest that the 25-year-old was not a
deserving winner, even when the race finished with a one-lap, single-file
procession behind the Safety Car.
The win means that Verstappen has extended his points lead over teammate Sergio Perez in the Drivers World Championship to 15 points, 69-54. Red Bull handily leads the Constructors race on 123, well clear of Aston Martin on 65.
In the Supercars, a second win for Red Bull Ampol driver Broc Feeney headlined a rout for Chevrolet Camaro drivers, who filled the top five placings in the fourth and final race of the weekend. Andre Heimgartner was second ahead of Brodie Kostecki, whose consistency over the weekend ensures that he holds the championship points lead heading to the next round the series in Perth on 29-30 April.
In Formula 2®, it was Ayumu Iwasa who took out the Feature race, his second win of the season, at Albert Park. The 21-year-old from Osaka has marked himself as one of the drivers to beat in his second season in the category, finishing ahead of French teenager Theo Pourchaire.
In Formula 3®, the Brazilian national anthem returned to the airwaves after Gabriel Bortoleto took his second win in the Feature race. The 18-year-old hails from Sao Paulo (the hometown of Ayrton Senna) and he hardly put a foot wrong over the weekend in his Trident entry.
