02 April 2023 , 08:44
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Max Verstappen was critical of the Australian Grand Prix stewards for not penalising Lewis Hamilton after their clash during the Melbourne race.
The Dutchman was victorious in Australia, but did not have everything his own way. He started poorly and was overtaken by both Mercedes cars, with George Russell in particular getting a lightning-quick launch off the line.
Hamilton also got past his old Formula 1 rival as they went wheel-to-wheel in the first few corners. The stewards saw nothing wrong with the way the Brit completed the overtake, but Verstappen was clearly angry as he claimed he was pushed off the track over the radio.
Reacting to the race after taking victory, Verstappen criticised the stewards for not taking action over that incident with a sarcastic comment. He said: "From my side, I just tried to avoid the contact.
"It's quite clear in the rules what you're allowed to do now in the outside, but clearly it's not followed. But that's okay, we had good pace and passed them anyway. It's something for the next races to take into account."
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The race in Melbourne was a chaotic one with three standing starts overall and several safety car periods. Only 12 cars actually finished the race following a late pile-up involving no fewer than five cars, but Verstappen avoided it all to take his second win of the season and first ever at Albert Park.
Hamilton and Verstappen made contact on the first lap (Sky Sports)Recounting his race, he said: "We had a very poor start and on 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 and you could see that straight away.
"We were always there waiting for the DRS to open up to have a chance to pass. With these red flags... the first one maybe you can do it, but the second one I don't really understand. It was a bit of a mess, but yeah we survived everything and had good pace on the car today. We won, and that's the most important thing.
"It's great to win here, and it's my first win. It's been a while for the team as well so we're very happy. And it's great to see that the fans are having a good time even now, after a long wait for the whole day. I would say a big thank you to them as well for sticking around."