The Ferrari-Spaniard collided with his Aston Martin compatriot at the first corner as the Australian GP restarted after Kevin Magnussen’s crash – three laps from the end – brought the race to the second red flag stop in Melbourne.

The stewards found Saint responsible for the accident and gave him a 5 second time penalty. But going under the safety car on the last lap – after the third restart of the race – meant the differences at the checkered flag were small, allowing the 5-minute penalty to see the 27-year-old go from 4th to 11th. place in the final standings.

That meant Ferrari left Melbourne with zero points after Charles Leclerc retired on the first lap after touching Lance Stroll. Saint learned of his penalty over the radio as he waited in the cockpit for the final restart.

And, unnerved and at the same time desperate, he said to his engineer: “No, that’s not acceptable! Must [οι αγωνοδίκες] to wait to discuss with me after the end of the game”.

A little later, the Spaniard seemed even more irritated with his words: “I think that was the most unfair punishment I’ve seen in my life”he said in his first press statements. “Before I talk to you and say really bad things, I’d rather go to the stewards, have a discussion with them and then come back and talk again. Because I honestly can’t right now, it’s unfair and I don’t feel good enough to talk.”

Scuderia director Fred Wasser was no less upset: “My anger has to do with the fact that they made the decision before the race was over, before they heard it, one lap behind the safety car.” stressed the Frenchman.

And he continued: “The logical thing would be for them to wait for the hearing and discuss in detail what they think they saw. It wouldn’t even change the podium, it wouldn’t be that dramatic.” Today’s result dropped Ferrari to 4th in the Constructors’ Championship, already 97 points behind Red Bull Racing after just three races this year.

It is worth noting that the Stewards ruled that “responsibility for the collision rests entirely with Saint” and along with the 5 inch penalty also added 2 penalty points to his racing licence. In the case of the Stroll-Leclerc collision, the stewards ruled that it was a racing accident that did not warrant a penalty.

Photo credit: Associated Press

Max Verstappen won the Australian GP for the first time with a dominant performance: the RB19’s huge performance gap compared to the Mercedes allowed it to confidently win the 3rd Formula 1 race of the year despite beating the top two places to George Russell lost Lewis Hamilton.

However, the second red flag of the race – Kevin Magnussen’s crash – gave the Dutchman a hard time as, with three laps to go, he shattered the eight-second lead he had built up in the lead.

Chaos ensued during the subsequent restart when a total of six cars collided behind him and the race was stopped a third time – only to end a few moments later after a lap behind the safety car.

“I think you can decide the first red flag, but I don’t quite understand the second.” said Verstappen after the end of the Melbourne GP. “So it was a bit messy. But we got through it all. We had a good basis for the car again today and of course we won, that’s the most important thing.”

Meanwhile, the champion also expressed his displeasure at how Hamilton passed him at Turn 3 on the first lap, taking advantage of the Dutchman’s somewhat poor start: “For my part, I tried to avoid contact. The regulations are clear about what you are allowed to do [προσπερνώντας] from the outside, but it is clear that they were not followed.

“But it’s okay, we had good pace and still passed them. But we have to take that into account for the next games.”concluded the Dutchman.

Photo credit: Associated Press

The Australian GP went down as one of the most episodic in Formula 1 history, but during its duration we also had two impressive performances.

Who are you; Lewis Hamilton is now the only driver in Formula 1 history to lead at least one lap of a Grand Prix for the 17th consecutive year!

The particular record belonged to Michael Schumacher, who had quit when he was 16, with the Brit equalizing last year and surpassing him this year. The only one close to this impressive number is Fernando Alonso who is 15 years old.

At the same time, Max Verstappen caught the legendary Ayrton Senna on the podium appearances. The Dutchman was on the podium for the 80th time, as many as the legendary Brazilian, and they sit seventh on the relevant list.

The top ten podium finishes

1. LewisHamilton 192
2. Michael Schumacher 155
3. Sebastian Vettel122
4. Alain Prost106
5. Kimi Raikkonen 106
6. Fernando Alonso 101
7. Ayrton Senna 80
8. Max Verstappen 80
9. Rubens Barrichello68
10. Valtteri Botas67

In the relevant list, of course, Lewis Hamilton has long been the only leader, who has now achieved 192 podiums, while Fernando Alonso has 101.

After all, Max Verstappen crossed the checkered flag first for the 37th time in his career and is also chasing Ayrton Senna there, who at 41 is fifth on the relevant list.