The Australian Grand Prix 2023 was the 3rd round of the 2023 F1 season, and took place at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, during the weekend of March 31st to April 2nd.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 65 pit stops during the race, although only 19 which can be considered "normal". Several red flags on laps 8, 55 and 57 forced all drivers to pit on those laps.
The most popular pit stop windows, considering that these were affected by the red flag, were:
- Laps 1-2: 7 stops
- Laps 53-55: 7 stops
The fastest pit stop was Sergio Pérez's, stopping the clock at 17.657 seconds during his pit stop on lap 1, while the slowest one was was Valtteri Bottas's, who stopped the clock at 1 minutes, 16.634 seconds, 58.977 seconds slower than Pérez, during his pit stop on lap 55.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
The race was not obvious in terms of pit stop strategy, with different teams and different drivers choosing to make anywhere from 2 to 6 stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 3 stops strategy.
2 stops
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3Kevin Magnussen
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16George Russell
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4Pierre Gasly
3 stops
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3Esteban Ocon
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1Lewis Hamilton
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1Fernando Alonso
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3Nico Hülkenberg
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-Max Verstappen
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2Lance Stroll
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7Lando Norris
4 stops
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7Carlos Sainz
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2Yuki Tsunoda
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-Nyck de Vries
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8Oscar Piastri
5 stops
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5Sergio Pérez
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8Guanyu Zhou
6 stops
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11Valtteri Bottas
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2Logan Sargeant
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 3 stops strategy gained 2.33 positions on average, the ones on a 4 stops strategy lost an average of 1 positions, the ones on a 5 stops strategy gained 1.5 positions on average, while those on a 6 stops strategy lost an average of 11 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 3 stops strategy was the best option.
That is for this particular race, with all its unique circumstances, amongst which, let's not forget were the red flags on laps 8, 55 and 57, so it is very likely that this would have not been the ideal strategy under normal circumstances.
Incidents
The reace did not end without incidents... 8 drivers out of the original 20 who started did not managed to cross the finish line.
These included, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nyck de Vries, Logan Sargeant, and Charles Leclerc, all of whom retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars, Kevin Magnussen, and Alexander Albon, both had to retire due to an accident, and George Russell, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 17.
Collision
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Pierre GaslyLap 56
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Esteban OconLap 56
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Nyck de VriesLap 56
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Logan SargeantLap 56
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Charles LeclercLap 0
Accident
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Kevin MagnussenLap 52
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Alexander AlbonLap 6
Engine
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George RussellLap 17
Qualifying
Max Verstappen dominated all the qualifying sessions and took the pole by 0.236 seconds, with a final lap time of 1:16.732. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was George Russell.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and all of the drivers that took place in Q2 improved their times in this second session.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.