Poll | Were all red flags in the Australian Grand Prix the right call?

General

3 April 2023 at 18:56
4
  • GPblog.com

The Australian Grand Prix will mainly be remembered as the race with four starts. The red flag was waved three times, following crashes first by Alexander Albon, then Kevin Magnussen, and finally a series of collisions involving Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, among others. Teams, drivers and analysts criticised the race management, but is it justified?

Max Verstappen was one of the most outspoken drivers. The Melbourne winner felt the red flag could indeed be shown after Albon's hit. The Dutch had more trouble with the neutralisation after Magnussen hit the wall, losing a tyre and bodywork on his Haas F1. According to Verstappen, this situation could best have been handled with a safety car, which would have given more than enough time to let the marshals do their job safely.

Massa's accident

In the accident, a part of Magnussen's car ended up in the crowd. In the process, a British spectator injured his arm. Felipe Massa already noticed in 2009 that even the smallest part of a car can cause a serious injury. The Brazilian was hit on his helmet by a detached spring from Rubens Barrichello's BrawnGP. Although the spring was extremely small, the impact on his helmet caused Massa to lose consciousness.

Martin Brundle, analyst at Sky Sports, therefore felt that the race organisers in Melbourne were justified in taking prec aution and flagging the race. Probably the conclusion is that the sports commissioners could never have got it right for everyone. On the one hand, they did not want an incident like Massa to be repeated, at the same time there will always remain drivers and teams who feel the red flag was far too harsh a tool. All ifs and buts, but were the red flags justified?