The Australian Grand Prix began with Russell and Hamilton both getting ahead of Verstappen, setting up a chaotic race. Albon's crash brought out a red flag, hurting Russell after he had already pitted. After the restart, Verstappen passed Hamilton for the lead and took control. Late in the race Magnussen crashed, causing another red flag, and the two-lap restart produced multiple collisions. Sainz received a five-second penalty for contact with Alonso and dropped down the order. Verstappen won, Hamilton finished second and Alonso third. Pérez recovered from the back to fifth, while Yuki Tsunoda scored his first point of the season in tenth.