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Formula 1
Australian GP
F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix
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Having followed Perez to the chequered flag two weeks ago, reigning world champion and Bahrain GP winner Max Verstappen holds a one point lead from his team-mate after snatching a valuable fastest lap point in Jeddah.
All eyes will be on what Red Bull’s rivals can do to halt their charge at Albert Park, a venue the Milton Keynes operation hasn’t tasted victory since Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 triumph.
Verstappen will start from pole position after beating the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, while Perez will start from pitlane after qualifying last and then making car changes in parc ferme.
Sunday's race is due to begin at 6:00am BST.
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If this was a boxing match, this part of the race is the heavy middle rounds when the fighters try to tire each other out and set up a big late knockout.
Stopwatch
Verstappen regains the fastest lap accolade with a 1m21.319s. But in truth all of the top 10 are lapping within half a second of each other which means one thing: tyre management to get to the end.
Magnussen produces a properly late move on Zhou for 12th into Turn 11. That was not an easy DRS breeze-by job - a really committed move from the Haas driver catches Zhou by surprise.
Stopwatch
Verstappen puts in another fastest lap, only to be beaten seconds later by Hamilton with a 1m24.400s. But there's still 9.2s splitting the pair, as Hamilton is pushing to keep clear of DRS range of Alonso.
Unsurprisingly, Sargeant ditches his mediums and takes on a set of hards to go through to the end. De Vries up to 16th, the Williams man down to 17th.
Unseen by us, Bottas has cleared Sargeant for 16th, meaning the pair who took mediums for the restart now bring up the rear of the field.
Ricciardo is spotted in the Red Bull garage and gets the biggest cheer of the day from the local crowd. He's still #1 to the Aussie fans.
All this tyre management is closing the gaps from Hamilton in second all the way back to Perez in ninth. This race has turned into a slower burner after fireworks at the start - almost literally in Russell's case.
Zhou becomes the latest driver to pass Tsunoda as the AlphaTauri driver's slow descent down the field continues. No sooner is the move for 12th complete than Magnussen demotes him a further spot into Turn 9.
The battle for eighth may soon be about to hot up, as Perez has got the gap down to just 1.5s. He'll soon be within DRS range of Norris.
"They can't be on the same strategy as us," Hamilton tells Bonnington, as Alonso trims the gap to 1.5s. It is a race and mental strategy game between Alonso and Hamilton.
All those laps stuck behind Tsunoda mean Piastri is over 5s down on Ocon. The gap doesn't look like it's coming down for the time being.
Quote
"Alonso keeps trying to push you to make you use your tyres, so let's not fall for it," Hamilton's engineer-come-conscious Pete Bonnington tells him.
Perez is chipping away at his deficit to eighth-placed Norris and has got the gap down to 3.6s. But it appears unlikely that he'll be emulating Verstappen's Jeddah recovery to the podium today unless things change significantly.
Stopwatch
Verstappen sets a new fastest lap of 1m21.772s to pull out another second on Hamilton. The Mercedes driver's race is really against Alonso and Sainz given the Red Bull is in a league of its own.
Now finally Piastri gets the move done into Turn 9, easily zooming around the outside of the AlphaTauri. Can the local hero close back up to Ocon in 10th?
Piastri must be well and truly sick of studying the rear wing on Tsunoda's car now. They're still locked together, now with Zhou and Magnussen closing behind.
Verstappen is turning the screw at the front, as he builds his lead to 6.9s at the end of lap 28.
The medium tyre gamble hasn't worked out for de Vries. He's demoted to 17th and last by honorary Aussie Bottas. Ocon meanwhile repeats his move on Piastri to claim 10th from Tsunoda, who didn't put up much resistance.
The clean air for Sainz has allowed him to up his pace and he'll aim to join the podium fight over the final third of the race.
He's watched Perez do it enough times, now finally Ocon dispatches Piastri around the outside of Turn 9. A good move, rewarding the Alpine man's patience. Will Tsunoda's defences finally be breached too?
Hulkenberg has been in a race of his own adrift of the battle behind Gasly and comfortably ahead of Norris since the restart. Will that mean his tyres are in better shape if/when Perez gets onto his tail? The Red Bull hasn't made much inroads on Norris since getting into clear air.
Sainz makes his move on Gasly for fourth, sending a dummy to the outside before cutting back to the inside at Turn 3 to charge by at the corner apex. Ole!
That's allowing the Gasly-led fight in fourth to close the gap on the podium trio but they will almost certainly be chewing through tyre performance at a greater rate as a result.
Another lap, another pass for Perez. This one was rather easier though, taking Tsunoda around the outside well before the braking zone for Turn 9. He's now up to ninth, with Norris his next target.
Due to the red-flagged triggered tyre strategy, there's also a fair bit of tyre management going on with the frontrunners. Verstappen is gradually building his lead, up to 4.3s now, while Hamilton has a 2.3s gap over Alonso.
The inexorable rise continues. Perez powers around the outside of Piastri into Turn 9 to claim 10th spot. The DRS on that Red Bull is proving powerful once again.
Another bold move from Perez at Turn 9 allows him to claim 11th from Ocon. Piastri has a big look at Tsunoda around the outside of Turn 11 but has to fall back into line again. No further action on their contact from earlier is the stewards call.
Verstappen's advantage is trimmed to 2.5s but that's more because Hamilton is trying to scamper clear of Alonso behind him, rather than attack for the lead.
Russell's exit stage left has promoted Gasly to fourth again but he still has Sainz and Stroll for close company.
Since he lost out to Norris, Tsunoda has become a bit of a cork in the bottle. He's holding up Piastri and Ocon behind, allowing Perez a sniff at the Alpine into Turn 11 last time around.
Green flag
Russell's Mercedes is safely cleared away and we have green flag racing once again on lap 20.
Russell's car is slow coming through the final sector and then spits fire down the start/finish straight before coming to a safe stop just in front of pit exit. After such a great start to the race, that's a nightmare for Russell.
The pits are closed under VSC so nobody at the back end of the field can profit by changing tyres.
Safety car
Russell's engine is on fire! He's out of the race! The Virtual Safety Car is out.
Perez claims another spot into Turn 11, this time at the expense of Zhou on the outside line. That's P13 now for the second Red Bull driver, as meanwhile the stewards have noted the earlier Piastri-Tsunoda wheel-banging.
Verstappen is fast but Sainz is actually the quickest driver on track as he is reeling in Gasly for fifth place - so don't rule him out of the podium fight.
Norris has meanwhile taken ninth from Tsunoda, who puts up a stern resistance against Piastri as the two bang wheels into Turn 1.
A brave move on Magnussen from Perez. He takes 14th down the inside at Turn 9, the Haas driver very compliant in leaving space.
Verstappen must have an early flight home to catch - he's already 3.3s ahead of Hamilton, as this race starts to settle down from a manic opening dozen or so laps.
By: Autosport Staff
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