Should the Australian GP have been restarted after Magnussen's crash?

YES - Alex Kalinauckas

When Max Verstappen blew past Lewis Hamilton like a jet plane taking off while a cancelled rival sits idle, the Australian Grand Prix was over as a contest. Even on a track where Red Bull struggles with tyres as much as the rest and had braking problems last weekend, there was no hope of any further action in the battle for the win. And it had looked so good for the neutral early on!

But when Verstappen’s advantage was removed at a stroke by the second red flag, suddenly there was a Hamilton with no 2023 title aspirations to consider when mulling a lunge into Turn 1. Throw in the relentlessly brilliant Fernando Alonso behind, and that’s a potent mix. A trio of champion combustion. So much better than a safety car conclusion or a result declared early.

Anticipation is half the joy and, for the 16 minutes before the day’s third standing start, this built delightfully. Verstappen dashed it with his best launch of three – and then came the destruction.

After all those crashes, this writer wondered whether the previous rush of anticipation had been worth it. Whether the position I’d arrived at after the damp-squib ending to the 2022 Italian Grand Prix was right after all. My glee at the thought of a grandstand twist had been replaced by unease, particularly considering a driver could have been hurt.

But wait, aren’t we told time and again that these are the world’s 20 best drivers? Shouldn’t they be able to cope with cold tyres in a tricky corner? The best of the best managed just fine…

PLUS: Australian Grand Prix Driver Ratings

So, Formula 1 should not be afraid of its current late-red-flag approach. So long as the safety justifications are there (as there were in both instances last Sunday, a spectator injured by flying Haas metal in the latter), it’s fine as is. Safety trumps all, and by stopping proceedings the action is packed.

Sure, it’s not what used to happen. And some races are dull and that’s fine – this one was a good example. But F1 and the watching public are different now. That really matters – and a lot of clever people know it too. F1’s stakeholders, including the teams, agreed back in 2021 that where possible races would finish under green-flag conditions. What happened last Sunday was what they wanted. And plenty of people watching on agreed.

Was the red flag and restart after Magnussen's crash the right call?

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

NO - Kevin Turner

This first became a debate at Autosport following the anti-climax to the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, which finished under safety car conditions. Some fans were angry, but plenty of races – in F1 and elsewhere – have ended in such circumstances. Disappointing, but sometimes that’s how the cookie crumbles.

Of course, just because things have been done one way for a long time doesn’t mean they always should be. F1 has been good at trying fresh approaches in recent years, such as the cost cap and sprint races, plus improving the technical rules to aid overtaking.

The aim of finishing a race under green is laudable, but restarting a GP so late increases the chances of two things that should be avoided. First, we could end up with the wrong winner. If anyone other than Max Verstappen had crossed the line first, it would have been a travesty and not reflected the previous hours of action. It would have devalued pretty much everything the fans had paid to see previously.

PLUS: The critical calls preceding Verstappen's Melbourne march and F1's red flag saga

Fortunately, he did win – but the other pitfall made itself very obvious. In an age of cost containment and priority for safety, sending the cars out on cold tyres for a standing start for two laps was a recipe for disaster. Alpine now has two damaged cars instead of 11 well-earned points – and it could have been worse.

It was all completely unnecessary: the 75% rule has existed for years and full points could have been awarded after Magnussen’s crash halted proceedings.

The 2021 Abu Dhabi GP also demonstrates the perils of taking it too far. Whatever your views on the destiny of that year's crown, the result seemed influenced by non-sporting factors. The unorthodox end to the race was because those in charge wanted the title to be decided with a battle, not behind the safety car. Sounds fair enough, except the circumstances were such that one driver was in a much weaker position and lost the championship as a result.

Final point: the overwhelming impression from Australia was one of farce. How many fans – new or old – thought that the conclusion was satisfactory? Broken cars and a long debate about the result hours after the finish. That’s exactly the sort of thing that can happen when you allow an obsession with ‘entertainment’ to override sport.

Alpine in particular will be counting the cost of the restart

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images