Max Verstappen won a chaotic and controversial Australian Grand Prix that finished under a safety car after a controversial crash-affected restart.
The Red Bull driver led Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso home to set the podium.
That was despite Alonso being tagged into a spin at a restart with two laps to go and dropped to the back.
Under FIA regulations, the finishing positions were taken from the last restart, with the cars then having to complete a final lap behind the safety car, BBC sports reported.
To add to the controversy, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was given a five-second penalty for causing the decisive crash at the first corner by tagging Alonso’s car, dropping him from fourth to 12th and out of the points.
Verstappen’s win, coupled with a fifth place for his team-mate Sergio Perez after the Mexican started from the back, extended the Dutchman’s championship lead to 15 points.
Source: Oman News Agency