The Australian Grand Prix ended in complete chaos as a late restart ended with five cars being taken out in a mass collision.
Kevin Magnussen lost a wheel and left debris across the track, prompting a late red flag. That meant two racing laps to go with a standing restart on the grid, leaving all to play for in the race with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battling for victory.
But the real action would come further back. Verstappen held off the challenge of Hamilton into the first corner, but then carnage ensued. Fernando Alonso was on track for third place again, but was spun around by Carlos Sainz and left furious, worried that his podium had been snatched away.
But that wasn't the end of it. There was also a disaster for Alpine as their two drivers took each other out. With limited space on the track, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were unable to avoid hitting each other and they both smashed into the wall and out of the race.
Further back, there was also contact between Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries which left the two of them stranded in the gravel. Sergio Perez had also gone off the track to avoid being caught up in the carnage, but that proved to be wise as he came through unscathed.
After a lengthy wait, it was decided that the restart procedure would take place. That was good news for Alonso, who reinherited third place despite being span around and losing it. Because his car was still going under its own power, he was allowed to resume.
It meant that the order would be reset to what it was at the previous restart, and would not take into account any overtakes made during that short time between the green light and that huge multi-car smash. And, with no racing laps remaining, that order would stay exactly the same with no overtaking allowed.
So Verstappen won the race with Hamilton in second, and Alonso in third after all. Sainz was in fourth, but was given a five-second time penalty for causing the crash with Alonso. That meant Lance Stroll, one place behind, would inherit fourth at the end of the race, Perez fifth and Lando Norris sixth.
Nico Hulkenberg finished in seventh place despite having made his way up to fourth through all the carnage, leaving Haas chief Guenther Steiner absolutely furious. Oscar Piastri was classified eighth to score his first Formula 1 points in his home race, with Zhou Guanyu also getting himself onto the board for the season in ninth and Yuki Tsunoda 10th.
Sainz, because of his penalty, and Valtteri Bottas were the only drivers to finish the race without scoring points.
