Formula 1

F1 drivers critical of Magnussen red flag after 'messy' Australian GP finish

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Formula 1 drivers criticised the FIA's decision-making after a "messy" end to the Australian Grand Prix.

Sunday's race at Albert Park became the first in F1 history to feature three red flags with two coming in the final three laps.

The second was thrown after Kevin Magnussen lost a wheel hitting the wall exiting Turn 2, leaving carbon fibre along the entire straight before the Haas came to a stop after Turn 3.

In particular, the stewards pointed to wheel rim debris as their main concern and thus the reason for the red flag.

However, chaos ensued at the subsequent standing restart with three separate collisions and two other drivers going off track in a crazy 30-second period.

Without that second red flag, though, the race likely would have finished behind the Safety Car, and Lando Norris believes avoiding that outcome was one of the FIA's main motivations. 

“I don’t see everything obviously, I see what I see in the cockpit,” the McLaren driver told Channel 4.

“I don’t feel like the second to last red flag was needed. Maybe it was to put on a bit of a show.

“And I just feel like things can very easily get taken away for you after 55 laps of a race through no fault of your own because someone locks up in Turn 1 and takes you out, just because they want to make it exciting."

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Race winner Max Verstappen agreed, adding: “I think the race itself, towards the end, was a bit of a mess with all the calls.

“I don’t think we needed that second red flag. I think that could have been done with a Virtual Safety Car or a Safety Car at worst.

“I think it left a lot of drivers confused why we needed a red flag. Today was quite messy.”

One driver who almost lost out massively was Fernando Alonso, who was spun around by Carlos Sainz following the second red flag.

Ultimately, the Spaniard was reinstated to his third podium of the season as the order was restored, but he stated the FIA must have solid reasoning for throwing a red flag.

“I was surprised with all the red flags, to be honest," Alonso said.

"The first one was a Williams at Turn 6, we went through there one lap behind the Safety Car and there was a bit of gravel, but nothing really too bad on track.

“But we never know in the car what’s going on the track itself. So maybe one barrier was not properly fitted there – I think the FIA has more information than us.

“So, if there is a red flag, it has to be for that reason. We will ask, probably in Baku, what was the reason for the second? I know there was a piece of tyre debris in the first straight but the car itself was inside of Turn 4, so it felt quite safe there.

“The Safety Car is for those kinds of reasons. So maybe, for us, it was a different opinion. But the FIA have all the cards on the table. So, in those kinds of situations, we trust them and we try to keep on going.”

Alpine's Esteban Ocon had a slightly different view, however, believing drivers were being too aggressive in the push to improve their position.

“Some drivers were just suicidal a bit in Turn 1, like Nyck [de Vries] on the inside," the Frenchman, who was hit by teammate Pierre Gasly, claimed.

“It was very close and obviously there’s a lot to gain at the time, but a little bit too much for some drivers.”

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