Verstappen, who has clinched victory in the last four races and holds a significant lead over his rivals in the title race, expects a mixed bag of unpredictable weather and an enthusiastic home crowd.

Expressing his thoughts on the upcoming Sprint race format, Verstappen acknowledged the heightened intensity it brings compared to a standard race. 

“This is the second Sprint race of the season, they are always more hectic and complex compared to a normal race, and the weather looks a bit unpredictable too, so it will definitely mix things up a little bit,” he said.

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Verstappen also highlighted the significance of the Austrian Grand Prix as a home race for the Red Bull team. 

With a strong track record at Spielberg, having won there four times, Verstappen aims to deliver another exceptional performance for the passionate Dutch fans. 

“Of course Austria is a home race for us, and I’m looking forward to seeing all the support again at the track, hopefully, we’ll put on a good show for everyone in the grandstands,” he added. 

“We always enjoy coming back to Austria, and I’m excited to try to add another trophy to the collection for the team. 

“We’ve had some good results there already, so let’s see what we can do.”

On the other hand, Perez, who started the season strongly with two wins but has experienced a dip in form, emphasised the importance of consistency and delivering a strong result. 

READ: Lewis Hamilton joins Elton John backstage

Acknowledging the challenges posed by the Sprint weekend and the potential for unpredictable weather, Perez remarked: “My focus will be on the track because I know how important it is for me to have a consistent weekend and really produce a result I know I am capable of.”

Recognising the minimal and critical time available for car setup during the Sprint weekend, Perez stressed the need to maximise every moment of preparation. 

Reflecting on the previous Sprint weekend in Baku, where he had a successful outing at a different circuit, Perez expressed his determination to replicate that achievement and elevate his performance for the upcoming race in Austria.

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Footage circulating online showed fans jumping over a barrier near the pit lane exit, with other scaling the fence, as they ran towards the finish line to witness the post-race celebrations.

Six people are believed to have instigated the situation, with officials considering lifetime bans from the event for those behind the chaotic scenes.

“We’ll look at the powers we have and Victoria Police have under the major sporting events act that we operate under, as well as the Grand Prix act,” Tom Mottram, general manager of operations at the Australian Grand Prix, told regional publication The Age. 

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“Once the floodgates opened, unfortunately you’ve got to kind of run with it and manage it accordingly. 

“But we’ve identified five or six persons of interest who breached the track early, and we want to be talking to them.  

“It’s not something we will ever tolerate or accept and people need to realise this was a very dangerous undertaking that occurred.  

“We’ll find out what was the understanding or motive, and whether it’s something they did with malicious intent or they subconsciously found themselves in that position. 

“I wouldn’t want to jump to any conclusions until we’ve had an opportunity to chat to them,” he concluded.

READ: ‘He won’t be angry’: Guenther Steiner offers extra incentive for Nico Hulkenberg podium

The Australian Grand Prix had proved to be an entertaining event for fans at the circuit and around the world, with three red flags and multiple safety car incidents bringing the field together.

Max Verstappen claimed his second win of the season, while Lewis Hamilton secured a first podium of the year for Mercedes. 

Finishing in P3, Fernando Alonso took a third consecutive podium place.

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When cars set off after the second restart, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz collided with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, sending the two-time world champion into the gravel.

Avoiding the crash, Stroll picked up a provisional P3 spot before locking up at turn 3 and going off track into the gravel, almost crashing into the barrier, throwing away his podium shot.

With officials ultimately resetting the race for a third time, reverting the starting order of the second restart, Stroll was handed back his sixth place position, which became fourth due to Pierre Gasly’s crash and Sainz’s penalty.

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“There was sadness and disappointment when the race was stopped again but then, crossing the finish line, very happy with the result,” Stroll said after the race.

“I was pretty heartbroken in Turn 3, with a couple of laps to go, when I picked up a right front lock defending from Carlos and I thought I had thrown away a podium finish. It would have been hard to sleep if it had finished like that.

“The tyres were just ice cold, I already felt it coming out of Turn 2, just picking up the power I had a big snap, and then, heading into Turn 3, I was defending from Carlos, he was obviously on my outside and I was on the dirty part of the track.

READ: Fernando Alonso reacts to Lance Stroll’s crash with Charles Leclerc

“As soon as I touched the brakes the front right just started locking up and there was no slowing down the car.

“I was lucky to even bring it back, because as we saw [in qualifying] Pérez got beached there, so we were lucky to get the car back,” he added.

Alonso’s third consecutive podium finish and Stroll’s fourth place kept Aston Martin in second place in the Constructors’ Championship, nine points clear of Mercedes and 58 points behind Red Bull. 

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The weekend marked a return to form for Mercedes, which looked to be struggling to keep up with its rivals in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

In qualifying, Mercedes looked strong, placing George Russell in P2 and Hamilton in P3, close behind their Red Bull rival Max Verstappen.

In the opening lap, both Russell and Hamilton passed Verstappen, exciting fans of the Silver Arrows who hoped this was the start of a comeback for the Brackley-based team.

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Unfortunately, a strategy call and lack of pace would see Verstappen regain the lead over Mercedes by lap 12, remaining out front until the chequered flag. 

With Verstappen taking another victory, not everyone was impressed with the Mercedes, doubting whether this return to the podium will last.

“I think it was a bit of a one-hit wonder, to be honest. Australia has always been a track where you can do well with a car that was half-decent, but then you go to the next track and it’s a whole different story,” Ralf Schumacher told Sky Sports Germany. 

Schumacher, who raced for Jordan, Williams and Toyota over a 10-year career in Formula 1, believe “it was a one-off due to the track.”

READ: Lewis Hamilton abandoned by Mercedes after podium finish

“The other [factor] is, it showed that the Mercedes engine is currently the strongest when you look at the times in the second sector, even with Williams. All the Mercedes-powered cars were extremely strong this weekend, which is obviously a good sign for the engine,” he added.

Despite the struggles at Mercedes as they look to fix their performance woes on the way back to the front of the grid, the team is sat close behind Aston Martin in the Constructors’ title fight.

In the Drivers’ Standings, Hamilton is sat in fourth, while Russell finds himself down in seventh.

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The event in Melbourne became the first race in Formula 1 history to have three red flags, and eventually ended behind a safety car after the two Alpines collided into one another on lap 57.

The number of red flags and restarts resulted in criticism from Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, who lost out on his first ever podium finish in Formula 1 due to a decision from the stewards.

Sitting in P4 before the last red flag restart, Hulkenberg would’ve taken P3 from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard was demoted by a five second penalty. 

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However, stewards decided to revert to the starting order of the second red flag restart, ending under a safety car procedure that meant Hulkenberg ended in P7.

“This is going to degenerate into big discussions,” Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg said.  

“From a fan’s point of view, an entertainment point of view, you can completely understand it.

“From the driver’s point of view or from the team’s point of view, this American entertainment style is sometimes frustrating,” he added.

Haas attempted to protest the result of the Australian Grand Prix but officials dismissed it.

READ: FIA criticised after F1 driver escapes punishment despite rear-ending another car in Australia

“Having considered all the arguments made, we made the following determination… The decision of Race Control and the Race Director needed to be made promptly; with the exercise of appropriate discretion and by using the most appropriate information available to them at the time,” the stewards wrote.

“In the circumstances, based on what we heard from the FIA representatives and from Haas, we considered that this was in fact done appropriately by the Race Director in this instance and therefore dismiss the protest.”

While Haas were unhappy with the P7 finish, it is the team’s best finish so far in 2023, helping the American constructor move to P7 in the standings.

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The incident initially just brought out a safety car but, when the stewards felt the situation would take more time to clear up, the red flag was waved and all drivers returned to the pit lane.

While this was a great opportunity for some to claim a free pit stop, as you’re allowed to change tyres and even change front wings before the race resumes, others were hurt by the decision.

Mercedes had been leading the race with George Russell in P1 and Lewis Hamilton in P2 but Russell divided into the pits at the sight of the safety car to change tyres early. 

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When the red flag was waved, his tactic proved costly, as he restarted the race down in P7, having sacrificed his position for nothing.

Discussing the situation on Sky Sports, Kravitz and Croft disagreed whether the red flag should have been waved or if drivers should have continued behind the safety car.

“Ted, I can give you some information on that. The red flag is because of the gravel that came back onto the track,” Croft said.

“You can see actually that the gravel is coming onto the racing line, there was a lot of it with the Williams beached.

READ: FIA criticised for not banning Pierre Gasly from Azerbaijan Grand Prix

“The red flag has basically so the track can be swept, the last thing you want at some of the high-speed, flat-out curved sections is someone picking up a puncture and going into the barrier.”

“Yeah, well if you’re George Russell you are probably thinking, ”WHAT! GRAVEL!’,” Kravitz replied. “”The red flag was for gravel, we’ve driven through gravel before.”

“But George Russell isn’t the racing director,” Croft replied sharply.

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Speaking ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali has floated the idea of turning the event into a night race, making the start time more friendly for Europeans.

At a SportNXT conference, Domenicali revealed that the topic has been discussed by Formula 1 officials, as it’s a matter of the scale of investment they can draw in through the race.

“It could be attractive. When you’re planning for so long, you can really think what is the best to create new products. You never know. It would be important to understand the implications,” he said.

READ: Revealed: Rivals voted against FIA move to reduce risk of Pierre Gasly race ban

Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott seemed to downplay the chance of changing the start time, claiming that a day race suits Melbourne better.

“Because of the attractiveness that each single city provides and contributes to the championship, Melbourne’s place as an afternoon race on a Sunday works beautifully… but you never say never in Formula 1,” Westacott said.

READ: FIA denies backing down in Lewis Hamilton row

The Albert Park Circuit has already undergone a significant alteration from previous iterations of the race, with the addition of a fourth DRS adding to the fast paced nature of the street circuit. 

“We know obviously that Melbourne is usually a very difficult track to overtake, so if you can increase the overtaking opportunities, increase the racing, make it slightly more entertaining and a bit more racing on that track, I think that’s definitely positive,” Alpine’s Pierre Gasly said.

The fourth DRS zone was added ahead of last year’s race along the Lakeside Drive straight between turns nine and ten but was taken out before the lights went green over safety concerns. 

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The problem appeared in FP1 and meant engineers from all teams were unable to see where other cars were on the track, resulting in traffic and, ultimately, the session being red-flagged.

Those GPS woes seemed to calm down in FP2, although not entirely as there were still areas of heavy traffic around the track at Albert Park. Perez wasn’t afraid to point out how damaging the GPS problems were, with his session proving to be another frustrating one.

The Red Bull driver told Formula1.com that the session was ‘a bit mental’ before expanding on his struggles: “I think especially going into FP2, it felt like a lot of people still had issues with their GPS data. So it was just a mess. I couldn’t get up a lap in.

READ: ‘Signs’: Daniel Ricciardo hints at Formula 1 return

“We made some changes which seemed to be working well into sector one, sector two, but not much to say really, I think tomorrow there’s plenty to do.”

Crucially, he added, assessing the impact of the GPS issues: “Too much to do in FP3 [alone] so I think we’re going to be going a bit blind into the race, which should be interesting.”

Perez had to abort a flying lap which saw him punch in purple sectors around two thirds of the track, before suddenly having to abort the hot lap to avoid crashing into Zhou Guanyu and Fernando Alonso.

It meant he finished the second session the seventh-fastest, 1.2 seconds slower than Aston Martin’s Alonso in P1, while completing 15 laps.

READ: Charles Leclerc and Ferrari to ‘surprise’ at 2023 Australian GP

Thankfully for Christian Horner’s team, Red Bull looked fast in FP1, with Max Verstappen topping the timesheet and Perez finishing third-fastest.

The two drivers currently have a win each to their name this season, with Verstappen cruising to victory in Bahrain’s season-opener, before finishing second behind Perez in Jeddah at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after starting in 15th.

Perez made headlines after his maiden win of the 2023 season for his celebrations, where he appeared to be snubbed by Verstappen’s father Jos, who also played down his victory after the race.

Perez, however, has since insisted that the pair maintain a good relationship.

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After appearing to be neck and neck with Red Bull for at least the first half of last season, 2023 has been dominated by the Milton Keynes-based team so far with Ferrari struggling to find any true race pace, while also not getting the most out of their sessions earlier on in the weekend.

Their struggles have allowed Red Bull to dominate early on, despite flashes of brilliance from Aston Martin who have seemingly jumped ahead of the Prancing Horse for the time being.

Leclerc has complained about the issue on previous occasions, but was positive off the back of a chaotic FP1 at Albert Park and believes Ferrari are well equipped for the rest of the weekend, having managed to finish second-fastest in FP2.

READ: Aston Martin reveal why they didn’t want Sebastian Vettel to replace Lance Stroll

Speaking to Formula1.com after the first two sessions, he explained: “I feel like the feeling is a bit better than the other races, so that is positive. It is probably our most positive FP2 of the season, which doesn’t mean much, but at least it is a Friday that finishes on a positive note.

“Now we need to work, do another step in the right direction tomorrow and hopefully we will be a bit closer to the Red Bulls tomorrow [in qualifying], and especially [during the race].”

Leclerc did not finish the season opener at Bahrain before finishing P7 in a disappointing weekend in Jeddah at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with both Ferrari drivers still trying to find their feet with the SF-23, under the leadership of new team principal Frederic Vasseur.

Carlos Sainz has similarly struggled like his Monegasque teammate, but was also cautiously optimistic off the back of his first two sessions in Australia.

“Obviously practice is practice, but we did use that FP1 to try some very different things on the car to see if we can find a bit of performance for the package that we have now.”

The Spaniard continued, claiming that the team better understood what they were working with as well as unearthing things that could be beneficial in the future.

READ: Jeremy Clarkson claims his daughter ‘knows Charles Leclerc’s inside leg measurements’

After putting in a terrific lap in Jeddah that was just two-tenths off Sergio Perez’s effort, Leclerc was mindful that Ferrari still have plenty of room to improve in the race, but again remained quietly confident: “I think that with the different changes we’ve done today, maybe we [will] find a little bit of performance.

“We must not forget that last race, we were really, really struggling in the race and we won’t be finding this kind of lap time in the race, but this should be a step in the right direction.”

On Formula 1’s return to Australia in 2022, Leclerc put together a spectacular weekend to win the race with ease.

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Verstappen finished fastest in a heavily disturbed FP1 which was eventually red-flagged due to GPS issues for every team, but failed to pick up the pace when returning for FP2 and sat third-fastest behind Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc, in a rain-affected session.

Despite Red Bull dominating proceedings so far in 2023, it hasn’t been without struggle. Verstappen has continually complained of gearbox and driveshaft issues in his RB19 challenger and failed to close the gap to eventual race winner and teammate Sergio Perez at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The pair go into the weekend with one win each under their belt for the season so far, with many expecting the race to again be a battle of the two Red Bull cars at the front of the grid.

READ: McLaren go on massive poaching spree from Aston Martin, Ferrari and Red Bull

Dissecting his first two practice sessions on his website, Verstappen said the car ‘felt good’ but explained where he struggled.

“We never really got into a window where I felt like I had full control of the tyres. We’ll have to look at that tonight, but I’m sure it will be fine,” he said.

He cited the asphalt on the track around Albert Park and the disruptions throughout FP1 as reasons why he failed to ‘get into a good rhythm’, but added: “[On Saturday] it will probably be dry, so the focus is on that, and on a dry track it’s hard enough.”

READ: Lewis Hamilton reveals terrifying experience which will worry Toto Wolff

The Dutchman did well to recover to a P2 finish in Jeddah, having started the race in 15th and arriving for the race weekend a day late due to struggling with illness.

He’s since shaken off that illness, though, and finished Friday with the fastest lap time on the grid. He punched in a 1:18.790 to finish some four-tenths quicker than seven-time champions Lewis Hamilton in FP1, who surprisingly managed to split the two Red Bulls despite Mercedes still struggling themselves.

Provided no gearbox or driveshaft issues rear their head, Verstappen is in a strong position to win the Australian Grand Prix for the first time in his career, having had to watch on from the paddock as Charles Leclerc eased to victory around Melbourne in 2022.

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