“That's racing” - Lewis Hamilton explains his overtake on Max Verstappen in the first lap of the Australian F1 GP

Lewis Hamilton has defended his overtake of Max Verstappen on the opening lap of a chaotic 2023 Australian Grand Prix.

Verstappen made a slow start to the race and was passed by George Russell at Turn 1. Russell's Mercedes teammate Hamilton followed suit at Turn 3, pushing the Dutchman to third.

While Verstappen was immediately on the radio complaining that he was not given enough room by Hamilton, that move didn't matter much in the end as he regained the lead and crossed the chequered flag to take his maiden victory Down Under. Hamilton finished P2 while Russell was forced to retire on Lap 17 following a fire at the back of his W14.

Speaking at a post-race press conference in Melbourne, Hamilton said that he saw nothing wrong with the move. He explained:

"I thought it was pretty decent. I mean, he braked early and I braked late and I was fully up the inside and I think we both left space for each other. I didn't run him off the road and he didn't turn in on me. So we didn't touch and that’s racing."

Verstappen, however, stated that rules were not followed during that move. He opined:

"From my side, I just tried to avoid a contact. It's quite clear in the rules what is allowed to do, what you're allowed to do now on the outside. But clearly it's not followed. But that's OK, you know, we had good pace and we passed them anyway. But it's something for the next races to take into account."

---

Fernando Alonso praises Lewis Hamilton for 2023 Australian GP performance

Fernando Alonso praised Lewis Hamilton after battling him in the 2023 Australian GP on Sunday (April 2).

After conceding the lead to Max Verstappen, Hamilton was in a battle with Alonso throughout the race as the two kept trading the fastest lap times. The Spaniard was never able to make it to within the DRS range of the Mercedes and, with the late race red flags, an opportunity to pass the Briton never came.

Speaking after the race about his battle with Hamilton, Alonso said:

"It wasn't an easy race, keeping up with Mercedes was difficult, Ferrari and Alpine were also trying to put pressure from behind. So, I tried to force Lewis to make a mistake, but he rode fantastic, what a champion he is. I only remember a lockup on turn 13 in 58 laps, it wasn't possible to do more."

In the end, both Hamilton and Alonso ended up on the podium as the former finished P2 and the latter P3.