An incident-packed Australian Grand Prix was, for those encumbered by a European time zone, certainly worth getting up for. Although another Max Verstappen victory was unsurprising given his and Red Bull's advantage in the early part of the 2023 Formula 1 season, late chaos threatened to derail the otherwise settled pecking order.

In F1's first triple red-flagged race (or quadruple, if one counts the late Nico Hulkenberg stoppage), the FIA once again got itself into a pickle with its approach to race direction, and the decision to introduce a stoppage to proceedings after Kevin Magnussen's wall-bang received criticism in the media – particularly after it precipitated a deluge of chaos on the second restart.

There were other secondary and tertiary storylines festering underneath the thunder Down Under too, with plenty to chew over before F1 takes a nearly four-week hiatus before the next round in Baku. Here's our usual 10 points of interest following the race at Albert Park.

1. The FIA still can't decide how to handle late-race incidents

The third start in Melbourne prompted carnage, as many questioned why the race had been stopped following Magnussen's prang

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

When Magnussen splintered his right-rear wheel against the Turn 2 exit kerb, the Dane was able to limp as far as Turn 3 before parking up off the track. With shards of debris littering the track and a car for the marshals to move, it looked as though the latter stages of the race would be destined to end under the safety car. After all, that's how proceedings ended in last year's race at Monza, although this came with pockets of outcry that the race was allowed to fizzle out.

Perhaps that outcry was the reason why FIA race director Niels Wittich instead elected for the red flag to be flown, effectively guaranteeing that the 16 drivers left in the race could battle until the end. But it didn't quite work out that way.

Instead, unbridled mayhem ensued. Carlos Sainz hit Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly put himself and Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon into the wall, and the order was shuffled like a deck of cards before another red flag enacted a further halt. Thus began further confusion with a lap left to run: would the FIA stick with the resulting order, or revert to the initial starting order sans those forced into retirement?

It opted for the latter, prompting an official protest from Haas as Nico Hulkenberg got up to fourth, but this was waved out by the stewards. There have been three recent examples of late-race crashes and all have been handled differently: the safety car was called off early in Abu Dhabi 2021 to provoke a last-gasp title battle, the race ended behind the safety car in Monza last year, and now there has been a red flag conferring a standing start in Australia.

Thus, the FIA needs to decide on what the official protocol is. Sure, it begs the existential question of 'is F1 primarily a sporting pursuit, or entertainment?', but there must be consistency.

2. Mercedes is making progress with its troubled W14

Russell's race ended with an engine failure, but he followed up a strong qualifying by grabbing the lead from Verstappen at the original race start

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

Having been keen to play down its chances of troubling those at the sharp end until it has settled on an agreeable car concept, Mercedes perhaps overdelivered on its own expectations in Australia. George Russell was quickest off the draw at the start and bolted into the lead, while Lewis Hamilton's buccaneering into the third corner got him ahead of Verstappen to ensure that it was Mercedes, not Red Bull, who led the opening phases.

Russell was unfortunate after the initial flurry of laps, with his stop under the safety car proving to be a gamble that did not pay off as Mercedes' strategists – along with everyone else – were blindsided by the first red flag. His progress to make up for that suddenly evaporated with a powertrain fire, leaving Mercedes' hopes with Hamilton.

Despite the seven-time champion's best efforts, the Red Bull RB19 in Verstappen's hands was too much to resist; the Dutchman cruised around the outside before Turn 9 on the 12th lap to ultimately collect the lead.

But Hamilton was still able to stay on track for second, responding to the increasing pace from Alonso behind in the second half of the race to maintain his grip on the runner-up spot. The team looked good all weekend, and the 2-3 in qualifying perhaps should have been matched in the race without Russell's failure. There's work to do with the W14, but the Brackley squad is not in any mood to simply roll over.

3. Verstappen still has exploitable weaknesses

Verstappen was victorious again, but wasn't without error on his way to collecting another helping of 25 points

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Amid the wild nature of this year's race in Melbourne, Verstappen picked up his first Australian GP win. But of his 37 victories in F1, it was one of the less stellar examples of his oeuvre as the defending champion endured a scrappy race.

His start was somewhat leisurely compared to Russell's and, having got bogged down on the exit kerb of Turn 1, was ripe for the picking as Hamilton grabbed a tow into Turn 3 and forced his way through into second. Without Sergio Perez to protect him as the Mexican started from the pitlane, Verstappen's vulnerability became somewhat exposed.

When the two-time champion had later picked up the lead and was embarking on his path of stretching his advantage over Hamilton, he lost time running wide at Turn 13. It cost him about three seconds, which he spent briefly mowing the turf before rejoining the circuit. The error was completely unforced and, although Verstappen expressed his frustration with front-left locking, it was ultimately his mistake.

As Verstappen has gone largely unchallenged over the past year, those small errors have gone largely unnoticed and unpunished. But, if any of the other teams can force their way into the picture for wins and start matching Red Bull, Verstappen still has soft spots on his underbelly that can be exploited. They're only small weaknesses, but their existence will be heartening to any future challengers he may have.

4. Ferrari finds new ways to add to 2023 comedy of errors

The ignominy of Alonso being re-inserted ahead of Sainz in the pitlane queue was amplified by the Spaniard getting a penalty which knocked him out of the points

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Bahrain's season opener proved difficult for Ferrari, as the high tyre wear set the team back somewhat, but a previously unexplored vein of unreliability was inexplicably tapped into. With that problem with the control unit presumably fixed, the SF-23 still has a tendency to gorge upon its Pirelli rubber like medieval royalty at a banquet.

This wasn't a concern at Albert Park as the circuit is considerably more lenient on tyres, so Ferrari had a chance to make a good go of things at a venue where it has historically performed well. At least, until the drivers made a hash of things...

Charles Leclerc bumped himself out on lap one after finding that Lance Stroll could not simply squeeze his Aston Martin up like an accordion into Turn 3. The Monegasque to