Talk about an eventful start to a race. The Australian GP has served us incident after incident and a boatload of excitement. Especially in the first stint where both George Russell first and then Lewis Hamilton passed Max Verstappen in the opening lap. However, the Alex Albon incident forcing a restart made things all the more interesting. We saw a rare glimpse of the 2021 season and saw Hamilton leading the race from Verstappen. However, the Mercedes of 2023 is a shadow of its 2021 self. As we all know, Hamilton’s lead did not last long, but it was the radio exchange between the Brit and his race engineer that showcases his helplessness.

The Brit has rarely been in the lead of a race since last year. Despite struggling through the first two races of the season as well, the Mercedes men put their car in the top three. A probably more surprising aspect of the season was when both Mercedes men took overtook Verstappen. Although there is no secret in Verstappen’s RB19 superiority and even Mercedes agrees.

We got a glimpse into the broken belief in themselves during the radio conversation between Hamilton and Peter Bonnington (Bono). Hamilton communicated, “We can’t hold him (Max Verstappen) back.” while leading the race. The surprising reply from Bono was, “If we can’t hold him back just make sure we take care of those tyres.”

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Verstappen quickly proved his superiority as soon as DRS was enabled. Verstappen showcased exactly how much faster the RB19 is during the overtake which left the fans gasping.

The pace of RB19 left fans gasping as Max Verstappen cruised past Lewis Hamilton

The Brit recently proclaimed the RB19 is the fastest car he has ever seen after the race in Jeddah. The Dutchman proved Hamilton right again during the Australian GP because the fans agree as well now.

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The fans are labeling the Red Bull illegal with the way Verstappen passed Hamilton. To add insult to injury, the Dutchman instantly gained a one-second advantage after the overtake, leaving Hamilton out of the DRS zone and helpless.

Not a sight any Mercedes or Hamilton fan would want to see, but such is the reality.