Verstappen: I would have switched Australian GP off

Max Verstappen says he would have switched off the Australian Grand Prix through boredom if he were watching on television. Albert Park was once again short on overtaking on Sunday as drivers struggle to pass amid the regulations introduced last year.

Verstappen's team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was one of a few drivers to make a move stick, using the newly introduced DRS zone before turn 13 to overtake the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg.

Valtteri Bottas made up two places on-track thanks to Mercedes' superior power and Fernando Alonso took a place from Carlos Sainz Jr after the Renault ran wide.

Having lost fourth place to Kevin Magnussen off the line, Verstappen tried and tried to get past the Haas before overcommitting into turn one and going into a spin which cost him three further places.

Having ended up behind Alonso's McLaren after the Virtual Safety Car period which saw Sebastian Vettel ultimately snatch the win from Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen tried without reward to overtake the veteran, despite displaying more nimble pace.

"It was like Monaco," Verstappen said.

Not the result we hoped for. From lap 1 on I had a lot of oversteer, which made my afternoon difficult on a circuit where overtaking is already hard. Not much more to say other than I will be back stronger in Bahrain #keeppushing #AusGP pic.twitter.com/1q0RlmE3d0 — Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) March 25, 2018

"Even if you are a second or a second and a half faster, you still cannot pass. As a viewer I would have turned off the TV. And until something changes, it will stay that way.

"Do they have to change the circuit? I think they should do something about the cars, because in the past, overtaking was no problem here."

Verstappen initially looked to have taken P5 from Alonso as he left the pits, although replays showed that the McLaren had been marginally ahead.

The Dutchman waved Alonso through to retake the position after a period of uncertainty, but avoided a penalty for overtaking under the safety car - race director Charlie Whiting explained that the margins involved played a part in that decision.

"Red Bull said, 'We think Fernando was in front'," said Whiting. "I wanted to check because it's not completely clear. I asked the timekeepers to confirm which car was first, and they said Alonso by a tenth of a second.

“And hence that’s why it was difficult to actually see with the naked eye – unless you’ve got the facility to replay it slowly, and that sort of thing.

"We've got to make sure of course, and once we were sure, I said to Red Bull Max has got to let Alonso past. Before I could get on to McLaren and say we've told Max to let Fernando past, Max was saying, 'Come on then!' [waving].

"And we hadn't got the message to Fernando. We've done that before, when it's not clear to the drivers it's not fair [to penalise them]."