Following a red flag triggered by Alex Albon's Turn 6 crash in the Australian GP, the Melbourne race was stopped for a second time with three laps to go after Hulkenberg's team-mate Kevin Magnussen hit the wall at Turn 2 and his broken wheel rim left debris on the track.
After a formation lap, the field was set for a two-lap sprint to the flag. However, following a series of first-corner incidents the race was again red-flagged, with Hulkenberg having jumped up to fourth on the road.
