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Red Bull Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen says he would have switched off the "completely worthless" 2018 Australian Grand Prix if he was watching the race as a fan.

The 58-lap Melbourne event was low on wheel-to-wheel action, with only five on-track passes once the order had settled on the first lap.

The potential fight for victory between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel fizzled out as the Mercedes driver could not get close enough to bother his Ferrari rival.

Asked what the grand prix would have been like for fans, Verstappen answered bluntly: "Completely worthless. I would have turned off the TV. Very boring.

"You do your best to try something, and I was in DRS range all the time, but there is nothing you can do."

Verstappen spent almost the entire race stuck behind slower cars, after dropping behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen at the start.

He could not make a move and eventually suffered what he and the team reckoned was a damage-induced spin at Turn 1.

This demoted him behind the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg, who he also could not pass - and while he managed to eventually recover to sixth place after a pistop and a safety car intervention, he then spent the final 27 laps unsuccessfully looking for a way past McLaren's Fernando Alonso.

Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had pulled off a spectacular Turn 13 move on Hulkenberg early in the race, but was then stuck behind first the Haas of Romain Grosjean and then Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in fourth.

"[Haas] were a second slower than the Ferraris. They were just lucky that they came in front of us," said Verstappen.

"And here you can't overtake. Look at Hamilton and Vettel. And the same story with Alonso.

"They were also much slower, but you can't pass them. You try, but it doesn't make any difference.

"Even if you are one and a half second faster, it's still not possible to overtake."

The FIA had anticipated overtaking would be difficult at Albert Park, and added a third DRS zone for the 2018 race.

Verstappen insisted this "won't help" resolve the issue going forward.

He stressed that he did not feel the circuit was a problem, saying: "It is more down to the cars, because there used to be no problem with overtaking."