Carlos Sainz led home teammate Charles Leclerc for a Ferrari one-two in the Australian Grand Prix after early leader Max Verstappen was forced to retire from the race.
Just two weeks after missing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to have surgery to remove his appendix, Sainz was back to his best, commandeering the race in the absence of the Red Bull #1 for a convincing win.
The departing Ferrari driver had shown great pace all weekend and looked set to mount a challenge on Verstappen come race time.
However, the defending champion got the better of launches and pulled to a 0.9-second advantage over the opening lap. With DRS activating on Lap 2, Sainz was able to reduce this, and he quickly hit the front as the Dutch driver came on the radio complaining he’d “lost the car”.
Smoke then began to pour out the back of the Red Bull, and Verstappen limped back to the pit lane with his right-rear brakes on fire.
This elevated Lando Norris to second and Leclerc to third, and the front three, along with Oscar Piastri, built a significant advantage over the field.
Leclerc and Piastri came in for their first stops early, with the former undercutting the Norris, who remained out until Lap 14, for second.
Norris also lost out to Piastri but recovered third mid-race on team orders.
Engine issues for Lewis Hamilton triggered a virtual safety car as he pulled over to retire from the race.
On resumption, Sainz went about building an advantage that extended to 8.7 seconds ahead of the second stops.
As the Spaniard cruised up front, Leclerc’s 5-second advantage over Norris had slowly reduced entering the closing stages. The Monagasque driver responded with a series of fast laps to secure the position.
George Russell then went on to crash out at Turn 6 on the penultimate lap, his car running off and hitting the wall as he went about chasing down Fernando Alonso for sixth.
His car was left in the centre of the track, on its side, with two wheels folded underneath.
Because of this, the Grand Prix finished under Virtual Safety Car, with all drivers forced to slow to a crawl to avoid the wreckage.
That all but assured Sainz of his third career win, with Leclerc following him home for the first Ferrari one-two at Albert Park since 2004 when Michael Schumacher led home Rubens Barrichello.
Norris completed the podium three seconds behind the leaders, and Piastri secured good points for McLaren with a lonely fourth, 30 seconds behind his teammate and 20 seconds ahead of Sergio Perez.
Perez, who had received a three-place grid penalty for a qualifying infringement, struggled to make ground over the race, having faced challenges from Russell and Fernando Alonso.
Alonso came home sixth, ahead of Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll, while Yuki Tsunoda secured RB’s first points of the season in eighth.
The Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen completed the points.
Alex Albon just missed out on points in 11th, driving his teammate’s car following his heavy FP1 crash.
Formula 1 returns on Sunday, April 7, with the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Header Image: Ferrari
