Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won in dominant fashion at the Australian Grand Prix in front of his teammate Charles Leclerc and Mclaren driver Lando Norris. Right from the start he looked strong and overtook retiree Max Verstappen on lap 2 using DRS.
The result comes after the Spaniard missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix because of Appendicitis surgery.
This prompted questions around whether he would be able to last the full race distance, but he looked comfortable right until the end. This takes him to fourth in the championship standings.
“It was a really good race. I felt really good out there. It wasn't the easiest, but I was lucky that I was more or less on my own and I could manage everything and it wasn't the toughest races of all,” he said.
Asked if he thought he was going to win it from the start, he said: “I think I knew I could win from lap 2 with the pace I had yesterday. Obviously the risk of safety car and red flag was always in the back of my mind, but luckily it was a clean race.”
Ferrari now move to only four points behind Red Bull in the championship.
Charles Leclerc, who finished two seconds behind, knew that beating his teammate would be tricky.
"Carlos was very fast. I was struggling with my tyres so I think that as soon as we did the first stop then for me it was clear. But again Carlos has done a better job all weekend. This is a great result for the team."
Max Verstappen retires early on
On of the biggest talking points was Max Verstappen’s premature exit from the race on lap 4. His rear right brakes were smoking as he pulled into the pits from second before the fire extinguishers were brought out.
This is the Dutchman’s first retirement since Australia 2022, 43 races ago. He retains first in the standings, though.
“As soon as the lights went off the right rear brake just stuck on,” Max told Sky Sports F1. “The temperature kept on increasing so it was basically driving with the handbrake on and that's why I felt that the car was really weird to drive in some corners.”
He said the problem was unexpected. “The laps to the grid were fine – I was happy with what we were doing. It’s not something I’ve experienced in this car before.”
This ends the three-time world champion’s streak of nine race wins, where one more would’ve equalled his previous record of 10 consecutive wins. Last year, his world record was stopped also by Carlos Sainz at the Singapore GP.
McLaren make moves...
It was a strong showing for McLaren in the race as their drivers finish third and fourth. The Woking-based team attempted undercuts on the Ferrari drivers but it was to no avail with the Italian team looking stronger today.
Oscar Piastri loked stronger early on but team orders swapped the drivers as they were on different strategies. Lando Norris was set free and showed fast laps and had chances to catch up to Leclerc.
The team have been praised for how fast they have improved since the start of the season last year, where they finished 6th and 8th.
Lando Norris now inherits the record for most podiums without a win at 14. He takes the record from Nick Heidfield.
"Red Bull and Ferrari are one or two steps ahead of us still, so we need to catch up. But it's clear that we're getting close and a day like today proves exactly that."
"I think our pace was a bit better than Leclerc's, but he undercut us well."
They are now third in the constructors ahead of Aston Martin, who finished sixth and seventh. Aston's drivers are feeling confident that they can get ahead of the Woking-based team later this season.
...Mercedes, however, don't
Mercedes had a day to forget down under with both cars retiring. Lewis Hamilton retired on lap 17 with an engine failure and was forced to pull to the side of the track after attempting to get to the pits.
It's his first DNF since the Qatar GP, where he collided with his teammate.
George Russell's retirement was more dramatic. The Briton hit the wall while catching Fernando Alonso for sixth, another case of Russell cracking under pressure.
His team went to the stewards straight after, claiming the car ahead had braked early to send him off line.
Fernando denies these claims at the time of writing, stating, "I had to do qualy laps whilst ahead and I was having issues with deployment. I was looking ahead though so I can't concentrate on what's behind me."
George Russell said: "I've gone off, obviously that's on me. But he was 100 metres away going into the corner and suddenly I'm right up his gearbox."
"I've got nothing more to say right now, I'm a bit disappointed to end like that. I'm not going to accuse him of anything though."
The Brackley-based team are now fifth in the constructors standings, but have a big gap to the RB and Haas cars. Their last finish without points was Baku in 2021.
This Haas to be a great start to the season
Ayao Komatsu, newly appointed team principal of Haas, believed that the team would be far behind the pack at the start of the season. He was wrong.
The team now have two points finishes in a row, moving them to seventh in the standings, tied with the RB team. Whereas the Saudi GP had them playing tricks on the field with Kevin Magnussen, this result was due to pure pace.
With Gene Haas firing Guenther Steiner due to finishing at the back of the grid for the last few seasons, you must think he believes he made the right decision.
The drivers are also both trying their hardest to prove themselves as they get older and notice the looming threat of Oliver Bearman, reverse driver at Ferrari, trying to find a seat. It's been said that the young driver may move to Haas next year.
The other weaker teams looked to be in their expected place. Stake F1 team constantly had problems with pitstops again; their drivers finishing 14th and 15th.
Stake weren't last though, as that unlucky title belongs to Alpine once again. Their drivers both complained about pace, with Esteban Ocon's brakes nearly suffering the same smokey fate as Max Verstappen. Pierre Gasly was sixth at one point though it didn't last.
Alex Albon, who controversially took Logan Sargeant's car after crashing out in practice, finished 11th, prompting questions about the need for the move.
RB stands for Riccardo's behind
The other Australian driver open the grid did not fair as well as Piastri. Daniel Ricciardo finished outside the points, once again behind point-scoring Yuki Tsunoda.
Most pundits thought that the experience of Ricciardo would trump Yuki Tsunoda, but Daniel has not been int he same league as his Japanese teammate.
Tsunoda would have a clean sheet in race results against his teammate but the team swapped their positions at the Bahrain GP. This gives him confidence going forward. he retains a clean sweep in qualifying, however.
"I'm happy with my performance especially after qualifying. I wanted to show I can be strong in races, not only qualifying," Yuki says.
"I'm sure we can perform well in Suzuka too. The team has been performing consistently well this year."
The teams and drivers now look ahead to the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks.