Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix this Sunday (24), in a triumphant return, two weeks after appendicitis surgery, while Red Bull’s current three-time world champion, Max Verstappen, retired for the first time in two years .
Sainz, the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race last season, held off teammate Charles Leclerc before a last-lap accident with Mercedes’ George Russell triggered a safety car virtual and facilitate the Spaniard’s path to victory.
“It was a very good race. I felt really good there,” said Sainz, who missed the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia while recovering from surgery.
“Of course it was a bit tough and especially physically, it wasn’t the easiest, but I was lucky to be more or less alone and I could control my pace, control the tyres, manage everything, and it wasn’t the hardest race. But I’m very happy, very proud of the team and happy to be in the double with Charles here”, he assured.
Briton Lando Norris was third for McLaren, dashing fourth-placed teammate Oscar Piastri’s hopes of a home driver’s first podium in Australia’s F1 race.
Norris now has the most podiums (14) without winning in F1.
Leclerc recorded the fastest lap to cap a productive day for Ferrari, who are now just four points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
Verstappen still leads the drivers’ championship after victories in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with 51 points, ahead of Leclerc, with 47.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who finished fifth, is one point behind Leclerc, with Sainz jumping to fourth in the standings, 11 points behind Verstappen.
“We simply didn’t have the rhythm today. We didn’t have the pace all weekend,” lamented Perez, adding that Ferrari would have “absolutely” won even if Verstappen ran the entire race.
Verstappen started on pole for the third time this season, but retired on the fourth lap with a brake problem when flames leaped from the right rear of his car.
It was his first DNF since abandoning Albert Park in the 2022 race and ended a run of nine consecutive victories. The 26-year-old said he basically drove with the handbrake on from the start.
“That’s why it already felt strange to drive the car on some curves. It was very quick,” he added.
Ferrari did one-two in Australia / @F1
Red Bull has suffered two defeats in 26 races since the last round of 2022.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was also forced to leave early due to a power unit problem after starting 11th on the grid, his worst qualifying in Melbourne since 2010.
The Briton’s teammate Russell completed a dark day for the Silver Arrows when skidding on the gravel at turn six and hitting the barrier to destroy the car and bring the safety car virtual.
The stewards said Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso played a role in Russell’s crash by slowing down quickly as Russell was close behind.
Alonso, who finished sixth, received a 20-second penalty that demoted him to eighth place and also received three penalty points.
This elevated teammate Lance Stroll to sixth place, while Yuki Tsunoda became seventh, with the Japanese driver handing RB/Honda their first points of the season.
Nico Hulkenberg, ninth place, and Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen completed the top 10.
Williams had just one driver in the race, with Alex Albon finishing 11th and out of the points zone — Logan Sargeant was ordered to make way after Albon crashed his own car in practice on Friday (22).
Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; edited by Peter Rutherford and Louise Heavens
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