Charles Leclerc scored his second win of the season in emphatic style, as defending champion Max Verstappen’s chances went up in smoke at Albert Park.
It was a mixed day for Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz spinning out early on, triggering the first of two safety car periods. Sergio Perez profited from Red Bull team-mate Verstappen’s misfortune to finish second. George Russell beat team-mate Lewis Hamiton to third place, scoring his first podium as a Mercedes driver.
Joy for Leclerc, despair for Sainz and Verstappen
Lerclerc led away from pole at the start from Verstappen. A great launch from Hamilton vaulted the seven-time champion ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Perez into third. Russell also moved ahead of Norris into fifth, but things unravelled quickly for Sainz. Starting on the hard tyre from ninth following a difficult qualifying, a bad getaway dropped the Spaniard to 14th. As he tried to pass Haas driver Mick Schumacher on lap two, Sainz ran off the track through turns 9-10 before spinning into a gravel trap.
The race resumed on lap seven, with Leclerc soon pulling out a four-second gap to Verstappen, who suffered tyre graining issues. The margin had increased to nine seconds by the time Verstappen pitted to switch from medium to hard compound rubber. Leclerc had the luxury of being able to stay out for a few more laps before doing the same, retaining his position ahead of the Dutchman. But the advantage was soon eradicated by a second safety car period. Sebastian Vettel’s trouble-filled weekend continued as he crashed his Aston Martin out of the race.
Leclerc made a poor final-corner exit at the resumption, allowing Verstappen to get a run into turn one, but was able to hold onto the lead. From there, he was easily able to build a 5s cushion, before Verstappen’s demise. A suspected engine issue resulted in his Red Bull machine grinding to a smokey halt inside the final 20 laps. Having also secured an extra point for fastest lap, Leclerc cruised to victory by 20.524s. After three rounds, he holds a sizeable 34-point lead in the championship.
Russell beats Hamilton, progress for McLaren
Having found himself stuck behind Hamilton early on, Perez finally used the performance advantage of his Red Bull to move by into turn one on lap 10 and pull away. But his pace dropped off at the end of his first stint, allowing Hamilton to close back in. Hamilton took advantage by pitting one lap later than Perez to return to track ahead. But the Mexican was able to get by again, this time into turn nine. Having stayed out, Russell capitalised on the caution period for the Vettel incident to make his stop and rejoin in third ahead of the pair.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso briefly ran fourth, having not pitted, but was quickly dispatched by both Perez and Hamilton. Having passed Russell for third on the 36th tour, Perez inherited second three laps later when Verstappen retired.
Russell finished 5s further behind in third, the result moving him into second in the points. Hamilton had to settle for fourth ahead of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. The McLaren duo were able to keep in touch with the two Mercedes cars early on before fading.
Alonso dropped out of the top ten following his mandatory stop. Having struggled to make up ground, Alonso made a second, late pitstop, and finished 17th.
Points for Bottas and Albon
Esteban Ocon ran in eighth for Alpine early on, and gained one spot following Verstappen’s retirement to finish seventh. Valtteri Bottas climbed from 12th on the grid to finish eighth for Alfa Romeo, having passed Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in the closing stages. Stroll, who avoided a penalty for forcing Bottas off track during their battle, was handed a five-second penalty for excessive weaving while defending against the Finn and ended up 12th.
Gasly finished ninth for Alpha Tauri, having also passed Stroll late on. Alex Albon ran almost the entire race on the hard tyres that he started on. Having made his mandatory stop from seventh on the final lap, he rejoined just ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou to finish 10th and score Williams’s first point of the season. Mick Schumacher passed Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen late-on to finish 14th. Yuki Tsunoda was 15th for Alpha Tauri ahead of Williams driver Nicholas Latifi.
Featured image credit: @f1 official twitter
