Ferrari (1,2) and McLaren (3,4) dominate in Melbourne.
MELBOURNE, Australia. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who had to be replaced in the last race because of an appendix operation, cruised to his third career victory on Sunday at Albert Park, benefitting from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen brake failure. Sainz’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, took second, securing a Scuderia 1-2 finish, while McLaren took the next two spots with Lando Norris third and hometown favorite Oscar Piastri fourth.
Carlos Sainz: Life sometimes is crazy, you know? It’s not only the last two weeks (either). It’s the whole start to the year in general, how it started with the news of the non-renewal. Then, you prepare for the start of the season, pushing flat out, and [the first race in] Bahrain, you do a good podium. And suddenly, boom, you’re missing a race in Jeddah and the operation.
Sainz, whose last race win was a season ago in Singapore, took the lead on lap three. Verstappen had jumped out in front at the start but then began having trouble. He eventually returned to the pits, his brakes exploding on the rear right side. He exited the car with his first retirement since 2022, ironically occurring at the same circuit.
Sainz continued in the lead until partner Leclerc closed in. The team ordered Leclerc to pull back so Sainz could remain the lead, and that lead was secured when Mercedes George Russell crashed two laps from the end (unhurt), with the incident bringing out a virtual safety car. Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton fared even worse, retiring with an engine failure on lap 17.
As for the rest of the top ten, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took fifth, while Fernando Alonso battled Russell to take sixth in his Aston Martin. Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll was seventh as RB Cash App’s Yuki Tsunoda received points again, taking eighth. Haas F1, who scored one point in the last race, took three this time, as Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished ninth and tenth.
Sainz’s post-race comments focused on the Ferrari-Red Bull competition. “If you put Red Bull under pressure, you can sometimes get it done. Our car worked well this weekend. But I think it will be tough to keep it up in every track until we bring an upgrade to close that gap that we saw in Bahrain and Jeddah. With a good development program, I hope we can challenge Red Bull more often.” That’s the hope, and whether it happens will be revealed as the season progresses.
Round Four of Formula One 2024 takes a week break, with the next race scheduled at the Suzuka circuit in Japan on April 7.
