Albert Park hosted a sell-out crowd for the first Australian Grand Prix since 2019 – hoping to witness enough twists and turns worthy of a ‘Warney’ bowling spell, at just a distance of five kilometers away from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the late, great Shane Warne enthralled a hundred thousand on any given weekend.
On Sunday afternoon, they were treated to another exhilarating show by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) after an action-packed free practice and qualifying session.
Image Source: scoll.in
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was on pole against two Red Bulls – Max Verstappen in P2 and Sergio Perez in P3 – for round three of this season, while teammate Carlos Sainz was ninth on the grid. McLaren’s Lando Norris qualified fourth, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in fifth, and George Russell in sixth.
Charles Leclerc led from start to finish to lead his Ferrari to victory in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, with world champion Max Verstappen already having two “did not finishes” (DNFs) on his record, which may seriously jeopardize his championship chances.
Following his victory in the season-opening race in Bahrain, the 24-year-old Leclerc increased his lead in the drivers’ standings by winning his second race of the season.
“It’s amazing, the car was incredible today. What a race and what a pace today,” said Leclerc after clocking a fourth career win and second of the season. “Honestly, what a car today. I did a good job all weekend but it’s not possible without the car. I’m just so happy.
We have only had three races so it’s difficult to think of the championship but we have a very strong car and a reliable car,” he added.With three of this year’s 23 races completed, Leclerc leads Verstappen by 46 points, a higher lead than either Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton had at any point throughout last year’s championship duel.
Sergio Perez overcame a sluggish start to finish second, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, who earned his first podium of the season, and Lewis Hamilton.
Orlando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
After pitting once on lap 18, Esteban Ocon cruised to P7 for Alpine, while teammate Fernando Alonso had a much more difficult race on Sunday.
When Ocon pitted, he was in ninth place, but he burnt his tires and dropped down the order after battling in a middle train with the lap counter ticking down to 58. With four laps to go, he pitted for mediums and finished the last of the runners in P17.
Stroll started P19 but ended P12 on hard tires after pitting for mediums after receiving an academic penalty for colliding with Nicholas Latifi (P16) in qualifying. Mick Schumacher was right behind Stroll, sliding wide on Lap 12 and again on Lap 50 – but passing Magnussen late in the race after switching from hard to medium with 20 circuits remaining.
DNF Race Drivers
Carlos Sainz, a teammate of Leclerc’s, had a bad day at the Australian Grand Prix. He lost traction on lap two after starting eighth and was lucky not to hit any opponents as he drifted across the circuit and into the gravel.
With Verstappen’s retirement, Leclerc extended his lead over the field even further, setting a new fastest lap of the race late in the race to earn a bonus point.Sebastian Vettel, the Aston Martin driver for Formula One was another placing on the DNF list who explained his loss as, “[It was] maybe too much of a handful for me today.
I tried to push a little bit too hard and lost the car,” he said. “Overall, obviously we know that the car is difficult and maybe I was wanting a little bit too much too soon and I lost it a couple of times this weekend.”
Published By : Shubham Ghulaxe
Edit By : Khushi Thakur
