MELBOURNE – Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix on March 24 in a triumphant return two weeks after appendicitis surgery, as Red Bull’s three-time world champion Max Verstappen suffered his first retirement in two years.
Sainz, the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in the 2023 season, held off teammate Charles Leclerc before a final-lap crash by Mercedes driver George Russell triggered a virtual safety car and eased the Spaniard’s path to victory.
It was the 29-year-old’s third grand prix win after Silverstone in 2022 and Singapore last September.
“It was a really good race. I felt really good out there,” said Sainz, who missed the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia while recovering from surgery.
“Of course a bit stiff and especially physically it wasn’t the easiest, but I was lucky that I was more or less on my own and I could manage my pace, manage the tyres, manage everything, and it wasn’t the toughest race of all.
“But very happy, very proud of the team, and happy to be in a one-two with Charles here. It shows that hard work pays off. Life sometimes is crazy... the podium in Bahrain, then the appendix, the comeback, the win. It’s a roller coaster, but I loved it and I’m extremely happy.”
Briton Lando Norris was third for McLaren, thwarting fourth-placed teammate Oscar Piastri’s hopes of a first podium by a home driver in Australia’s F1 race. Norris now has the most podiums (14) without a win in F1.
Leclerc, 26, recorded the fastest lap to cap a productive day for Ferrari, who are now just four points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
“It feels good mostly for the team of course, first and second didn’t happen since Bahrain 2022. Carlos has had an incredible weekend to come back from his surgery, he’s done an amazing race,” said Leclerc.
Verstappen still leads the drivers’ championship after his wins in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The Dutchman is on 51 points, ahead of Leclerc with 47.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who finished fifth, is one point behind Leclerc, with Sainz leaping to fourth in the standings, 11 points behind Verstappen.
“We just didn’t have the pace today. We didn’t have the pace throughout the weekend,” lamented Perez, adding that Ferrari would “absolutely” have won even if Verstappen went the distance.
The Dutchman started on pole for the third time this season, but retired on the fourth lap with a brake problem as flames leapt out of the right rear of his car.
It was the first time the 26-year-old did not finish a race since retiring from Albert Park in 2022, ending his run of nine successive race wins.
Red Bull have now suffered two defeats in 26 races dating back to the last round of 2022.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, 39, was also forced to retire early with a power unit problem after starting 11th on the grid, following his worst Melbourne qualifying since 2010.
His British teammate Russell completed a dismal day for the Silver Arrows by skidding into gravel at turn 6 and crashing into the barrier to wreck his car and bring out the virtual safety car.
Stewards said Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso played a part in Russell’s crash by slowing quickly as Russell was close behind. Alonso, who finished sixth, was given a 20-second penalty which demoted him to eighth and was also handed three penalty points.
That lifted teammate Lance Stroll to sixth and Yuki Tsunoda to seventh, the Japanese driver delivering RB their first points of the season.
Ninth-placed Nico Hulkenberg and Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top 10.
Williams had one driver in the race, with Alexander Albon finishing 11th in his teammate Logan Sargeant’s car, the American ordered to make way after Albon wrecked his own car in Friday practice.
Verstappen made a clean start on race day and pulled clear of Sainz when the lights went out, with Norris holding on to third as they jostled for position. But his lead did not last, with Sainz opening his DRS on lap 2 to slice past before smoke started pouring out of the Red Bull and the Dutchman retired.
Sainz led from Norris and Leclerc before the first pit stops.
Sainz put on fresh rubber on lap 17 and had a 2.6-second lead over Leclerc at the halfway mark, closely followed by Piastri and Norris. With no Verstappen to contend with, the Spaniard gradually built the gap as Norris passed Piastri to move into third.
Leclerc pitted again and he came back out in fifth on hards, but quickly surged back to second. Sainz also pitted for a second time and retained his narrow lead to cruise home in front of 130,000 fans. REUTERS, AFP
