Charles Leclerc continues his incredible start to the season while Max Verstappen fails to finish in a roller-coaster Australian GP – results
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc dominated the Australian Grand Prix and secured his second race win of the season with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes driver George Russell occupying the second and third spots on the podium respectively. Leclerc certainly turned out to be the star of the day, having converted his pole position to a race win for the fourth time in his career. The Ferrari driver also had the Fastest Lap of the race to his credit.
Albert Park witnessed some shocking exits with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who was placed second in the drivers’ championship going into the race, becoming the first driver to get eliminated. The three-time champion of the Australian GP, Sebastian Vettel was the next to register a DNF beside his name even before we reached the halfway point of the race. Defending champion Max Verstappen was in second place throughout the race before an unfortunate technical issue saw his car smoke up which resulted in his 2nd DNF of the season.
Lewis Hamilton managed to make a comeback of sorts but fell just short of the podium, finishing fourth behind his Mercedes team-mate George Russell. The McLaren duo of Lando Norris and local favourite Daniel Ricciardo rounded off the top six.
Ferrari and Charles Leclerc increase their lead in the Championship standings
It has been a dream start for Charles Leclerc and the Ferrari F1 team. Although Carlos Sainz failed to finish the race, Ferrari would be delighted to have their second race win of the season thanks to Charles Leclerc. Going into the race Ferrari was leading the Constructors’ Championship with 78 points while Leclerc was on top of the Drivers’ Championship Leaderboard with 45 points.
After this race win in Melbourne, Ferrari further increased their lead with 104 points in their kitty ahead of Mercedes (65) and Red Bull (55). Leclerc gains 26 points from the race and cements his place at the top of the drivers’ championship leaderboard with a tally of 71 points. A second-place finish for Sergio Perez and a DNF for Max Verstappen means Perez leaps above his Red Bull team-mate to take fourth place in the standings. Mercedes’ George Russell is in the second spot with 37 points followed by Carlos Sainz (33).
The other biggest gainers from the race were McLaren. A double top 6 finish in the form of Lando Norris (5th) and Daniel Ricciardo (6th) ensured that the team get some valuable points in their kitty.
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