Carlos Sainz claimed a dominant victory at 2024 Australian Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two finish.
Sainz benefitted from a terminal brake issue for Max Verstappen to make the race-winning overtake on Lap 2 at Turn 9, which saw him become the first non Red Bull driver to win a Grand Prix since he himself triumphed in Singapore in 2023.
Speaking post-race, Sainz was happy to be back racing despite some discomfort due to his continued recovery from appendicitis.
“It was a really good race, I felt really good out there, of course a bit stiff, it wasn’t the easiest but I was lucky that I was more of less on my own but I could manage my pace and my tyres.
“Very happy, very proud of the team and happy to be one-two with Charles here, it shows that hard work pays off and life is sometimes crazy. It’s a rollercoaster but I loved it.”
Leclerc finished second to complete Ferrari’s second one-two finish of this decade, of which the first such finish came in 2022 Bahrain GP.
McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the podium ahead of his teammate and hometown hero, Oscar Piastri following a strategic swap on Lap 29.
Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top nine, as Kevin Magnussen snatched the final point following George Russell’s crash on the penultimate lap at Turn 6.
Alonso however dropped to eighth after he received a 20-second time penalty for his involvement in Russell’s accident, despite their cars having failed to make physical contact in the incident.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen’s title lead was reduced to four points after Leclerc picked up the bonus point for fastest lap on top of his second-placed finish to move up to second, albeit one point ahead of Perez.
At lights out, Verstappen led Sainz as everyone largely held position aside from Russell and Hamilton who passed Perez and Alonso for sixth and tenth positions respectively.
Verstappen however hit a brake issue on Lap 2 which allowed Sainz to breeze past him into Turn 9 to take the lead, but the Dutchman’s issue grew terminal and he was forced to retire at the end of Lap 4 as flames began to ignite from his rear-right brakes.
This retirement also marked Verstappen’s first retirement in 43 Grands Prix since he retired from this race in 2022, which coincidentally was won by a Ferrari driver albeit Charles Leclerc on that occasion.
Like Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo started on the soft tyre but he was forced to pit after five laps which triggered a flurry of pit stops, during which Leclerc and Piastri jumped Norris who pitted on Lap 15 – five laps after Leclerc and Piastri stopped to cover off the threat of Russell.
Hamilton meanwhile suffered a power unit failure on Lap 16 which caused a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) a lap after Sainz pitted from the lead, with Alonso having assumed the lead but the Spaniard pitted under the VSC which returned the race lead to Sainz.
Sainz proceeded to keep Leclerc at bay whilst McLaren tactically switched Norris and Piastri around on Lap 29, which was received relatively well by the drivers themselves and the home crowd at Piastri’s home race.
Leclerc was the first of the frontrunners to make a second stop on Lap 35 but came out just in front of Perez and Alonso, yet avoided getting sucked into a scrap and eventually finished second after Norris and Piastri made their stops on Laps 41 and 40 respectively.
Sainz meanwhile made his second stop on Lap 42 and retained his lead to the checkered flag to take his greatest F1 win yet, having missed Saudi Arabia due to appendix surgery just a fortnight ago.
Perez finished fifth ahead of Alonso, Stroll, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg and Magnussen after Russell crashed on the penultimate lap at Turn 6, with his car flipped onto the left side upon sliding back onto the track after his wheels got caught under the car albeit with Russell escaping unharmed.
Stewards however adjudged Alonso to be responsible for Russell’s accident due to having braked earlier than he had done throughout the race, which they deemed to be “extraordinary” and “at very least “potentially dangerous” given the very high speed nature of that point of the track.”
Alonso consequently received a 20-second time penalty in lieu of a drive-through penalty which dropped him to eighth in the final classification, although he described the penalty as “bit surprising” as he took to X to slam the FIA’s decision to penalise him.
Double points for the team and a better race pace than the rest of the weekend allowed us to cross the finish line in 6th and 7th place. A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no… pic.twitter.com/WBdr7MPGFr
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) March 24, 2024
F1 now heads to Suzuka, Japan for the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix from 5-7 April, where Red Bull will seek an instant return to winning ways.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 58 | 1h 20m 26.843 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 58 | + 2.366 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 58 | + 5.904 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 58 | + 35.770 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 58 | + 56.309 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 58 | + 93.222 |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 58 | + 95.601 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 58 | + 100.992 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 58 | + 104.553 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 57 | + 1 Lap |
| 11 | Alex Albon | Williams | 57 | + 1 Lap |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 57 | + 1 Lap |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 57 | + 1 Lap |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 57 | + 1 Lap |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | 57 | + 1 Lap |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 57 | + 1 Lap |
| 17 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | + 2 Laps |
| RET | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 15 | Power |
| RET | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 4 | Brakes |
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