Carlos Sainz Wins Chaotic Australian Grand Prix As Max Verstappen Retires
As chaotic and dramatic as Australian Grand Prix was, Carlos Sainz seized the moment to earn his first victory of the season in a one-two finish for Ferrari in Melbourne as the defending champion, Max Verstappen was retired over engine failure.
Sainz did not participate in the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix over appendicitis and returned to pole in P2 behind pole-setter, Verstappen at the Aussie qualifying session on Saturday. Starting off the grid, by Lap 2, he had overtaken Verstappen and went on to control the race to the chequered flag. Behind Sainz was his team-mate, Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, the Red Bull driver, Verstappen was retired by Lap 4.
Verstappen was called into the pit after smoke was seen gushing out of his car's rear and was retired over the engine failure. Just as Ferrari, Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was also retired from the race over power failure after he had done 17 laps. The seven-time F1 champion was pulled over and safety car was called.
After Mercedes' George Russell had battled with Ferrari's Sergio Perez through the laps until the final lap at Turn 6. The Briton's car spun running over the side road in his challenge with Fernando Alonso. He was the third driver to be retired and safety car was called. The Mercedes duo could not finish the race.
The engine failure suffered by Verstappen robbed him of winning his 10th successive F1 race, which would have been his second feat in two consecutive seasons. Though, he remained the F1 driver standings leader, winning Australian Grand Prix won have extended his career podium dominance to 57th race.
McLaren duo, Lando Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri followed in third and fourth position respectively while Sergio Perez finished in fifth position. It was Norris' first podiums position of the season for McLaren.
Comments
Post a Comment