Carlos Sainz wins in Australia and interrupts Max Verstappen’s winning streak – Sports

Spanish driver Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) won the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix this Sunday, the third race of the season, in which Ferrari did the double, something that has not happened since the start of the 2022 season.

Sainz spent 1:20.26.843 hours to complete the 58 laps, beating his teammate, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), by 2.366 seconds, and the British Lando Norris (McLaren), by 5.904 in a race in which the three-time champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) retired on the second lap due to a problem with the car’s right rear brake disc.

The Dutch driver started well and held the lead but, on the second lap, he began to complain of “strange” balance problems in the single-seater, which allowed Carlos Sainz to take over.

Verstappen’s difficulties became evident on the fourth lap, with smoke coming from the back of his single-seater. When he was heading to the pits, the brake disc ended up exploding.

It was the end of a series of nine consecutive victories for Max Verstappen, who was unable to equal the sport’s record (10), which he has held since last year.

From then on, Carlos Sainz controlled the race, no longer giving up control, despite the physical problems he experienced due to the appendix operation he had to undergo two weeks ago.

Charles Leclerc had to stop earlier than his teammate to change tires to defend himself from the attack of the two McLarens that followed close behind and the best he could achieve was second place, giving Ferrari a one-two finish that they no longer had. managed since the 2022 Bahrain GP, ​​at the opening of the season.

Max Verstappen hasn’t given up in two years (43 races), since the 2022 Australian GP.

The two Mercedes remained along the way. First, Lewis Hamilton, who broke his engine on the 17th lap, and, on the last lap, George Russell, who crashed, hit the wall and forced the race to end under a virtual safety car.

This was Carlos Sainz’s third victory in Formula 1, having not won since last year’s Singapore GP (he had already won in the British GP in 2022).

“It was a good race. Physically it wasn’t easy but I managed my pace and my tires. It’s proof that hard work pays off”, said the Spaniard at the end.

Sainz admitted that this start of the season, in which he found out that Ferrari will not renew his contract at the end of the year and in which he had to undergo surgery, “has been a rollercoaster [de emoções]” but, even so, he says he is “very happy” with the triumph. “I recommend that pilots remove their appendix”, he joked.

Regarding the start of the race, he says he didn’t realize the cause of Verstappen’s problems but regretted the outcome. “It was a shame because I think we would have had a good fight”, he stressed.

Having to stop earlier, Charles Leclerc’s chances of winning were immediately compromised, but the truth is that the Monegasque never showed the pace to challenge his teammate.

“I should have done better. Carlos did a better job all weekend and deserved the victory”, conceded Leclerc, at the end.

With these results, Max Verstappen maintains command of the championship, with 51 points, now just four more than Charles Leclerc, who got the extra point for the fastest lap.

It is precisely this additional point that earns him second place, with one more point than Mexican Sérgio Pérez, who was only fifth today. Sainz, with 40 points, is fourth.

In the Constructors’ World Championship, Red Bull leads, with 97 points, four more than Ferrari, which is second.

The next round is the Japanese GP, from April 5th to 7th.