VIDEO: Verstappen withdraws and Sainz wins in Australia with Ferrari one-two

Surprise! This time, it wasn’t Max Verstappen who crossed the line first. Carlos Sainz won the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix this morning, the third race of the season, and Ferrari did the double, something that hasn’t 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.

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 about 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 the Red Bull driver, who had not given up for two years (43 races), since the 2022 Australian GP.

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

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).

With these results, 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.