Carlos Sainz won the Australian GP after just two weeks of getting surgery. Charles Leclerc came home in second scoring a 1-2 for Ferrari, Norris was third. Max Verstappen retired after just three laps.
It was a clean first lap for everyone. The first unexpected twist was Carlos Sainz overtaking Max Verstappen on the second lap already.
The Dutch driver was feeling there was something weird with the car, and just one lap later the rear right brake started smoking. Verstappen couldn’t continue and two years after the last DNF, the three-time world champion had to retire.
Around lap 10, some drivers already started to pit, like Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, Sainz was trying to pull away.
On lap 17, Hamilton retired due to an engine failure. Ahead of him, Fernando Alonso and Sainz, who had just pitted, were fighting for the leadership of the race. However, the Aston Martin driver still had to make his pit stop.
It was a race based on pace and there wasn’t much action on track, Perez overtook Alonso, with the latter trying to keep up but not managing to do so. Piastri let Norris by as the British driver had fresher tires and tried to reach Leclerc ahead.
Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hülkenberg occupied the last two positions in the top 10, a great result for both teams.
On the last lap, George Russell crashed, allowing Magnussen to enter the top 10. The British driver was okay.