Sainz Leads Ferrari in 2024 F1 Australian GP

Ferrari took a one-two finish in the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit on Sunday.

Carlos Sainz, in his first race since undergoing surgery for appendicitis, crossed the finish line first. Carlos Sainz crossed the finish line first, followed by McLaren's Lando Norris in the top three by about 6 seconds.

The race, the third round of the 2024 F1 World Championship, was held as it has been for the past several seasons, with Red Bull Racing champion Max Verstappen taking pole position and Sainz on the top grid.

Verstappen got off to a smooth start and quickly opened up a gap, but then his car started having problems. When Verstappen slipped in one corner, Sainz made his move and took the lead. Soon after, smoke started coming out of the rear of Verstappen's car and Verstappen soon retired. It was later discovered that there was a problem with the brakes. This was the first time that triple champion Verstappen had failed to finish a race since the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, when he missed the race due to a fuel system problem.

At this point, Leclerc was in third place, with Norris pulling away from the two Ferraris, when Leclerc successfully undercut Norris on lap 9 and drove brilliantly in his final stint to take the position from Norris, who was running fresh tires at the time. He took the position away from Norris, who was running fresh tires at the time.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri also managed to undercut Norris on his first pit stop, but then returned to his position on team order. Piastri also briefly ran off the track, finishing fourth. Red Bull's Sergio Perez started sixth after receiving a three-place grid demotion penalty for interfering with Haas' Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying.

The weekend was unfortunate for Mercedes-Benz AMG. Star driver Lewis Hamilton retired on lap 17 with a power unit problem, while teammate George Russell suffered a major crash on the last lap. Russell tried to work on Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), who was battling for sixth place, but crashed. The stewards later determined that Alonso was involved in the accident and gave him a 20-second penalty.

After this weekend, Verstappen leads the 2024 drivers' championship with 51 points. Leclerc has passed Perez to move into second place with 47 points, just one point behind Perez. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull leads with 97 points to Ferrari's 93 and McLaren's 55. The next race is in two weeks in Japan.

Below are the complete results for the 2024 F1 Australian Grand Prix: 1) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 2) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +2.366 seconds 3) Lando Norris (McLaren) +5.904 seconds 4) Oscar Piatri (McLaren) +35.770s 5) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +56.309s 6) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +93.222 seconds 7) Hiroki Kakuda (RB) +95.601s 8) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +100.992s 9) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas, +104.553 sec. 10) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1 lap 11) Alexander Albon, Williams +1 lap 12) Daniel Ricciardo, RB +1 lap 13) Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1 lap 14) Valtteri Bottas, Sauber +1 lap 15) Guan Yu Zhou, Sauber +1 lap 16) Esteban Ocon, Alpine +1 lap 17) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG - DNF NC) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG - DNF NC) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing - DNF [17