Charles Leclerc dominates Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen DNF, Lewis Hamilton behind George Russell

ByJordan Hollands

Updated 10/04/2022 at 11:52 GMT

Charles Leclerc bagged his second win of the season at the Australian Grand Prix as Ferrari continued their early domination in the constructors’ standings. Max Verstappen’s hot-and-cold season continued as he suffered a second DNF in three races, while Mercedes decided to not enforce team orders as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished third and fourth respectively.

Charles Leclerc took his second win of the season as he dominated the Australian Grand Prix with a lights-to-flag victory, as his potential championship rival Max Verstappen hit more technical issues in a worrying run of form.

In the first three races of this year’s championship, world champion Verstappen already has two DNFs to his name - something which could really hamper his championship credentials.

In truth, it was a fairly straightforward race win for the Monegasque driver, who had to navigate two safety car restarts after separate incidents involving his team-mate, Carlos Sainz, and the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel.

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As the second safety car period came to an end on lap 27, Verstappen tried desperately to get past the Ferrari after Leclerc got a poor run out of the final corner. The Red Bull driver tried to dive around the outside going into turn one, but Leclerc defended resolutely and held position.

That brought the Mercedes of George Russell in on the fight, but he could not find a way past and he later lost out to Sergio Perez, only to leapfrog the Mexican again when he pitted under the second safety car.

After having to defend his lead for a brief moment after the second restart, Leclerc soon began to stretch his legs as he and Verstappen traded fastest laps before the Dutchman retired with another technical issue with his RBPT power unit.

The world champion would later call the issues Red Bull have had in the early part of this season as “unacceptable”.

‘No pace, I couldn’t push’ – Verstappen on miserable race

Verstappen’s retirement left Leclerc with an even more comfortable margin at the head of the field as he set another new fastest lap of the race late on to seize a bonus point.

The Scuderia star cruised to his second race win of the season, extending his championship lead as Perez came home second with Russell securing his first podium of the season in third.

Lewis Hamilton came home fourth in what was an encouraging weekend for Mercedes.

McLaren also enjoyed a return to form with Lando Norris leading home Daniel Ricciardo, as the duo finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Esteban Ocon came home in seventh while Valtteri Bottas scored more points in eighth after he finally got past Lance Stroll, who put up a stern fight late on in the race, with the Canadian just unable to hold out for a point finish.

Pierre Gasly was ninth whilst Alexander Albon came from 20th and last on the grid to finish 10th after a very brave strategy call. That secured both Williams and Albon’s first championship point of the season.

DRIVER OF THE DAY: CHARLES LECLERC

It was another faultless drive from Leclerc who pretty much dominated from lights to flag. He navigated the two safety car restarts very well and when he did need to defend, did so resolutely. He also set the fastest lap of the race to give himself an extra championship point.

An honourable mention to Albon as well for coming through from 20th to secure his first point of the season with a brave strategy call and executing it superbly.

Leclerc - Ferrari - GP Australia

Image credit: Getty Images

WHERE THE RACE WAS WON

LAP 27/58 - FEISTY! Verstappen attempts to go around the outside of Leclerc going into turn one, but the Ferrari holds the inside line and maintains the race lead, as the Red Bull quickly turns his attention to fending off the unexpected challenge of Russell.

PIT EXCHANGE OF THE DAY

In trying to fend off the challenge of Perez, Russell was told: “Management is more important than track position, if you're hurting the tyres defending from Perez, you can let him by.”

Russell, who is arguably one of Formula 1’s hottest prospects snapped back, “That’s not what I want to hear!” These guys are racers, they want to race, but perhaps more importantly, they want to win championships. That winning instinct never goes away and that exchange is a perfect example of that.

OVERTAKE OF THE DAY

Turn 11 proved to be difficult for some drivers to negotiate today with Sainz and Kevin Magnussen having moments there while battling other cars. This was the scene of Sainz's retirement in the very early stages of the race.

Despite that, Perez managed to use his slightly warmer tyres and slipstream to swoop around the outside of Hamilton just after the second safety car stint of the race. It was an incredibly brave move and arguably put Perez in a strong position to finish on the podium once the race resumed, which of course he eventually did.

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