Round three of this year’s F1 season took place last Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, at the Albert Park circuit. Carlos Sainz from Ferrari qualified in second position (P2) during Friday’s qualifying, between the Red Bulls of World Champion Max Verstappen, P1, and his teammate, Sergio Perez, in P3. Red Bull Racing dominated the first two races of the season, but Melbourne saw their worst result in months.
Sainz sang the lyrics to “Smooth Operator” by Sade – his personal anthem – after crossing the finish line, taking the third Grand Prix victory of his career. The race ended under a Virtual Safety Car, meaning that the cars were driving at reduced speeds and unable to overtake those in front after George Russell in the Mercedes crashed on the penultimate lap. Accompanying Sainz on the podium was his teammate Charles Leclerc and his ex-teammate Lando Norris, who got McLaren Racing’s first podium of the 2024 season.
Verstappen retired for the first time since Australia 2022 in Lap 5 of the GP due to mechanical brake problems that saw his back right suspension and tire catch fire. Lewis Hamilton became the second world champion to retire from the Australian GP after his Mercedes suffered an engine failure in Lap 17. Combined with Russell’s crash, the Mercedes team failed to score any points and is currently 28 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship. Red Bull remains at the top, with Ferrari only four points behind.
“It’s a mechanical sport,” Verstappen said in the Post-Race show, available on Formula 1’s official YouTube channel. “These things unfortunately happen, but I think it’s most important that we understand why it happened.”
Scuderia Ferrari was the incontestable victor this round, with both drivers on the podium since Bahrain 2022 when it was Leclerc on the top step. Sainz had previously beaten Verstappen’s win streak in Singapore 2023, being the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in the previous season.
Sainz, who missed the previous GP after undergoing surgery for appendicitis, is out of a race seat for 2025 after Ferrari failed to renew his contract, replacing him with Hamilton for the next season.
“I’m extremely happy,” Sainz said in the Post-Race show, likening his year so far to a rollercoaster. “I mean, I’m still jobless for next year, so I guess this will help.”
Round four of the 2024 F1 season will take place at 12 a.m. CST on April 7 in Japan at the Suzuka International Racing Course.
