Carlos Sainz earned a surprising win at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday in Melbourne. Two weeks after appendicitis felled him from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Sainz looked in peak form as he overtook Verstappen on lap four and then controlled the race thereafter, making him still the only non-Red Bull driver to beat Verstappen since the beginning of the 2024 season.
Teammate Charles Leclerc could never match pace with Sainz but gave Ferrari a massive points day by finishing second. Lando Norris battled with his teammate and hometown favorite Oscar Piastri and prevailed, taking the third spot on the podium. Piastri followed crossing the line in fourth.
Sergio Perez finished fifth and proved to be of little threat to take over the rae for Red Bull, offering evidence that the juggernaut of a team is not always able to dominate. Fernando Alonso earned sixth after he benefitted from a virtual safety car to jump for places in the running order after staying out and then pitting during the yellow-flag period. Lance Stroll took the eighth spot after George Russell crashed out on the final lap.
The Haas team scored the final points of the race, with Nico Hulkenberg finishing ninth and Kevin Magnussen earning the tenth spot. In a proverbial ʻclose but no cigarʻ finish, Alex Albon took the 11th position in Logan Sargeantʻs car, almost giving Williams the point it had tried to engineer with the car swap.
The Australian GP as most Formula 1 races have over the past three years, with Max Verstappen starting from pole and making a clean getaway. Unlike most of the races, Verstappen pulled his car into the pits on lap five with a brake issue that had melted and ultimately exploded the rear right system and suffered his first did-not-finish since the Australian GP 2022.
Verstappen said that it felt like he was basically “driving with the handbrake on” when discussing the matter during the race.
Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …