Formula 1: Carlos Sainz wins Australian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen retires

In the Australian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz was in the lead with Charles Leclerc closely following, resulting in a one-two victory for Ferrari. Max Verstappen's control over Formula 1 was no longer apparent.

Sainz overtook the reigning champion's Red Bull and took the lead on the second lap. Shortly after, the Dutch driver had to withdraw due to brake failure, after only completing four laps.

After the initial pit-stop period, the Spaniard took command of the race while Leclerc managed to pass Lando Norris from McLaren.

The competition came to a conclusion with the implementation of a virtual safety car due to an accident involving George Russell.

Whilst chasing the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso to try and secure a sixth-place finish, the Mercedes driver unfortunately lost control of his car on the last lap at Turn Six and ended up crashing. As a result, his car was tipped onto its left-front wheel and left resting on its side. Luckily, Russell did not suffer any injuries from the accident.

Alonso and Russell were summoned to the stewards' office following the race due to allegations that Alonso had applied brakes twice prior to a corner and then immediately accelerated in between them.

Mercedes had a tough end to a serious day as they appeared to solidify their position as underdogs. Lewis Hamilton's race was cut short after only 16 laps due to engine issues.

Norris guided Oscar Piastri to a McLaren third and fourth place finish, while Red Bull's Sergio Perez had an unremarkable performance on the day, unable to take advantage of Verstappen's withdrawal.

Sainz dominated the racing event in Melbourne, with a whopping 132,106 people in attendance (and 452,055 people throughout the weekend). Impressively, he achieved this after having a surgery to take out his appendix just two weeks prior, causing him to sit out the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The individual who is 29 years old shared the unusual sensation of feeling like their insides were moving more than usual after their surgery. They followed Verstappen around the first lap of the race and took the opportunity to pass the Red Bull driver on the curvy stretch to Turns Nine and 10 when Verstappen made an error at Turn Three during the second lap.

As soon as Verstappen experienced a loss of control of his vehicle, he used the radio to notify his team. He shared that it was peculiar to lose control of the rear so suddenly. Eventually, it became evident why he encountered this issue.

After completing another lap, he used a bad word on the radio and exclaimed: "The car is not stable." Shortly thereafter, one more lap later, fumes began to emanate from the right rear wheel of his vehicle.

As Verstappen made his way into the pit lane, he reduced his speed and caused his brakes to overheat, resulting in flames. During this process, a chunk of debris flew out of his wheel and landed on the grass.

Highlighting how strong Red Bull has been over the past couple of years, this was their first instance of not finishing a race since this same race two years back.

Sainz took charge of the race and didn't display any signs that he would lose it.

Last year, Sainz achieved the remarkable feat of being the only driver outside of Red Bull to claim a victory. He emerged victorious in Singapore, in a thrilling race that saw him fiercely fend off a group of competitors that included Norris, Hamilton, and Russell.

At present, he is the individual who could halt Verstappen's potential achievement of matching his own feat of winning 10 consecutive races. This has occurred only three races into the current season, which he commenced knowing that he would no longer be part of Ferrari after this season due to Hamilton's arrival.

Sainz was in control of the qualifying session right from the beginning and never faced any challenge during the race.

He capitalized on the fact that Leclerc was hindered by Norris in the initial stretch, which allowed him to establish a lead.

Ferrari made a smart move by bringing in Leclerc for a pit stop on lap nine to get ahead of Norris before he could pit. This strategy paid off when Norris eventually pitted five laps later and ended up coming out behind the Ferrari.

On lap 16, Sainz came to a stop and when he resumed he was only one second ahead of his colleague. Gradually, he widened the gap and was ahead by almost nine seconds by the time Leclerc stopped for the second time.

Despite the fact that Norris couldn't change the outcome of the Ferraris, McLaren had a weekend full of great performances.

However, Perez was not happy with Red Bull's choice to keep him running for a long time during the initial stretch.

Perez managed to overtake Russell and Alonso during the race, however, he wasn't able to catch up to the McLarens that were ahead. This race didn't do much to improve his chances of keeping his Red Bull seat beyond 2024.

The accident that Russell had caused Mercedes to miss out on points in Australia. Lance Stroll from Aston Martin got a promotion to seventh place. Yuki Tsunoda from RB and Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen from Haas were left behind.

Alex Albon was provided with Williams by his team-mate Logan Sargent for the weekend following a severe accident on Friday. However, Albon only managed to secure the 11th spot as the Haas drivers were performing better and prevented him from getting a point.