Ferrari dominates Australian GP as Verstappen retires with brake failure

The race began with Max Verstappen on pole, but the championship leader's hopes of victory were quickly extinguished when his Red Bull suffered a dramatic brake fire, forcing him to retire early on.

Sainz, who had missed the previous race in Saudi Arabia due to an appendectomy, wasted no time in asserting his authority on the race.

The Spaniard overtook Verstappen on lap 2, seizing the lead after the Dutchman momentarily lost control of his car.

From there, Sainz never looked back, controlling the pace and maintaining his advantage over the chasing pack.

Behind the leading Ferrari, the battle for the podium positions heated up. Lando Norris, who had initially held second place, found himself under pressure from Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque driver made his move during the first round of pit stops, undercutting Norris to claim second place.

Despite Norris' best efforts, he was unable to regain the position, ultimately settling for a well-earned third place.

Further down the field, Oscar Piastri delighted his home crowd with an impressive drive to fourth place.

The Australian rookie showcased his talent, fending off the challenges of more experienced rivals to secure his best result in F1 to date.

Alonso Controversial Penalty

The closing stages of the race were marred by controversy, as Fernando Alonso and George Russell battled for position.

With just two laps remaining, Russell crashed out at Turn 6 while attempting to pass the Aston Martin driver.

The stewards investigated the incident and determined that Alonso had altered his driving style in an "extraordinary" manner, lifting, braking, and downshifting much earlier than usual.

While they could not conclude if Alonso's actions were deliberate, the stewards deemed his maneuver "potentially dangerous" given the high-speed nature of the track.

As a result, Alonso was handed a 20-second penalty, dropping him from sixth to eighth in the final classification.

Alonso accepted the penalty but he disagreed with the verdict.

A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars.

Double points for the team and a better race pace than the rest of the weekend allowed us to cross the finish line in 6th and 7th place. A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no… pic.twitter.com/WBdr7MPGFr

— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) March 24, 2024

Mercedes' Melbourne Misery

For Mercedes, the Australian Grand Prix proved to be a weekend to forget. The German team suffered a double retirement, with Lewis Hamilton falling victim to a power unit failure and George Russell crashing out late in the race.

Team principal Toto Wolff made no attempt to hide his frustration, admitting that the team had "massively lacked pace" at times during the race.

Wolff also acknowledged the significant performance gap to their rivals, stating, "Clearly, we started the season in the belief that this car is better than it was last year... Obviously on one side, I want to punch myself on the nose."

As the team searches for answers, it is clear that significant work lies ahead if they are to rediscover their winning form.

As the dust settles on the Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari will undoubtedly be celebrating their dominant performance and the resurgence of Carlos Sainz.

Ferrari is expected to accelerate the introduction of some upgrades for the next Grand Prix in Japan, moving up their original timeline encouraged by their victory in Australia.

Australian GP Race Results

Driver Standings after the Australian GP

Team Standings after the Australian GP