Carlos Sainz wins Australian Grand Prix on return to grid

Carlos Sainz Jr had an amazing comeback on the grid after finishing first at the Australian Grand Prix to give Ferrari their first win of the season. 

Sainz, who skipped the Saudi Arabian GP to undergo surgery, held the lead after Max Verstappen’s premature retirement from the race and was the first to finish at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, closely followed by teammate Charles Leclerc.

McLaren’s Lando Norris crossed the finish line seconds later to complete the podium, while his number two, Oscar Piastri, finished closely at fourth.

The Australian GP was a good race for some teams like Ferrari and McLaren as they got to win good points to boost them on the leaderboard. Despite Verstappen’s failure to finish the race, he still leads with the most points, although his lead is not as significant as it should be as Leclerc trails behind by 4 points. Sergio Perez, who finished fifth on Sunday, slipped down to third place with a one-point deficit. 

Sainz started the race one at P2 with Dutchman Verstappen taking the lead. But the race soon presented an advantage for Sainz in the second lap, and by the third lap, Verstappen was done with the race. This left Sainz unchallenged as he did not yield the lead to anyone else and breezed into the finish line, becoming the first non Red Bull driver to win a race this season, like he did last season. 

Amongst the teams that had a bad day include Mercedes, who failed to fat zero pints as neither of their drivers finished. An engine failure early in the day ended the race for Lewis Hamilton, while George Russell crashed his car while already in the final lap. The problem with Mercedes continues, and Hamilton, who is in his final season with the team before moving to Ferrari next year, is far from impressed with the car this season.

Leon Osamor