Carlos Sainz wins in Australia: "Life is incredible sometimes"
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
Ferrari takes the double in Melbourne after Verstappen retired due to a brake fire on lap four. McLaren driver Lando Norris finishes third on the podium.
The Australian Grand Prix is a box of surprises, and this year was no exception. The race at the Albert Park circuit took place at 4:00 a.m. European time, but it was worth the early start, as for the first time this year the Dutch anthem was not played on the podium.
Throughout the weekend, Carlos Sainz proved to be in another category, where everything seemed possible after coming within 0.2 tenths of a second of Max Verstappen's pole position. However, luck was not on the Dutchman's side on Sunday. The Spaniard overtook him on the first lap, when it was already clear from Verstappen's radios that his RB20 had a problem, and so it was, on lap 4, the car developed a brake fire and the reigning world champion was forced to retire. The last time Verstappen suffered a DNF was also in Australia, in 2022. "My right rear brake basically jammed since the lights went out. The temperature kept rising until, of course, it caught fire," he declared surprisingly calmly in the paddock.
This left the way clear for the Spaniard, who had claimed the day before that he could win if he did everything perfectly, even with doubts about his fitness. However, Carlos left nothing to chance and took his third Formula 1 victory, just 16 days after an appendicitis operation. The driver's performance was exceptional from the first lap to lap 58, with a first stint on medium tyres where his SF-24 seemed to fly, followed by two stints on hard tyres where his pace was always the best in the race, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, and beating even the only Red Bull on track, Checo Pérez, who finished a rather anonymous race in fifth position.
Although Max's retirement was clearly an advantage for Carlos' victory, seeing the pace of the Spaniard, who set fastest laps of 1'21"7 on medium tyres in the early part of the race, and who was flying on the hard tyres as well, it could not be said that Verstappen's victory would have been easy anyway.
FERRARI ONE-TWO
The Vasseur effect is starting to be felt in Maranello. La rossa, which has not achieved a double since Bahrain 2022, has placed its two drivers on the podium, with the second position of Charles Leclerc, who despite not having a pace like Sainz, consolidates the Italian team as the second force on track and the only ones able, so far, to stand up to the Red Bulls.
"This is incredible, life is like a rollercoaster. It's incredible," said Carlos Sainz over the radio. A phrase he repeated as he spoke to the press, referring to his start to the year with the announcement of the non-renewal of his Ferrari contract, the podium in Bahrain, the operation for appendicitis and now, the victory. But what is certain is that Carlos' performance, always above Leclerc so far, is already raising doubts about whether the choice to replace him with Lewis Hamilton in 2025 has been the right one for the Italian team.
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
DISASTER AT MERCEDES. ALONSO RECEIVES 20 SECOND PENALTY
Two retirements mark a black Sunday for Toto Wolff. The first came with an engine problem in Hamilton's W15 on lap 17, and the second was caused by a huge crash on the final lap that forced a Virtual Safety Car to end the race and sidelined George Russell. Alonso, who had crossed the line in sixth place, was involved in the incident, and although there were no consequences on track, he subsequently received a 20-second penalty and three points on his superlicence for "potentially dangerous driving", i.e. braking suddenly and excessively early, which according to the stewards, caused Russell to run off the track and the subsequent crash. This relegates the Spaniard to eighth place.
MCLAREN MAKES ITS MARK
The "papayas", finally showed a performance that places them as the third force on track. British driver Lando Norris, who came under pressure from Leclerc in the second half of the race, finished third on the podium, with his teammate, Australian Oscar Piastri, in fourth place.
The Woking-based team still has issues to resolve, such as the loss of straight-line speed with the DRS open, but already in free practice in Melbourne they showed a big improvement in race pace, at times better than Red Bull. With the first package of upgrades, expected to arrive at Imola, it remains to be seen whether McLaren can match Ferrari, at least in pace.
