2024 F1 Round 3, Australian GP: Sainz Takes Third Career Win as Ferrari Finishes One-Two, Verstappen and Hamilton Retire

The 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix concluded after 58 laps at Albert Park around midday on 24 March Beijing time. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, starting second, took the chequered flag first to claim his third Grand Prix victory. Team-mate Charles Leclerc finished 2.366 seconds behind, completing Ferrari’s 86th one-two. Three cars retired, including those of two world champions, and the virtual safety car was deployed twice.

Pole-sitter Max Verstappen was troubled by a right-rear brake problem from the start. Sainz passed him on lap two, after which he continued to lose ground. On lap four, with smoke and flames coming from the car, he returned to the garage and retired, ending a run of 43 consecutive finishes. It was his first retirement since the 2022 Australian Grand Prix. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton also retired, stopping beside the track with a power-unit failure on lap 17.

Sainz had missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks earlier because of appendicitis and underwent surgery. He arrived in Melbourne having done almost no preparation, including training. Afterwards, he admitted that the race had been particularly demanding physically, but said he had everything under control and joked that all drivers should consider an appendectomy. The two McLarens followed Ferrari home, with Lando Norris third and local favourite Oscar Piastri fourth, 35.770 seconds behind the winner.

Sergio Pérez qualified third but received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Nico Hülkenberg and started sixth. Carrying Red Bull’s hopes alone, he passed Fernando Alonso for fifth on lap 28 but made no further progress. Late in the race, George Russell lost downforce while pursuing Alonso and crashed with two laps remaining. After the race, the stewards ruled that Alonso had driven in a potentially dangerous manner and imposed a 20-second penalty. He dropped from sixth to eighth, promoting Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda to sixth and seventh respectively.

Starting eighth, Tsunoda lost a place to Stroll at the start but then established a strong rhythm and gained positions as rivals retired. He ultimately finished seventh to score RB’s first points of the season. Haas was the only midfield team to score with both cars: Hülkenberg took ninth, while Kevin Magnussen beat Alexander Albon to tenth by 0.9 seconds. Daniel Ricciardo gambled on a soft-tyre start from 18th, but the approach did not pay off immediately and he finished his home race 12th. Pierre Gasly received a five-second penalty for crossing the pit-exit line and was 13th. Zhou Guanyu, starting from the pit lane, finished 15th.

The race took place in sunny conditions, with an air temperature of 20°C and a track temperature of 39°C. Pirelli brought its softest range, C3 to C5. Most drivers started on mediums; Alonso and Hülkenberg chose hards, while Hamilton, Ricciardo and Zhou used softs. Hamilton was the first to stop, on lap eight, successfully undercutting Tsunoda, who stopped two laps later, before retiring with his failure. On lap 29, McLaren instructed Piastri to let Norris, on fresher tyres, through to pursue Leclerc, but Norris could not mount a serious challenge. Sainz remained in control after switching to hard tyres on lap 41 and secured victory.