MELBOURNE, Australia — Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz put an end to Red Bull’s Formula 1 winning streak on Sunday by taking advantage of Max Verstappen’s early departure to claim victory at the Australian Grand Prix just two weeks after missing the preceding race in Saudi Arabia due to an emergency appendectomy.
Sainz, who began on the front row alongside Verstappen, maintained his position into turn one, but overtook the Dutchman on lap two at turn nine to take the lead and seized control once his competitor retired two laps later with a fiery mechanical issue.
Verstappen had secured the first two F1 races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and was on a nine-race winning streak.
Sainz finished ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc for Ferrari’s first 1-2 result since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, while McLaren’s Lando Norris secured third place for his first podium at Albert Park.
His teammate, Australian Oscar Piastri, finished fourth.
Sainz, who will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari from 2025, was delighted to achieve his third career win against the odds, his first since last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
“I felt really good out there,” he said. “Of course, (I felt) a bit stiff, especially physically. It wasn’t the easiest, but I was lucky that I was more or less on my own so I could just manage my pace, manage the tires, manage everything.
“Life can be crazy, you know. What happened at the beginning of the year, then the podium in Bahrain, then appendix, the comeback, the win, it’s a roller coaster. But I loved it.”
Leclerc, on the podium for the second straight race, was encouraged by Ferrari’s pace and its ability to challenge rival Red Bull during its period of dominance.
“We knew that pole position and the race win was possible because we had very good tire degradation, very good pace,” he said. “That is a very encouraging sign. However, if you look at the first three races, two out of the first three races, they (Red Bull) had the upper hand in the race, so we still have a lot of work to do.”
Norris said it wasn’t a surprise that he was able to earn his first podium since Brazil last year.
“I think when you take a Red Bull out of it, I would say no,” he said. “I think our pace has been good all weekend. We put things together very nicely yesterday. We showed good long run, high-fuel pace on Friday, so I wouldn’t have said we had no chance.”
The race ended under the virtual safety car, ensuring there was no racing for most of the final lap, after Mercedes driver George Russell crashed on turn seven. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez secured the fifth spot and moved up just one place from his starting position in sixth, after receiving a three-place grid penalty for obstructing Nico Hülkenberg in qualifying.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso finished sixth on the road, but dropped to eighth after the stewards penalized him with a 20-second time penalty and three penalty points on his license, for engaging in “potentially dangerous” driving while battling Russell on the final lap.
Alonso eased off the throttle slightly more than 100 meters earlier than he had done going into turn six during the race, while Russell behind him lost control and crashed at the exit of the corner.
Lewis Hamilton, who is Russell's teammate, also did not finish the race because his car's engine failed on lap 17. This was the first time that both Mercedes cars did not finish a race since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which ended their streak of being reliable.
Yuki Tsunoda, a Japanese driver, earned his team RB (formerly known as AlphaTauri) their first points of the season by finishing seventh and receiving six points. His position was elevated due to Alonso's penalty.
The American team Haas achieved its first double points finish since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. Hülkenberg and his teammate Kevin Magnussen finished ninth and tenth, respectively.
Verstappen's lead in the drivers' standings decreased from 15 points to four, with Leclerc in second place. Verstappen now has 51 points and Leclerc has 47.