Australian GP: Leclerc claims dominant win as Verstappen retires

Charles Leclerc put in a dominant performance to claim his second win of the season at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver led from start to finish at Albert Park, while nearest challenger Max Verstappen retired for the second time in three races with a mechanical problem in his Red Bull.

That promoted Sergio Perez upto second with George Russell completing the podium as Mercedes had their strongest race of 2022 so far.

Race Review

A clean start at the front as Lewis Hamilton jumped upto third ahead of Perez while Lando Norris dropped to P6 behind Russell.

Carlos Sainz opted for the Hard tyre to begin and lost five places on the opening lap, his disastrous weekend continued as he spun off into the gravel at Turns 9 and 10 on Lap 2 causing a Safety Car.

After the restart, Perez reclaimed third from Hamilton into Turn 3 as Leclerc pulled away as Red Bull struggled with tyre wear in the first stint.

In fact, Verstappen and Perez would be the first leaders to pit as even Mercedes was quicker.

Hamilton initially managed the overcut on the Mexican but Checo produced a brilliant move on the run to Turn 9 to repass the Briton.

A spin into the barrier for Sebastian Vettel at Turn 4 triggered a second Safety Car, allowing Russell to pit and resume in third.

An eventful restart saw Verstappen attack Leclerc into Turn 1 and 3 but wasn’t quite able to pass the Ferrari, which then began to pull away again.

Alonso on old tyres got upto P4 but was soon passed by Perez and Hamilton on much fresher rubber.

Problems struck for Verstappen who pulled off with an engine issue at Turn 2, causing his second retirement of the season.

Alonso opted to pit under the resulting Virtual Safety Car and resumed in 14th but on new tyres to try and charge through the field.

He would be involved in an epic battle that was led by Lance Stroll, who completed his pit-stops under the first Safety Car.

The Aston Martin’s defence would be futile though as he got a five-second penalty for weaving on the straight and was then overtaken by Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas.

Out front though, Leclerc was in a class of his own as he claimed a commanding victory, leading Perez by 20 seconds over the finish line.

Russell claimed his first podium of the season as he led Mercedes teammate Hamilton in third and fourth respectively.

The two McLarens claimed fifth and sixth with Lando Norris leading home favourite Daniel Ricciardo. Esteban Ocon was seventh ahead of Bottas, who passed Gasly when the Frenchman ran wide at Turn 13.

Alex Albon ran seventh as he waited until the final lap to complete his mandatory pit-stop, but still picked up Williams’ first point of the season in 10th.

Further down, Alonso’s race fell apart due to graining on his medium tyres, dropping to be the last finisher in 17th after a second pitstop.