Charles Leclerc has ended the Australian Grand Prix victorious. The Ferrari driver managed to cash in on his pole position partly due to Max Verstappen 's retirement. Sergio Perez and George Russell also ended up on the podium.

Leclerc started the race from pole position and managed to keep Verstappen behind him, leaving him in front even after the first lap. Behind the pair, however, a lot was happening. Lewis Hamilton, who started from P5, managed to overtake Lando Norris and Perez, which immediately put him in third place. However, he soon had to give that place back to the Mexican.

Crashes of Sainz and Vettel

For Carlos Sainz, the race came to a quick end. The Spanish driver started from ninth place at the GP, but was quickly in fourteenth position. By apparently his own mistake, however, he spun hard. He was lucky not to hit other drivers and ended up in the gravel, after which he got out of his car safely.

After nineteen laps, Verstappen came in, which put him in seventh place. However, he managed to make up those places quickly, putting him back behind Leclerc. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel crashed hard. The German lost control of the wheel and drove hard into the wall. It caused a safety car which gave Verstappen the opportunity to get close behind Leclerc.

On the restart Verstappen then tried to take advantage of the opportunity and outsmart Leclerc. However, the world championship leader managed to stay ahead of his rival. Behind them, Russell and Perez battled together for third place. On lap 37, the Red Bull driver cleverly managed to beat Russell to take P3.

Drama for Verstappen

Verstappen stayed in second place for a long time, but hoped to have the speed at the end of the race to beat his competitor. It didn't work out that way for the Dutchman, however, as he again had to deal with problems with his car. In Bahrain he had problems with the fuel supply, but this time the engine was the cause.

It was a dramatic end for Verstappen, as it saw him further increase the gap in the world championship. The Dutchman got out of his car disappointed and then had to watch from the sidelines as Leclerc continued on his way and, with a 16-second lead over Perez, was allowed to try and take the win.

Little changed up front, leaving Leclerc, Perez and Russell on the podium. Hamilton was right behind, while Norris and Ricciardo were further behind the Brit. Alexander Albon, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas also drove in the points.