2024 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results & Summary

F1
Sunday, 24 March 2024 at 06:43
Updated at Sunday, 24 March 2024 at 06:52
charles leclerc ferrari car31

Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix just two weeks after undergoing surgery on his appendix.

The race at Albert Park Circuit had one of the smoothest starts we've ever seen. All the cars crucially got through the first few laps without any contact or collision.

Max Verstappen started well off the line and maintained his lead until lap 2 when he reported a mistake and was overtaken by Carlos Sainz (with DRS) ahead of turn 9.

Right after that, smoke started coming out of the back of Verstappen's car, and he had to come into the pitlane within two laps to retire the car as his rear brake overheated and caught on fire.

There were various strategies, and while most of the drivers started on the medium compound and later pitted for hards, a few brave ones, like Lewis Hamilton, even started on softs.

Despite starting on the softest compound, the seven-time World Champion didn't manage to make up more than one position. On lap 17, he suffered engine failure, and, like Verstappen, he also had to retire.

The two Ferrari drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, found themselves in front after the triple World Champions' retirement and were ordered to keep positions and avoid fighting.

They were close to two McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who, on the other hand, were ordered to swap positions.

As the Australian driver led Norris through, the 24-year-old was free to chase Leclerc, who, in the meantime, lost quite a lot of time on his teammate.

In the end, there were no changes in positions in the top four, and Sainz crossed the finish line in P1, followed by Leclerc, Norris, and Piastri.

While there was an exciting battle in front, two battles out of the race also led to an exciting battle between the bottom five teams in the Championship.

Yuki Tsunoda, who started the race in P8, came home in the same position, and two Haas drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, secured the two remaining point positions.

George Russell, who fought with Fernando Alonso for P5 lost his car going into turn 6 and crashed out two laps before the end of the race. Unfortunately for Mercedes, none of their drivers finished the race today.

2024 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results:

NameTeamGap
1Carlos SainzFerrari
2Charles LeclercFerrari+2.366
3Lando NorrisMcLaren+5.904
4Oscar PiastriMcLaren+35.770
5Sergio PerezRed Bull+56.309
6Fernando AlonsoAston Martin+80.992
7Lance StrollAston MArtin+93.222
8Yuki TsunodaRB+95.601
9Nico HulkenbergHaas+104.553
10Kevin MagnussenHaas+1 Lap
11Alex AlbonWillliams+1 Lap
12Daniel RicciardoRB+1 Lap
13Pierre GaslyAlpine+1 Lap
14Valtteri BottasSauber+1 Lap
15Zhou GuanyuSauber+1 Lap
16Esteban OconAlpine+1 Lap
17Fernando AlonsoMercedesDNF
18Lewis HamiltonMercedesDNF
19Max VerstappenRed BullDNF