Ferrari celebrates again, Leclerc ruled in Australia. Verstappen did not reach the finish line

“There are only three races behind us, so it’s hard to think about the championship. But we have a very strong and reliable car. I hope it will continue and we will have a chance for the title. After those two years that were difficult, I can finally It’s great to be back on these ranks, “Leclerc said in front of the TV cameras. The Monte Carlo native won for the second and fourth time in his career this year. He also earned a bonus point for the fastest lap.

On the other hand, his teammate Sainz, who entered the race from the second place of the World Cup, slipped after a failed start, got stuck in the gravel and had to resign.

Verstappen held the second position, but 21 laps before the end, his car started to smoke and the Dutch stopped him. The defending champion did not finish the second race of the three due to technical difficulties. He did not even reach the finish line in the opening GP of Bahrain and fell to sixth place in the World Cup. He is already losing 46 points to Leclerc.

“We’re losing and I don’t want to think about the title right now. I just want to finish the races. It’s frustrating and unacceptable. If you want to fight for the title, these things can’t happen to you,” Verstappen said angrily.

According to team boss Christian Horner, Red Bull must look in detail at the reasons for his resignation. “We don’t know what the problem was yet. It doesn’t look like an engine, it was more a fuel leak. The frustration is understandable. In addition, Ferrari’s speed was somewhere else today,” Horner said.

The Australian Grand Prix returned to the championship after three years. The previous two years did not take place due to the covid pandemic. The Albert Park track was visited by a record number of 420,000 fans over the weekend and the race became the most watched sporting event in Australian history.

The winner of the qualification, Leclerc, retained the lead even after the start and his pace was not enough for the other rivals. After Sainz resigned, the safety car also hit the track in lap 23, when Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin crashed. The four-time world champion, who missed the first two races due to a positive coronavirus test, ended a failed weekend during which he had technical difficulties and an accident in training. The slow-moving stages of the race were used by Brit Russell, who managed to change the tires and returned to third place.

Although the restart did not go well for the leader Leclerc, he still kept Verstappen behind after a close duel. In addition, in lap 39, the Dutch rider began to slow down and was instructed by the pits to stop his Red Bull. The car eventually began to smoke and had to be extinguished.

Leclerc finished calmly to victory with a lead of over twenty seconds over Pérez. The third Russell from Mercedes kept his teammate and compatriot Lewis Hamilton behind him in the end. “Today we benefited from the misfortune and misfortune of others. We were lucky twice, but we take it. We work hard to get back to the top. Standing on stage is amazing,” Russell added.