Melbourne (AP) – After Charles Leclerc’s demonstration of power, Max Verstappen did not even try to hide his frustration at his next pointless disaster, while Leclerc in the Ferrari continued to extend the world championship lead at the Australian Grand Prix with the second win of the season.
“When you’re fighting for a championship, you can’t already have two failures,” said the Formula 1 world champion after retiring from the Australian Grand Prix. Verstappen had to park his burning Red Bull early on Sunday and did not finish again in the second of three races.
Verstappen: “It’s not how it has to be”
“Two failures are of course incredible,” said Verstappen on Sky. “We’ve lost a lot of points again. It’s another bad Sunday.” In recent years he has always been very satisfied with the reliability of his company car. “Now it’s a disaster,” said the Dutchman: “It’s not how it has to be.”
After three World Championship races, the defending champion is already 46 points behind Leclerc from Monaco. The 24-year-old surprisingly leads in the superior Scuderia car with 34 points ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes in second place.
“Ferrari was in a class of its own”
“What a car! That was the first win where we were able to control the distance. The car felt great, I’m just so happy,” said Leclerc. He was able to defend himself skillfully against Verstappen’s attacks until he fell out in the 39th lap. The fact that he made a rare entry in the Grand Slam list also showed how dominant Leclerc was. Pole position, race victory, fastest race lap and the lead from start to finish are necessary for this – that only rarely works in Formula 1.
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And also brought the respect of the competition. “Ferrari was in a class of its own and unfortunately we were clearly behind it,” said Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko: “This package that Ferrari put on the track was unattainable for us.” After all, Sergio Perez finished second in the second Red Bull ahead of Russell in the Silver Arrow. It hurt a lot that the second secure podium place slipped away from them due to the failure. As at the start in Bahrain, Verstappen flew out in second place with a defect.
Vettel and Schumacher without championship points
The 24-year-old had to leave his car smoking at the rear after, according to Marko, “massive petrol” leaked. “We have difficult times ahead of us,” admitted the Austrian. “It’s severe pain.” Especially since Leclerc announced that he certainly does not want to let up now. “That’s a good distance, but we have to keep up the pressure,” demanded the world championship leader, who can dream of winning his first title early in the year. And now a Ferrari home game is coming up: In two weeks, the Italian race will be in Imola. “I can’t even think about what’s going on,” he said.
Former world champion Sebastian Vettel did not finish in the Aston Martin after his compulsory Corona break. After a self-inflicted accident, it was already over before halftime, as a precautionary measure, he was checked out in the track hospital. “Everything is fine,” he said after returning to the paddock. Mick Schumacher failed again in the Haas attempt to score points for the first time and finished 13th.
Mercedes continues to have problems
When he returned to Australia after a two-year Corona break, Leclerc confidently defended his pole position right from the start. His Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz, who came second in the World Championship, lost only ten positions and then retired on the second lap after a high-spirited overtaking manoeuvre. Sainz slid off the track and was lucky not to take another car with him. Schumacher’s car in particular was dangerously close.
At the Formula 1 party in Albert Park, which was sold out in front of more than 120,000 spectators, Leclerc managed to lead the entire race. Behind them, Verstappen kept in touch, and third-placed record world champion Lewis Hamilton quickly lost ground again. Hamilton’s Mercedes team continues to struggle to provide a competitive car at the start of the year. The Constructors’ World Champion of recent years is not in a position to dominate as in previous years, but with third place for Russell and fourth for Hamilton, he did more than expected.
“We got as many points as we could as a team and that’s great,” said Hamilton. The 37-year-old Briton actually wants to be the first driver to become world champion for the eighth time this year, but the gap, especially to Ferrari, is still too big to declare war. “We leave Melbourne in better shape than when we arrived,” said Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff anyway.