The big winner of the Australian Grand Prix is called Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver won without any problems ahead of Sergio Perez while George Russell was able to take the podium in the Mercedes on P3. Max Verstappen retired on lap 38 with technical problems.
In front of his home crowd, McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo closed the race in Melbourne on P6
At the start Charles Leclerc got away well with Max Verstappen in tow on the way to the first corner combinations. Lewis Hamilton who started the race in P5 had a world start and immediately took over P3 from Sergio Perez. Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez on P4 was trapped between the Mercedes cars behind his RB18 was George Russel.
F1 2022 Australian Grand Prix Red Bull Racing Max F1 2022 Australian Grand Prix Red Bull Racing
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz had a very bad start and fell back from P9 to P14. In the battle to come back, the Spaniard spun over Mick Schumacher in the Haas and caused a virtual safety car situation in lap 2 due to the shift in the grid.
Local hero Daniel Ricciardo had got off to a good start in his McLaren, driving around behind the SC in P7 behind teammate Lando Norris. The race resumed on lap 7. Leclerc held onto the lead with Verstappen behind the Monegask in tow. Hamilton followed the duo at an appropriate distance, but this came under pressure from Perez, who recaptured P3 on lap 9 from the seven-time world champion.
Sebastian Vettel experienced a perilous moment at Turn 11 when the German pushed off the track but went back onto the track via the gravel. A little later, Verstappen seemed to have a problem with his front tire after a brake error. The Dutchman was 6 seconds behind Leclerc and did not seem to be able to follow the pace of the Ferrari. On lap 17, Valtteri Bottas managed to overtake Yuki Tsunoda in his pursuit of points and climbed to P10. Kevin Magnussen thought he could also do this in the Haas but had to choose eggs for his money through the grass.
On lap 19 there was action at Red Bull due to Max Verstappen’s pit stop. The Dutchman dropped back to P7 on the hard tyre. Verstappen came under pressure due to Pierre Gasly’s cold tires, but the Frenchman lost track of teammate Fernando Alonso and lost a spot. Perez also made his pit stop when he came under pressure from Hamilton for P3 on lap 21.
A lap later it was Leclerc’s turn who still held the lead of the race while Verstappen once again held P2. George Russell followed while teammate Hamilton made a pit stop. The Knight of the Silver Arrow could now fight Perez again. However, the Safety Car was deployed due to the failure of Sebastian Vettel at the fourth corner. Lots of damage to the Aston Martin, Vettel himself was fine. The SafetyCar provided a lot of action in the pitlane.
It didn’t matter much if Leclerc lost the lead to Verstappen during the restart of race on lap 27. Russell thought he could follow the duo but had to be careful not to come under pressure from Alonso who was driving in the Alpine. Behind the Spaniard drove Perez who was chasing a podium place. The Alpine was running fast but Alonso’s tires were exhausted, Perez was able to take P4 on lap 30 at the expense of the two-time world champion.
At the front of the field, Leclerc was proudly leading in 1:22.450 with the fastest time of the day. Behind the leader of the race, Verstappen did not catch up yet as he was 3.7 seconds behind with 36 laps to go. In contrast, Perez was able to hook up with Russell who came away from the Brit in DRS in the battle for P3. Haas driver Magnussen lost his place to Daniel Ricciardo in the battle for P8. Behind the Dane was now Alpha Tauri driver Alex Albon.
On lap 36, Sergio Perez managed to overtake George Russell and ended up in P3 behind teammate Verstappen. The difference of the Dutchman on P2 and P1 was just over 5 seconds. Perez was 11 seconds short of Leclerc’s Ferrari.
On lap 38 a problem for Verstappen, the Dutchman stopped at turn 2. A heavily smoking RB18 caused a virtual Safety Car, Verstappen himself was uninjured but became number three dropout. Sergio Perez took over P2 from his teammate, Russell closed in on P3. With 16 laps to go, Lance Stroll was awarded a 5 second penalty for moving too much in a defensive play over Valtteri Bottas. Despite the penalty, the Canadian continued to fight for a good result. A little behind, Mick Schumacher was fighting Alonso for P12, behind the Spaniard was Magnussen. Pierre Gasly meanwhile came away from Stroll in DRS and tried to collect more points. With 10 laps to go, Hamilton came closer to teammate Russell’s tail.
Gasly came under pressure from Stroll and Bottas while Leclerc set the fastest lap of the moment in 1:20.996. The battle for P10 was provisionally settled in favor of Bottas who overtook Stroll.
Charles Leclerc took the win at the Albert Park Circuit and an extra point for the fastest lap of the race. Sergio Perez again took the podium in P2 with George Russell behind him crossing the finish line on P3. Daniel Ricciardo finished his home race in P6 behind teammate Lando Norris.
Result F1 Australian Grand Prix 2022
