Graphic

The Australian Grand Prix was won by Charles Leclerc, who moved into a commanding position in the World Championship.

Max Verstappen retired from the race at two-thirds distance after his Red Bull broke down.

After three races, Verstappen is almost two clear of Leclerc and Red Bull has failed to finish in two of them.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez was second after defeating Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Russell is second in the drivers' championship at this early stage and Mercedes is second in the chase.

  • Race result
  • Australian Grand Prix as it happened

Ferrari in total control

The most imposing performance by any driver so far was by Leclerc, who won his second race of the season.

Verstappen won the last race in Saudi Arabia, but Red Bull was unable to take the fight to Leclerc.

The margin of victory for Leclerc was the biggest of the season so far.

His team-mate Carlos Sainz caused an early safety car when he lost control of his car trying to make an overtaking move at Turn Nine after a bad start from a poor grid position. When racing resumed, Leclerc first moved away from Verstappen and then bolted into the distance as the Red Bull driver began to suffer from tyre problems.

Verstappen was given a second chance after a second safety car was caused by a crash by Sebastian Vettel.

After making his pit stop for fresh tyres, Leclerc struggled for tyre temperature on the re-start and Verstappen challenged him into Turn One, but the Ferrari held him off and then proceeded to pull out another significant gap.

When Verstappen complained that he could smell some weird fluid, he was told to pull off the track.

Concerns for Red Bull

The retirement of Verstappen will raise concerns at Red Bull, who have already made retaining the championship much harder than it could have been.

Verstappen should have finished second to Leclerc in the first race of the season, but fuel system problems forced both cars to retire.

Verstappen has lost a lot of points with what appears to be a mechanical problem.

Red Bull will be confident that they can make up ground in the last 20 races of the season, especially if they can out-develop Ferrari. They gave a huge helping hand to a rival in Leclerc.

Mercedes salvage good result

Mercedes have dropped back from the front of the field over the course of the three races so far.

They raced well in the context of a difficult car.

Hamilton jumped into third place ahead of Perez at the first corner and held off the Mexican for 10 laps before succumbing to the inevitable.

The seven-time champion was on his way to his first podium of the season, but was unfortunate with the safety car.

Russell was able to leapfrog Hamilton because he was able to benefit from Hamilton's pit stop being before the safety car was deployed.

Hamilton closed up on Russell towards the end of the race, complaining slightly unfairly to the team that they had put him in a difficult position, but the Mercedes finished in that order as Russell took his first racing podium.

Mercedes will focus on finding a solution to the problems with their car that have left them a second off the pace at the start of F1's new era.

Who did the rest fare?

McLaren drivers Lando and Daniel were 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217

Alex Albon scored the final point for Williams after the team ran him right to the final lap before making his mandatory pit stop.

Fernando Alonso had bad luck. He was in the running for a place on the front two rows of the grid when an oil seal failed and he crashed.

He was placed 10th on the grid. He was unlucky with the safety car because he passed the pit entry just before it was deployed.

He was unable to recover when he ran into tire problems on his inverted strategy and had to stop for a third set.

Driver of the day

Who else? Mark Webber said that Leclerc was on another level. He has always looked like a potential champion, and while it is early days, he is very much that right now.

What's next?

The closest track on the calendar to the Ferrari factory is the Imola Grand Prix, which is on the F1 return to Europe in two weeks. He said he expected the race to suit them better than Australia. Can he send the tifosi into raptures?

Around the BBC - SoundsAround the BBC footer - Sounds