Carlos Sainz ended Red Bull’s chances of an unbeaten season in Formula 1 in 2024 as he capitalised on a brake problem that sent Max Verstappen into retirement.
The Spaniard overtook the wounded Red Bull in the opening stages and streaked clear to take his third career win, with Charles Leclerc delivering a Ferrari 1-2 finish.
McLaren picked up the podium the team had targeted going into the race as Lando Norris delivered the Woking-based squad’s best result at Albert Park since 2014.
Logan Sargeant being benched to enable Alex Albon to race using his Williams FW46 chassis and Zhou Guanyu starting from the pitlane saw 18 drivers on the grid.
The graining threat meant most drivers avoided the Soft except for Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo; Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg opted for the Hard.
Meanwhile, the rest of the field elected to go with the middle-range Medium compound to start the race, with Pirelli anticipating a two-stop being the optimal route.
Verstappen and Sainz got an even launch from the front row, with the Dutchman easing his Red Bull to the inside at the first turn to protect the lead from the Ferrari.
Behind, Norris held Leclerc behind, while George Russell edged in front of Sergio Perez, who had been demoted three places for an impeding incident in qualifying.
Alonso was vulnerable on the Hard and dropped behind Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to 12th, but the Aston Martin driver later regained the place from the Sauber.
Sainz had remained within touching distance of Verstappen and utilised the aid of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) to surge into the lead around the outside into Turn 9.
Verstappen had complained that his car was loose and then the right rear brake of his car began to billow smoke, leaving the champion to pull into the pits and retire.
The Dutchman had been bidding to achieve a record-equalling 10th win, but for the second time in three years, Verstappen failed to see the chequered flag in Melbourne.
Mercedes had gambled on putting Hamilton on the Soft at the start to make up ground from his starting berth and he was into the pits to change tyres on the eighth lap.
The seven-time champion had moved onto the Hard, but he had struggled to get sufficient heat into the white-walled compound and had a minor excursion at Turn 1.
Meanwhile, Russell had been on the more durable Medium rubber but Mercedes also stopped him on a lap later, which triggered Leclerc and Oscar Piastri to come in.
Perez was the next of the front-running cars to pit at the end of Lap 14 and came out right in front of Hamilton, who eyed a move into Turn 3 but to no avail in the end.
The Briton’s race would run a handful of laps later as he reported a power unit failure and he limped to a stop between Turns 9 and 10 to become the second retirement.
Hamilton’s stricken Mercedes saw the Virtual Safety Car’s intervention, handing Aston Martin the chance to stop Alonso at a reduced time loss and he emerged in fifth.
Leclerc had moved into second once Norris had pitted and closed to within a second of Sainz, but he was informed over the radio to hold position against his team-mate.
Despite being on the Medium compared to Perez on the Hard, Alonso was powerless to prevent the Red Bull from blasting past with DRS into Turn 9 on Lap 27 to take fifth.
Piastri had been struggling with graining following his stop in the nascent stages and McLaren used team orders to ease Norris into third to pursue the Ferrari of Leclerc.
Sainz had optimised his much fresher rubber to extend his lead at the front to nine seconds, with Ferrari pulling Leclerc in for a second pit stop for new Hards on Lap 34.
McLaren had been prepared to service a car in the pit lane but both cars remained to circulate on track, as Leclerc came out ahead of the battle between Perez and Alonso.
Red Bull placed Perez on a two-stop with a stop on Lap 35 that dropped the Mexican down to ninth place, while Sauber encountered another wheel nut problem with Zhou.
Piastri had dropped back from Norris and didn’t help his cause when he went too deep into the penultimate corner at Turn 14 with a lock-up which cost him four seconds.
The Australian would detour into the pit lane on the following lap to discard his worn Hard tyres on Lap 39, with Norris proceeding to do the same the next time around.
Sainz had told his race engineer not to place him under pressure and he was pitted at the end of Lap 41, returning to the track with a five-second margin over Leclerc.
Mercedes had left Russell out hoping he could go to the end without pitting for a second time, but that plan was ditched as he stopped on Lap 45 and came out seventh.
Pierre Gasly had escaped with a reprimand for crossing the pit lane exit line in qualifying, but the Frenchman would receive a five-second time drop for a repeat infraction.
Russell had been chasing Alonso hard for sixth place but overstepped the mark and ended up with his car in the barrier at Turn 7 to leave Mercedes without a single point.
Sainz had taken the last non-Red Bull win in Singapore six months ago and he has now become responsible for ending the Austrian outfit and Verstappen’s latest run.
Leclerc trailed his team-mate to deliver a first Ferrari 1-2 finish since the opening race of 2022 in Bahrain, with Norris securing McLaren’s first podium of the season.
Piastri came home fourth on his second home appearance to deliver McLaren a sizeable points haul, as Perez took a disappointing fifth in the sole-remaining Red Bull.
Alonso was sixth, with team-mate Lance Stroll classified seventh ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who converted his starting spot of eighth to bag RB’s first points in 2024.
Nico Hulkenberg continued his encouraging beginning to the latest campaign with ninth place, leading team-mate Kevin Magnussen home as Haas bagged double points.
