Charles Leclerc has completed a dominant weekend in his Ferrari after converting his pole position into a comprehensive triumph in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. (More Sports News)
The 24-year-old Leclerc extended his lead in the drivers' championship while claiming his second win of the season following victory in the season-opening race in Bahrain.
Leclerc was able to hold off Red Bull rival Max Verstappen during the opening laps and defended well mid-race under safety car conditions to pull away for a decisive 20.524-second victory.
Sergio Perez overcame a slow start to take second ahead of the Mercedes' combination of George Russell, who secured his first podium finish for the season, and Lewis Hamilton.
McLaren pair Orlando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth.
Verstappen, the world champion, endured another frustrating race when a mechanical failure ended his hopes while he was running second 39 laps into the 58-lap race.
Verstappen, who was clearly disappointed after the race, never really challenged Leclerc, whose Ferrari was the quicker car under race conditions in Melbourne.
The drivers' championship leader, who pitted on Lap 22, confirmed that when posting the fastest lap of 1 minute, 20.260 seconds with a final-lap flourish.
He is the first Ferrari driver since Fernando Alonso in Singapore in 2010 to complete a racing 바카라grand slam," having claimed the pole position, led wire-to-wire, claimed the race and also posted the fastest time.
바카라Honestly, what a car today. Of course, I did a good job all weekend, but it was not possible without the car,바카라 he said.
His teammate Carlos Sainz, who finished on the podium in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, had less luck in a testing weekend.
After an issue in qualifying resulted in him starting from ninth, he dropped back further in the field with a slow start and then lost control on the second lap, ending his race.
But Leclerc believes Ferrari has demonstrated it is going to be competitive in the manufacturers' championship this year.
바카라Obviously we are only in the third race, so it is difficult to think about the championship,바카라 he said.
바카라But, to be honest, we have a very strong car, a very reliable car too, and for now we have always been there. I hope it continues like this and if it does, we probably have chances for the championship."
The Mercedes team has endured problems so far this year and is off the pace of their Ferrari and Red Bull rivals.
But Russell was pleased with the improvement in his car this weekend, though he conceded they received some luck with Verstappen's misfortune.
바카라We got a little bit lucky today 바카라 but we will take it. To be standing on the podium is special,바카라 Russell said.
바카라We are never going to give up. We are going to keep on fighting. We have to keep this up while we are on the back foot, I'm sure we will get there after a few more races.바카라
Verstappen said the Red Bull was 바카라already miles behind바카라 Ferrari.
바카라I don't even want to think about the championship at the moment,바카라 he said.
바카라I think it is more important just to finish races, because today was, in general, just a bad day again. It is pretty frustrating and unacceptable.
바카라I knew there was a problem and it was always going to be a question mark for finishing the race, but these kind of things, if you want to fight for the title, cannot happen.바카라
