Charles Leclerc aced the Australian GP with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez coming second and the Mercedes of George Russel and Lewis Hamilton finishing third and fourth. Defending world champion Max Verstappen did not finish. 

Here is what we learn from Australian Grand Prix: 

1) Charles Leclerc could lead the constructors championship 

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc scored his third podium, second win this year with a flying finish at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Monaco driver held off second-placed Sergio Perez, of Red Bull, to over 20 seconds. He, at 71 points, leads the drivers’ standings. George Russell of Mercedes is second with 37 and the other Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz (33 points) is placed third. 

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If he were a team, Leclerc could lead the constructors’ table too. Ferrari sit comfortably at 104 points, 39 points clear of Mercedes (65) and 49 off Red Bull. Interestingly, Charles Leclerc with his 71 points has outscored both the giants. 

“Honestly, what a car today. Of course, I did a good job all weekend, but it was not possible without the car,” he said. The 24-year-old also recorded Ferrari’s first Grand Slam since 2010. 

2) Red Bull confused about their issues

Defending champion Max Verstappen did not finish the race at Albert Park, Melbourne. The Red Bull driver has been retired twice in three races this year. The first DNF was recorded at the Bahrain GP. 

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On Sunday, he had withdraw with mechanical failure while running second. Verstappen said he could smell a “weird fluid” from his car. While initially the issue was reported as an engine failure, Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner, post race, said that the team would have to look into the problem. 

“We don’t know what the issue is yet – I don’t think it’s actually engine-related. I think it might be a fuel issue but we need to get the car back,” Horner said. 

Verstappen admitted that Red Bull are miles behind in the contructors’ standings and ‘it is important to finish races’. 

At practice, Max Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez said that car was headed in the wrong direction and felt better in FP1 than FP2. The Mexican finished the race behind Leclerc. 

3) Mc Laren script a turnaround

For the first time since the Russian GP last year, both Mc Laren drivers have managed to finish in the top seven. In Melbourne, Daniel Riccardo came sixth and Lando Norris fifth. Only about .400 seconds seperated the two. 

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Norris was seventh in Saudi Arabia while Riccardo did not finish. The two came 15th and 14th in Bahrain. 

“After Bahrain I was still very positive and I knew we could make a turnaround. Didn’t think it would happen already. For that reason, I’ll definitely take it. As a whole, it was certainly better. Team result was mega compared to the last few,” Riccardo said after the race.