Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claims victory in Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE: Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took a lights-to-flag victory in Sunday's F1 Australian Grand Prix to seize the initiative in the 2022 title race, as Red Bull's Max Verstappen once again retired with mechanical issues.

Starting from his pole position, Leclerc looked comfortable at the front all afternoon long, and was never headed as he also set the fastest lap on his way to his second win in three races so far in 2022.

Leclerc's joy stood in stark contrast to the misery of Verstappen. The Dutchman appeared unable to live with the pace of the Ferrari, and ended up pulling off on lap 39 with an apparent engine issue.

After having also retired from the first race of the season, Verstappen already has a 46-point deficit to his would-be title rival Leclerc, and rued his poor reliability so far in 2022.

Behind Leclerc, Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez took a distant second place, with Mercedes' George Russell taking advantage of a fortunately-timed Safety Car period to vault into third. IANS

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