F1

Lap-by-lap report: Will Charles Leclerc win the race from pole? Join Daniel Harris to find out.

So, I hope it continues like this, and if it does, we probably have chances for the championship, which obviously makes me smile after the last two years that have been difficult for the team and, obviously, for myself, so it is great to be back in this position.” Not really, he wants to see if the same problem will affect him, and is assured it won’t. Of course, I did a good job where we can, but it was not possible without the car, and this we especially with the race pace, we were especially strong. Thanks for your company and comments – we’ll be back in a fortnight for the Emilia Romagna Grand prix at Imola, the first of two in Italy. Otherwise, enjoy what might just be the most ludicrous sporting day of the year – and don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. There are “things in the pipeline that’ll help,” he adds. A dominant win from Charles Leclerc, which confirms what we thought we knew: he might just go on and win this thing.

Minute-by-minute updates on race day for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Alex Albon was disqualified from qualifying due to an insufficient fuel sample left in his Williams and will also start at the back. All changes have been made in the hope of increasing overtaking opportunities and creating more exciting races. Over two years on from the cancelled Australian GP due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, F1 returns to a revamped Albert Park.

Charles Leclerc now has a huge lead of just under 12s to Sergio Perez in second, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in third and fourth. Lando Norris and ...

We have things in the pipeline I think will help, but we need to put this behind us and move on. “We did’t have the pace to race Ferrari today, but it’s still frustrating not to bag those points. We have a good car so we are there, but today fundamentally we got a few things wrong and paid the price. t. We can’t accept DNFs, we need to understand the issue and get on top of it. If we want to keep that position we have to find more performance in the car. he doesn’t give up and was pushing until the end so I had to keep going to keep him behind. It’s going to take time but there’s so much potential in the car. I couldn’t fight for third because the engine as overheating so I had to sit behind and back off. We need to aprpoach each race track to do the best.” I can’t wait to be there but on the other hand we don’;t need to arrive there with the mindset of trying to do more. The reigning champion ‘smelt some weird fluid’ in his car and had to pull over. Red Bull suffered reliability issues as Max Verstappen was forced to retire for the second time in three races.

Want to watch the Australian GP? The race starts at 2:00AM ET / 11:00 PM PT. Here's how to watch the free Australian live stream from anywhere.

YouTube TV costs $65 per month, so it falls in-between Hulu with Live TV and Sling TV on the price spectrum. The trade-off is that you get a couple of other advantages over Hulu with Live TV. For starters, you can watch it on up to 10 devices at once, which makes it a great choice for households with many frequent streamers. Hulu with Live TV might be the biggest streaming package on our list, but if you don’t want that and are more interested in a more value-conscious streaming package (and one that will let you watch the Australian GP live stream online), Sling TV is another top pick. The Orange plan’s three ESPN channels let you watch F1 live streams to your heart’s content, while the Blue plan’s sports channels include Fox Sports, NBC, and the NFL Network for more live action. For $70 per month (or $76 per month if you want to upgrade to ad-free Hulu), Hulu with Live TV puts a mountain of live and on-demand entertainment at your fingertips, and it’s the best way to watch F1 live streams online if that’s what you’re after. Want to watch the Australian GP? The race — the third in the 73rd Formula 1 World Championship — starts at 2:00AM ET / 11:00 PM PT, and is being broadcast through ESPN in the United States. There are some other options available though for people traveling abroad and tuning in from other countries, including a free Australian GP live stream.

Lance Stroll has been handed a three-place grid penalty for causing the crash with Nicholas Latifi in the first stage of Formula 1 qualifying for the ...

Latifi said it was “quite clear” watching the video who was to blame. It's clear for me on the video.” Both drivers were on warm-up laps ahead of their final runs and had been exchanging the position.

Williams' Nicholas Latifi and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll were involved in a spectacular F1 crash at the Australian Grand Prix qualifying session.

As Latifi went up Stroll’s inside, the Aston Martin driver turned inside, likely in an attempt to let an Alfa Romeo through on his left. There seemed to be confusion between the Williams and Aston Martin drivers. That’s when the Williams and Aston Martin collided, with Latifi’s rear wing being ripped to shreds and his car being sent into the wall.

We're back in Melbourne for the first time since 2019. Here's how to watch the Australian Grand Prix no matter where you are.

For those wanting to watch home coverage of sports from overseas, a good VPN (opens in new tab) is the solution. Most people will want to go for F1 TV Pro, which is the way to live stream every F1 Grand Prix in full – along with F2, F3 and Porsche Supercup as well. Just note that not all regions have an F1 TV package with live Grand Prix coverage, with the UK and Australia being notable exceptions. With Lights Out at 3pm local time, F1 fans in Europe are in for an early morning – or a very late night – but, for those dedicated enough to tune in, this could be a crucial weekend in deciding the frontrunner of the season. Saturday kicks off at 3.45am for Practice 3, and Qualifying starts at 6am. Watch an Australian Grand Prix free live stream from anywhere. For Brits, though, it'll be a weekend of late nights and early mornings... Coverage of the Australian GP begins on Sky Sports F1 at 3.30am GMT on Friday for Practice 1, then 6.45am for Practice 2. We've put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate ExpressVPN as our top pick, thanks to its speed, ease of use and strong security features. Here's how it works and how to use it. For the sake of good racing, we hope this pays off. Only the GP will tell, but we hope so.

The 2022 Australian Grand Prix smashed the attendance benchmark Formula One achieved in 2021 and set a new record for the highest attended weekend sporting ...

Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief Andrew Westacott believes the figure at this year's event could have been even greater had they been permitted to sell additional tickets. The weekend figure topped the 400,000 achieved at last year's United States Grand Prix in Austin, F1's best attendance result of 2021. It's definitely a good crazy and there's a lot of support and love.

Formula One returns to Melbourne after a three-year absence for the third round of the 2022 season today. Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari on pole position ...

Race recap: Disaster for Max Verstappen Really. What a race. Race recap: Charles Leclerc takes the win

LIVE: Early F1 chaos as Ferrari star OUT; Lando misfire sets up Ricciardo showdown.

“I think it was a bit of a photo finish. “It is by far our best result of the season, personally and a team result. There was a second safety car on Lap 22 when Sebastian Vettel completed a shocking weekend with a spin and crash into the wall at the exit of Turn 4. Earlier, after a slow start, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz lost control at Turn 9 on the second lap and becahed his car in the gravel, forcing the safety car to come out. I was told Lando was having some issues so the team said be sensible so I had to control myself a little bit but of course a 5th and a 6th is a fantastic result. “I knew there was a problem (before the race). It was always going to be a question finishing the race, but these sorts of things, if you want to fight for the title, cannot happen.”

Charles Leclerc dominated Formula 1's 2022 Australian Grand Prix, taking a comfortable victory after Max Verstappen retired from the race.

Perez was clear in second, with Russell third after he was able to stop during the Vettel safety car and get out just ahead of Fernando Alonso – yet to stop after starting on the hard tyres – Perez and Hamilton. Leclerc then set about re-establishing his lead – again moving clear of Verstappen seemingly with ease to reach a gap of 3.4s by the end of lap 31, the top duo reaching the 1m22s having spent the early laps after the safety car in the 1m23s and 1m24s respectively as they worked to maintain critical tyre life. But the Ferrari was able to stay in front with a solid defence on the inside line, which he repeated on the following straight and so was able to maintain the lead despite the pressure. But the tricky warm-up on the C4 rubber meant the Red Bull could close in on the sweeping run to Turn 9 and shoot ahead just before the quick left and just before the race was neutralised by the safety car's appearance for a second time. The top two eased clear of Hamilton and Perez – the only drivers able to stay in the 1m23s bracket, with Leclerc gaining enough fractions in each sector of the two laps that followed the race resuming to be out of Verstappen's DRS threat by the time the system was activated. The virtual safety car was briefly activated before the full safety car was called for, which stayed out until the restart at the start of lap seven where Leclerc was easily able to maintain his advantage over Verstappen despite his car porpoising badly on full tanks at the end of each straight.

Charles Leclerc extended his lead at the top of the drivers' championship with victory in Melbourne but Max Verstappen was forced out for the second time in ...

Pérez in a clearly quicker Red Bull came back at Hamilton, retaking third with ease on the run to turn three on lap 10. The Briton’s pace had been strong on the final laps before the stops and he emerged in front of Pérez but the Mexican quickly struck to retake the place. Having claimed pole with a mighty lap he went on to prove to have the edge in race pace. The opening for Ferrari with two wins from three races is exactly what the Scuderia required and a statement of intent that cannot be ignored. The win has extended Leclerc’s lead at the top of the championship after three rounds with a planned 20 still to go. Mercedes made the most of his misfortune, with George Russell securing third place and Lewis Hamilton in fourth, as their car showing its best race pace thus far this season.

Australian GP polesitter Charles Leclerc has been summoned by the FIA Formula 1 stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly on an in-lap during qualifying.

You will be informed of the maximum time after the first day of practice.” The notes say: “In order to ensure that cars are not driven unnecessarily slowly on in laps during and after the end of qualifying or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the race, drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the Safety Car lines shown on the pit lane map. The article concerned notes that “at no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person”.

Mercedes thinks there are some hidden 'gremlins' within its Formula 1 car that are the cause of its ongoing struggles.

"So is curing the bouncing the miraculous unlocking of a second within the car? "My time horizon is not a race weekend or a year, it's more like 10 years. But there are many other little improvements that we can make on weight and a few others where we can optimise. When you look at the overlay, sector one, we are very competitive. And that's something that we need to continue to analyse and look at the data. So we are still learning."

Live updates as Charles Leclerc starts the Australian Grand Prix on pole position, with the Ferrari driver aiming to continue his strong start to the 2022 ...

Leclerc holds on to the lead from Verstappen but the big winner is Hamilton who makes up two places to get up to third in his Mercedes. Perez had made a good start from third but found his way blocked at Turn 1 and lost momentum allowing Hamilton through. 15 minutes to race start: After two red flag incidents in qualifying as Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi had a spectacular coming together and then Fernando Alonso crashed, the chances of a safety car period in the race is very likely. 2 minutes to race start: The cars all leave the grid for the final parade lap before the 58 laps of action in Melbourne gets underway. Lap 10: Leclerc has a 1.4 seconds lead over Verstappen as Perez gets the job done and lunges past Hamilton at Turn 3 on Lap 10 to get third place. The world champion is struggling with his tyres but it is too early for an one-stop strategy to work. Lap 17: Behind the front three it is Hamilton leading the best of the rest fight in fourth. He comes out in seventh and this feels like a damage limitation, take second spot and hope for better later on in the season, then an attempt to win today. Hamilton also pits and he leapfrogs Perez and is ahead of the Red Bull but that doesn't last long as the Mexican bravely passes him at Turn 9. At present, with the 18 seconds usually lost for a stop he would drop to 17th and last of the cars still running. Hamilton then passes the Spaniard at the start of Lap 31 and surely the Alpine driver needs to pit soon. Lap 33: Martin Brundle on Sky Sports in the UK has made the valid point that the safety car periods and the improved speed of Mercedes has hurt Red Bull today. There is still a long way to go but Leclerc and Ferrari look the real deal.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc explained picking up old rubber before the final corner was behind the poor safety car restart that almost cost him the lead ...

And then we could pull a gap to have a bit more margin." "And then we're side by side with Max for the first corner, I managed to stay in the lead and then it got much better with the tyres. "I tried to prepare the last corner as much as possible, staying on the left, but I actually took quite a bit of old rubber and I just couldn't turn for the last corner, so I lost so much [grip]," Leclerc said.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari are on pole for the second time this season. He is followed by Red Bull teammates Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. McLaren's Lando ...

He has the pace to gain one spot and finish in the top 10. Take Perez to have a big gap on whoever is in fourth and to cruise to a podium finish. Bottas only qualified 12th, but his pace was quicker than that in Q1 and Q2. He simply couldn’t put a good flying lap down at the right time. Take Leclerc to win as he has led the most laps this year and has had the best pace out of anyone. Verstappen is the only other driver who has looked capable of winning a race other than Leclerc. He won the last race at Jeddah despite starting fourth. EDITOR'S NOTE: Today we kick off a new feature as AutoRacingDigest.com's Bryce Kelly will post betting-related stories periodically on some of the bigger races and events in the motorsports world.

Lewis Hamilton has explained the background behind his late-race radio message to Mercedes in Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix that some had interpreted as ...

I think from my side, I let the team down in the last race and didn't get the points but to come away with this result is great." "It's an amazing result for us as a team," he explained. "Basically, I couldn't race for position because the car was overheating," he explained.

Christian Horner says the fuel system issue that caused Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen's retirement in Australia is “totally separate” to the ...

So I think there’s still a huge amount to go.” When you look at that, both the constructors’ and the drivers’ championship would be a lot different.” Verstappen said after the race it was “unacceptable” to be struggling so much with reliability and that he was “already miles behind” in the battle to defend his championship.

Leclerc completed an impressive lights-to-flag victory with Sergio Perez runner-up and Max Verstappen retiring.

Hamilton finished fourth and said in the closing laps: “You guys put me in a really difficult position.” Verstappen sensed an opportunity to move ahead of Leclerc, but the Ferrari driver rebuffed the world champion’s advances. Hamilton was set to launch another attack when the safety car was sent out for a second time. Sebastian Vettel, who crashed out of final practice and then qualified only 18th, was in the wars again. Hamilton stopped two laps later and emerged ahead of Perez for a net third. Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

Sebastian Vettel says his 2022 Formula 1 season 'can't get any worse' after crashing out of the Australian Grand Prix, which capped off a nightmare race ...

"Once I lost it there was no chance to come back." "Obviously, I tried to get the best out of the car that I can and with hindsight maybe I was pushing too hard," the German said. When asked whether his crash was the result of an ill-handing car or a lack of mileage, Vettel said it was "probably a bit of both" but admitted he was perhaps pushing too hard in an effort to make up lost ground.

Two years after the last-minute cancellation near the pandemic's start, the FIA Formula One World Championship has finally returned to Albert Park in ...

With the addition of pole position, Charles Leclerc became the 26th different driver to have a Grand Slam victory in Formula 1 history. Charles Leclerc would go on not only to win the race but also set the fastest lap and led every lap of the race. It was a disappointing end to Vettel’s first race of his season after testing positive for COVID and missing the first two races. Leclerc has a pace advantage over his Red Bull rival and was able to pull a gap of five seconds. Leclerc won pole on Saturday by three-tenths of a second over Verstappen. The race start also went in Leclerc’s favor. He caused a collision with fellow Canadian Nicholas Latifi as the Williams driver was passing him during qualifying.

Charles Leclerc's huge early championship lead is slightly misleading, but Max Verstappen and Red Bull need a quick solution to their car issues to stop a ...

"But there are many other little improvements we can make on weight and other things we can optimise and we just need to chip away the small gains while understanding the car. "And then to keep up with Red Bull in terms of development is going to be difficult, but yeah, it's the same team that did this car, that will work on the development for this year's car, so I am confident. On average, Mercedes has been 0.85 seconds off pole position at the first three rounds of the season, and the gap to pole as a percentage has been slowly creeping up at each round. That's perhaps no surprise given the time and resources Ferrari was able to pour in to the development of this year's car over the last two years while Red Bull and Mercedes were fighting for championships. But years of championships titles in the junior series prior to F1 means he is not entirely unprepared, and he has already adapted his approach to the championship campaign. "Obviously they started this project a lot earlier than we did, so to a degree we are playing catch-up," he said. "Of course I did a good job all weekend, but it was not possible without the car and this weekend, especially on race pace, we were extremely strong. The tricky balance of the car also seemed to impact tyre performance, as Red Bull tore open the surface of their front left tyres while Ferrari managed to avoid a similar issue with Leclerc. But Verstappen's misfortune should not take anything away from the performance of Ferrari and Leclerc this year. On the basis of pure performance, there has been very little to choose between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen this season. I think it might be a fuel issue, but we need to get the car back, we need to be able to look at what's exactly happened." Not really having the pace, I was just managing my tyres to bring it to the end.

Lewis Hamilton has explained the background behind his late-race radio message to Mercedes in Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix that some had interpreted as ...

"He did an amazing job today, had great pace. "He's done an amazing job. "Basically, I couldn't race for position because the car was overheating," he explained after finishing fourth.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc won the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday, as world champion Max Verstappen was forced to retire his Red Bull after ...

Perez overtook Russell for third at Turn 11 on lap 37, which became second two tours later when Verstappen was told to stop his car due to a technical failure. A second safety car was required for Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin stopping on track after he spun into the wall exiting Turn 4, with Russell taking advantage to make his pitstop under yellow and vault up to third. Perez was now struggling for grip, and had Hamilton all over him, the Mexican pitting on lap 21.

Christian Horner says the fuel system issue that caused Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen's retirement in Australia is “totally separate” to the ...

So I think there’s still a huge amount to go.” When you look at that, both the constructors’ and the drivers’ championship would be a lot different.” Verstappen said after the race it was “unacceptable” to be struggling so much with reliability and that he was “already miles behind” in the battle to defend his championship.

Riding high after a decisive victory for Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, Charles Leclerc's belief in the team's prospects are growing by the ...

"I don't even want to think about the championship at the moment," he said. "We are never going to give up. I hope it continues like this and if it does, we probably have chances for the championship." To be standing on the podium is special," Russell said. We are going to keep on fighting. Stroll had been penalized for crashing into Latifi in the first qualifying session.

Max Verstappen says Red Bull's reliability problems are 'unacceptable' if the team wants to keep itself in the Formula 1 title hunt.

We can't accept DNFs, but we need to understand what the issue is and we have got to address it." "We don't know what the issue is yet, but I don't think it's actually engine related. "That was a really, really disappointing result not to finish the race.

The Ferrari driver cruised to victory, while Mercedes' George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished an impressive third and fourth respectively.

“Looked like a bit of a photo finish, I was told Lando had a few issues towards the end. Keeping up with Red Bull in terms of development is going to be difficult [but] I’m confident. “I had to control myself a little bit but of course, a fifth and a sixth is a massive result for us so far this year.”

Formula 1's return to Australia after a three-year absence resulted in a comprehensive victory for runaway title leader Charles Leclerc and a disastrous ...

“We always make sure that the safety car is out at the wrong time,” joked Haas boss Guenther Steiner. “But seriously though—sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you get unlucky. Sainz had a lot of setbacks in Melbourne out of his control but ultimately a score of zero was on him. Haas knew it would not repeat the heroics of Bahrain every weekend but Australia was a tricky event for the squad. “I’ve been in this situation in junior categories but to be here in Formula 1 means a lot, especially after the last two years, and especially with Ferrari,” he said. Verstappen was never as far as 46 points behind during his title-winning season in 2021 and accepted he is “already massively down in the championship so now I don’t even think about the title fight. As a consequence the back-up steering wheel wasn’t as accurately tuned in and Sainz suffered anti-stall at the start, dropping five positions from ninth to 14th. Carlos Sainz’s weekend was undone in qualifying by elements out of his control but in race trim he wrecked his own prospects. But Verstappen was not just thinking about the points situation, having been running a distant second to Leclerc when the RB18 packed up. On occasion Leclerc overstepped the limit in his attempt to drag Ferrari’s machinery higher than it deserved, but with a rapid and compliant title-leading machine under his belt that approach has been modified. “34 is always good to take wherever you are in the calendar but I don’t want to focus too much on the championship for now.” As you can see, we’re just not in the right window. He already has a 34-point lead in the standings just three rounds into the season.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc won the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday, as world champion Max Verstappen was forced to retire his Red Bull after ...

Perez then overtook Russell for third at Turn 11 on Lap 37, which became second two laps later when Verstappen was told to stop his car due to a technical failure. He then spun and beached the car at Turn 10 on the second tour, bringing out the safety car. Verstappen was on course for second place when his car failed with 18 laps to go.

09:43 Leclerc: "Vaya coche el de hoy. Por supuesto que he hecho un buen trabajo todo el fin de semana, pero no era posible sin el coche.

We've been a bit too unlucky in the first few races"#AusGP#F1pic.twitter.com/HlGgtWS71o Hemos tenido muy mala suerte en las primeras carreras" Pérez es cuarto con 30 seguido por Hamilton y Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc cruises to the win after Max Verstappen drops out with engine failure at F1 Australian GP.

Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving (16) the Ferrari F1-75 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on April 10, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving (16) the Ferrari F1-75 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on April 10, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari competes during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on April 10, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. Charles Leclerc of Ferrrari took victory at the Australian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Monaco leads the pack at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on April 10, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. The Alfa Romeo driver capitalized on Gasly’s mistake, Sainz’s retirement and a difficult race for Fernando Alonso (P17 after a late pit stop for fastest lap). Leclerc led Verstappen through two Safety Cars – the first when teammate Carlos Sainz spun out from P14 on Lap 2, and the second on Lap 23 when Sebastian Vettel crashed.

Pierre Gasly has cheekily told the FIA that if it's so desperate to check on Formula 1 drivers' underwear then it can inspect his private parts when it ...

And I guess it's going to be tailor-made of course!" "If someone says, 'don't drive with a ring', I'm not going to drive with a ring," he said. "I'm not too interested about these things," he said. Obviously we wear the leggings, if you want to call it that, but we don't have actual underwear-underwear that's fireproof, so that was just more of a surprise, I'd never heard of it. "And then I don't really understand the small things they are picking up, like the underwear. "Also, nobody in the drivers' briefing was wearing masks.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc explained picking up old rubber before the final corner was behind the poor safety car restart that almost cost him the lead ...

"So, you're never as confident to just brake extremely hard for Turn 1, but everything went well. And then we could pull a gap to have a bit more margin." "I tried to prepare the last corner as much as possible, staying on the left, but I actually took quite a bit of old rubber and I just couldn't turn for the last corner, so I lost so much [grip]," Leclerc said.