F1 Australian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc converts pole to win
10th April 2022Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured his second victory of 2022 as he converted pole position into the race win as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was forced to retire from the race.
How the race unfolded…
It was a great start from the pole sitter, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as he defended his position from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. However, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had a great start to pass fourth-placed Lando Norris, in the McLaren.
By the first corner, Leclerc remained out ahead of Verstappen while Hamilton split the two Red Bull’s as he moved into third, ahead of Sergio Perez.
On the other hand, Ferrari’s Carlos Saniz had the worst start of the grid as he lost five positions by the end of the first lap. However, his Australian race was over by the second lap as he skipped across the grass on the exit of turn nine and beached his F1-75 into the gravel on the exit of turn 10.
As a result, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed on the third lap before it was upgraded to a full safety car – the Aston Martin.
During the safety car period, Aston Martin were the first team to pit as Lance Stroll came in to change his hard tyres for the medium compound. However, he came back in for another stop.
The race was back underway by the end of the sixth lap as the safety car returned to the pit lane. As Leclerc bolted, he kept his lead into turn one without any issues.
For the first time, the Drag Reduction System was finally enabled on lap nine. A lap later, with help from the opened rear wing, Perez finally managed to regain his third place from Hamilton into turn three.
On the same lap, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was found in the gravel on the exit of turn 11. Fortunately, Vettel was able to return to the track – albeit in P19.
In an attempt to make a move on 12th placed Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), into turn nine, Kevin Magnussen (Haas) was forced to use the grass to avoid a collision with the Japanese driver.
Of the front runners, Verstappen was the first driver to pit on lap 19 to swap his medium tyres for the hard compound – in an attempt to undercut Leclerc with the clean air.
Although Hamilton lost third place in the early stages to Perez, the #44 Mercedes caught back up to the Mexican driver on lap 20. However, Hamilton inherited second place as the #11 Red Bull ventured into the pit lane at the end of the lap.
At the end of lap 22, Ferrari finally called Leclerc into the pit lane to make the same tyre change as Verstappen. Hamilton also made his mandatory stop with the Monegasque Ferrari and returned to the track clearly ahead of Perez. But, this gap didn’t last long as Perez overtook the seven-time world champion between turn eight and nine.
This battle was quickly ended when the safety car was deployed as Vettel was found at the side of the track, on the exit of turn five. It was found the four-time champion had lost control of his AMR22 on the kerb of turn four and smashed into the barrier.
The race went back under green flag conditions at the end of lap 26 as the safety car returned to the pits – led by Leclerc.
Despite his best efforts, Verstappen nearly had the lead of the race as he looked to make a move into turn one. However, the Monegasque driver managed to hold off the Dutch world champion throughout the lap.
Even though Verstappen ran in a comfortable second place finish, the defending world champion was forced to pull his car to the side of turn two, on lap 39. As a result, the VSC was deployed but it was soon cleared as the #1 Red Bull was pushed off the track.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was given a five second time penalty for weaving on the straight on lap 43, but he was also noted by the stewards for forcing Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas off the track. But no further action was taken by race control.
Strangely, Williams’ Alexander Albon – who was P7, on lap 56 – was yet to pit with two laps remaining. This meant, Albon was still on the same set of tyres which he started the grand prix on. This meant Albon, if he didn’t pit, would risk a time penalty or disqualification.
Fortunately, the London-born Thai driver pitted on the final lap before Leclerc crossed the finish line to win the grand prix. This meant the Williams driver managed to squeeze the final championship point out of the race to knock Williams up to ninth in the constructors championship.
That’s it for the article: F1 Australian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc converts pole to win! What was your best moment from the race? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula One here!
- F1 Australian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc takes pole in qualifying
- Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel under investigation in Australian Grand Prix
- F1 Australian Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz goes fastest in first practice
- F1 Australian Grand Prix: 5 Shocking Moments
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.