Charles Leclerc continued his fine start to the Formula One season on Sunday after the Ferrari driver claimed his second victory by leading from start to finish at the Australian Grand Prix, while Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen suffered "deja vu" with another retirement.
Leclerc's car showed impressive pace and performance on the upgraded Albert Park circuit to seal his fourth career win ahead of Red Bull's runner-up Sergio Perez. Third-placed George Russell grabbed his second podium and first for Mercedes in an encouraging day for the struggling constructors' champions.
"What a race and what pace," said a thrilled Leclerc on the team radio, having finished more than 20 seconds ahead of Perez in the 58-lap race. "The car was incredible today, well done guys."
Leclerc has now built a 34-point lead over Russell in the F1 championship. He is also the first Ferrari driver since Fernando Alonso in Singapore in 2010 to complete a racing “grand slam,” having claimed the pole position, led wire-to-wire, won the race and also posted the fastest time.
“Honestly, what a car today. Of course, I did a good job all weekend, but it was not possible without the car,” he said.
“Obviously we are only in the third race, so it is difficult to think about the championship,” Leclerc added. “But, 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.”
Verstappen was second behind the Ferrari driver when his car suffered a reliability problem and rolled to a halt during his 39th lap with smoke billowing. "I smell some weird fluid," Verstappen said before coming to a stop at turn two.
It was a similar outcome to the season-opener in Bahrain, where Verstappen retired three laps from the end while on course for a second-place finish.
"We are so far behind (Ferrari). We need to finish races," Verstappen said. "It was an easy P2 but we didn't even finish the race – frustrating and unacceptable. These kind of things, if you want to fight for the title, are unacceptable."
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth for Mercedes after starting fifth on the grid, having been passed by Russell due to a safety car deployment.
A first safety car was activated a few minutes into the session after Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who started ninth on the grid after set-up troubles in qualifying, spun out of the race on hard compound tyres.
After skidding into grass, his car spun back onto the track, somehow missing oncoming traffic before coming to a stop in gravel at turn 10. He had narrowly avoided a collision with other cars at the first corner, after falling back to 13th place in a terrible start.
Sebastian Vettel also finished early, locking up on a kerb at turn four before shunting his Aston Martin into a wall and leaving a trail of debris across the track. It capped a forgettable return to racing for the German four-time world champion, who missed the first two races after a positive Covid-19 test.
Vettel's crash saw the safety car deployed again, and Russell capitalised by pitting before rejoining in third place in front of Perez and Hamilton.
Leclerc's lead was wiped out by the safety car and nearly taken as Verstappen swooped after the restart but the Monagesque saw off the Dutchman and built his lead.
Russell fought hard to hold off Perez but was finally passed at the 37th lap. The British driver then held teammate Hamilton off to seal his podium.
Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth respectively as McLaren showed improvement after a poor start to the season.
Organisers said an estimated 420,000 people were in attendance at Albert Park over the race week, making it the biggest attendance for a weekend sporting event in Australia.
Qosty Byogaani
Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny
Four stars
2019 ASIAN CUP FINAL
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs
Engine: 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder turbo
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic
Power: 211hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 350Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0 l/100 km
Price: Dh235,000
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Essentials
The flights
Etihad (etihad.ae) and flydubai (flydubai.com) fly direct to Baku three times a week from Dh1,250 return, including taxes.
The stay
A seven-night “Fundamental Detox” programme at the Chenot Palace (chenotpalace.com/en) costs from €3,000 (Dh13,197) per person, including taxes, accommodation, 3 medical consultations, 2 nutritional consultations, a detox diet, a body composition analysis, a bio-energetic check-up, four Chenot bio-energetic treatments, six Chenot energetic massages, six hydro-aromatherapy treatments, six phyto-mud treatments, six hydro-jet treatments and access to the gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Additional tests and treatments cost extra.
