How Australian Grand Prix unfolded

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An unfamiliar sight of no Max Verstappen on the podium, after the world champion suffered a brake failure early in the race in Melbourne.

Vamos Carlos Sainz! From taking a picture from his hospital bed during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Spaniard has made an almighty comeback from appendicitis to take his third career victory Down Under.

And he doesn't have a seat for the 2025 season.

Thanks so much for joining us this weekend, folks. Top marks for getting up so early.

Have a look our for the Chequered Flag podcast, which will be out later on today, looking back on an eventful round three. Click here to listen.

But... you're going to have to set your alarms for stupid o'clock again, as the Japanese Grand Prix - in its new spring slot - is where we are heading to next.

First practice at Suzuka gets under way at 03:30 GMT on Friday, 5 April.

Have a great Sunday!

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I want to ask Andrew Benson a question after the Australian Grand Prix, so why don't you join in me in sending your thoughts over to our BBC F1 correspondent to answer.

The questions and replies will be published next week.

The link you need is right here

Sergio Perez, who finished P5 at the Australian Grand Prix: "We didn’t have the pace unfortunately. We struggled early on and we could see that Ferrari and McLaren were a step ahead of us. I think we couldn’t get the balance. There is some work to do for the coming races. It was a very unique tarmac. Throughout the weekend we were not able to manage the best possible grip level.

"As a team we just didn’t have the pace today, we didn’t have the pace throughout the weekend. We were struggling already from Friday and we never got on top of the management of tyres."

Mercedes' George Russell, who crashed out at the end of the race, said: "My take is that I've gone off and that's on me, I was half a second behind Fernando, 100m before the corner and suddenly he came towards me extremely quick and I was right in his gear box.

"We are off to the stewards which is a bit bizarre in a circumstance like this. I've got nothing more to say I need to see everything but a bit disappointed."

On if Alonso brake tested him, he added: "It's clear that he braked 100m before the corner and then went back on the throttle again, and took the corner normally. I'm not going to accuse him of anything until we've seen further."

Fernando Alonso on the situation regarding George Russell, said: "I was focusing in front of me, not behind, I had some issues for the last 15 laps, I was definitely struggling at the end of the race but I can't focus on the cars behind."

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Fernando Alonso and George Russell are in the media pen now discussing the incident at the end of the race when the Mercedes lost control at Turn Six before crashing heavily into the wall.

Neither driver is being drawn on who was to blame for the accident, so it'll be up to the stewards who are investigating to decide what action, if any, to take.

Alonso and Russell are heading to the Headmaster's office now...

McLaren CEO, Zak Brown on his team's performance: "Yeah it was good, good to be on podium. Lando and Oscar drove great. Our pace was pretty strong, not strong enough for the red guys, but it was close. It's encouraging."

On switching the drivers:" Oscar is a fan favourite, but they ended up being on different strategies because we responded to when Charles Leclerc pitted. Oscar was a little quicker at the start and Lando’s strategy was a little quicker at the second half of the race, so that’s just how it played out."

On his confidence going into the next few races: "I think Japan will be strong. We were really strong there last year. I think that circuit will suit our car. We are encouraged. First podium of the year and I’m pretty sure it won’t be our last."

In the constructors' championship, a double podium for Ferrari and a retirement for Red Bull cuts the lead at the top down to four points.

Two cars out of the race for Mercedes drops them below Aston Martin and into fifth place.

1. Red Bull - 97

2. Ferrari - 93

3. McLaren - 55

4. Aston Martin - 27

5. Mercedes - 26

6. RB - 4

7. Haas - 4

8. Williams - 0

9. Sauber - 0

10. Alpine - 0

Max Verstappen may have retired from the Australian Grand Prix, but his championship lead is still intact. The Dutchman does have a new challenger in second, though, as Charles Leclerc moves up to second spot and four points behind thanks to his runners-up place in Melbourne.

The win for Carlos Sainz lifts the Spaniard into fourth place with 50 points.

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 51 pts

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 47

3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 46

4. Carlos Sainz (Red Bull) - 40

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 28

6. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 27

7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - 20

8. George Russell (Mercedes) - 18

9. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 8

10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 7

Lando Norris, who finished P3 at the Australian Grand Prix: "It was a good day for us. I’m very happy and proud of the team. P3 and P4 is a lot of points in the championship, so that’s the first thing. We missed out on Charles. I think our pace was a little bit better. He undercut us in the first stint, maybe a little more hope for second place. I think our pace was strong enough today.

"Ferrari and Carlos did a good job, so hats off to them. They’ve been fast all weekend.

"I felt good. I felt like I could manage the tyres very well today. I wasn’t expecting to be on podium so I am very happy."

On his confidence in McLaren now: "It’s clear this circuit suits us a little bit more, so we’ve been able to push and unlocked a little bit of speed. It’s still another step to Ferrari and Red Bull.

"They’re one or two steps ahead of us still, so we need to catch-up, but it’s clear we are getting closer and a day like today proves exactly that, so a big thanks to Mclaren. We are getting closer to our targets. It’s nice to be back on the podium again and hopefully we can have many more."

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who finished second at the Australian Grand Prix: "Yeah it felt good, mostly for the team, of course. First and second hasn't happened since Bahrain 2022, which are very good memories, it is amazing that we can do that.

"Carlos had an incredible weekend, to come back after his surgery. He's done an amazing race

"On my side, I struggled a bit more with the second stint, I didn't manage the tyres well. The last stint was more positive. First and second was the best we could do.

On whether he could he attack Carlos for P1: "Not really, in the first stint, we had to protect behind, we had to stop a bit earlier and from that moment onwards, Carlos was very fast, with my tyres I was struggling.

"Carlos has done a better job all weekend and he definitely deserves the victory. I'm happy for him happy for the team. It's really good points.

"We came into the weekend saying we needed to maximise the points. I'm really happy for this."

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Ferraris Carlos Sainz takes his third career win after bouncing back from appendicitis surgery two weeks ago. He said afterwards: “It was a really good race, I felt really good out there, of course a bit stiff, it wasn’t the easiest but I was lucky that I was more of less on my own but I could manage my pace and my tyres.

“Very happy, very proud of the team and happy to be one-two with Charles here, it shows that hard work pays off and life is sometimes crazy. It’s a rollercoaster but I loved it.”

On his race with Max Verstappen, he added: “I felt like I could keep up with him on the first lap, and try and take DRS, it’s super powerful here and he lost the car in Turn Three and that was my chance to get close and attempt an overtake.

"As soon as he was behind I think he started struggling with the brakes and that was it for him. I think we would have had a good fight for P1 today but I’m happy to take the win, he’s had plenty of them.

“From lap two when I was leading with the pace I had yesterday I knew I could get it done, especially in clean air.”

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Fastest lap of the race and an extra championship point went to Charles Leclerc.

As the celebrations continue in Melbourne, let's take a look what the top three had to say...

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Now it's time for the Dutch... no, it's the Spanish national anthem today. Daddy Sainz is watching Carlos Sainz take the top step of the podium with a huge smile on his face. Now the mechanics get the chance to belt out the Italian anthem. Strong voices from the red team.

The cheers are loud as Sainz lifts that beautiful Jack Brabham trophy. Champagne time!

The stewards are going to take a look at the incident between George Russell and Fernando Alonso that left the Mercedes driver in the wall at the end of the race.

Cool-down room chat and the Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris are watching the replays of the race. Gasps from all three as they watch Max Verstappen's brakes on fire and Russell's big shunt.

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11. Alex Albon (Williams)

12. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

13. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

14. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)

15. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)

16. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

DNF. George Russell (Mercedes)

DNF. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

DNF. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

Guenther Steiner is asking Charles Leclerc if he could attack team-mate Carlos Sainz during the race. The Monegasque man doesn't quite catch what the Italian has said and is left with a puzzled expression on his face. I guarantee that will become a meme.

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is doing the post-race interviews. His successor, Ayao Komatsu, will be smiling in the garage, as Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen have brought home double points for the team in Australia.

1, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

6. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

7. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

8. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

10. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)