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Formula 1
Australian GP
F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
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The third round of the 2024 F1 season will get under way with Max Verstappen once again starting on pole position.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc go from second and fourth for Ferrari with both having shown strong long-run pace in practice. Sergio Perez had qualified third but suffered a three-place grid drop for impeding, promoting Lando Norris to his original position.
Lewis Hamilton suffered a dreadful Saturday, qualifying 11th, and Logan Sargeant sits out the race after Williams gave his chassis to Alex Albon following a crash for the latter - the Thai driver viewed as the best opportunity for a points score.
The race will get under way at 4am GMT (3pm local time).
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Pit stop
Gasly pits for the second time and drops out of the points, returning to the action in P15, ahead only of the Sauber pair.
Pit stop
As that was happening, Piastri was fighting Alonso and made a bold move up the inside at Turn 12 to take fourth place back. Alonso then pits and comes out in seventh.
Pit stop
As expected, a lap later Sainz pits for the second time. A nice 2.6s stop sees Sainz return to the track still in the lead.
Pit stop
Next time around, at the end of lap 40, Norris pits for his other set of new hards, and he comes out in third and 3.8s behind Leclerc.
Pit stop
Next time around Piastri pits, gets fresh hards and comes out in fifth place - behind Alonso.
Piastri locks up into the penultimate corner and slides over the grass. That cost him about 4s and has put a dampener on his race.
Some information from Mercedes on Hamilton's retirement as they confirm it was indeed a power unit failure.
It is also confirmed that the decision to start on softs, which Hamilton had complained about, was a joint decision between team and driver.
Quote
In a reversal of the situation before the pitstops, Albon is chasing Hulkenberg. The Williams driver isn't overly happy with some of the defending, claiming, "That is so dangerous!"
Sainz's lead up to 9.6s over Norris with 20 laps to go, while Norris has a 4.5s gap over Piastri.
Pit stop
Hulkenberg and Zhou have stopped again, but it's yet another problem for Sauber with Zhou. He drops to the back and is lapped.
Pit stop
Perez pits at the end of lap 35, also taking on hards, and comes out in ninth. He almost drops his Red Bull on the exit of Turn 1 though, with a huge slide out of the corner when asking for the power.
Leclerc keeps a cool head, getting his tyres fired up while keeping Prez and Alonso behind him, to avoid getting held up any more than needed.
Pit stop
At the end of lap 34 Leclerc pits, taking on fresh hards, and the Ferrari driver comes out right in front of Perez in fourth.
Russell is now in somewhat of a no man's land in seventh, nine seconds off Alonso and seven seconds clear of Stroll.
Sainz meanwhile is having a superb race as his lead continues to grow. It is up to 8.7s as Leclerc reports his front-left tyre "is gone".
Perez's charge towards the front four has gone sideways. He's still 12.5s behind Piastri but now has Alonso in his DRS behind him.
So, that's how you stop Verstappen in 2024. You make him drive around with the brakes on. Of course!
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Verstappen says the right-rear brake was stuck on and "it was like driving with the handbrake on". He also says it felt like it was happening from the opening lap and he'd never experienced it before.
McLaren has told Norris to push on and catch Leclerc in second. The British driver was six-tenths of a second quicker than the Ferrari last time around and is 2.7s off.
Pit stop
Albon and Ricciardo pit but it seems too early to get to the end of the race, even on hard tyres. The stops came at the end of laps 28 and 29. The target lap was 34.
Sainz continues to reinforce his lead which is up to 5.4s at the start of lap 29. Further back, McLaren orders its drivers to swap positions so Norris is promoted to third and pushes the home hero off the provisional podiums places.
Perez glides by Alonso into fifth, using DRS on the run to Turn 9, and made it look very easy. In truth, Alonso's race is against Russell and Stroll behind him so there wasn't much to gain by fighting the Red Bull driver.
Is Sainz pushing too hard or is Leclerc struggling on his tyres? The Spaniard was a whole second faster on the last lap and his lead is up to 4.5s.
Hulkenberg is already two seconds clear of Magnussen and is right on the gearbox of Albon.
With Perez clear of Russell and into sixth, he is stretching the Red Bull's legs to catch Alonso and the gap is down to 2.4s. He'll be in the front four's thoughts too but, right now, Sainz is still the fastest driver on the track.
Hulkenberg passes Magnussen for P11 and goes in chase of Albon. With Verstappen and Hamilton out, a point or two are certainly on offer for those more commonly in the lower order.
Sainz is opening up his lead, now at 2.3s on lap 24, as Leclerc reports front tyre graining.
Sainz's lead is up to 1.7s but it appears the frontrunners are into a tyre management phase of this race.
With the initial pitstop shuffle completed, Albon is up to P10. A point would vindicate Williams in the team's somewhat controversial decision to hand Albon his team-mate's chassis after a Friday crash.
Leclerc has been reportedly been told to hold station in second behind Sainz for now by Ferrari. It is a wise call, there is no point those two losing time to each other with the McLarens lurking directly behind.
Ocon stopped under the VSC and there was serious concern over his rear-right brake - the same corner that caused Verstappen to retire. Alpine confirms a visor tear-off had gotten stuck in the brake duct. All should be ok now.
Alonso was the big winner under that virtual safety car, as he has effectively leapfrogged Russell, Perez, Stroll and Tsunoda to move up to fifth with that cheap pitstop.
Green flag
The recovery is complete and the racing can resume.
All that means Sainz leads again, with a 1.1s advantage over Leclerc in a Ferrari 1-2. Then comes Piastri, Norris and Alonso.
Pit stop
Alonso pits under the Virtual Safety Car to gain race time. He comes out in fifth on fresh mediums having started on hards.
Safety car
Virtual safety car! Hamilton pulled off at a service road but the angle is awkward for the recovery.
Mechanical problem
And Hamilton is out! "Engine failure," he reports. He's attempting to crawl back to the pits from Turn 10 but won't make it.
Pit stop
At the end of lap 16 Sainz pits from the lead, swapping his mediums for hards in a 2.6s stop, and he comes out in second just behind new leader Alonso.
Hamilton has now dropped back on Perez by over a second in just one lap. Conversely, Perez has closed on Stroll, with Gasly holding the pair up.
Perez, meanwhile, is out in 10th and just about keeps Hamilton behind him.
By: Autosport Staff
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