SportsLeclerc Wins Australian GP For Second Ferrari Title Of 2022 Season

Leclerc Wins Australian GP For Second Ferrari Title Of 2022 Season

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April 10, (THEWILL) – A brilliant Charles Leclerc victory was a fitting end to the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari as their race driver established a massive early lead in the 2022 Formula One world championship race, especially after Max Verstappen retired.

Verstappen was in second place when his Red Bull started losing fluid and parked with a mechanical issue and, for the second time in three F1 races this season, he did not finish.

However, it has been such an inspiring season for Ferrari so far that Verstappen and Red Bull had been no match for Leclerc even before that hiccup.

He initially adhered to the polesitter before experiencing tyre issues on the mediums considerably early. Leclerc was able to draw away by as much as one second each lap as a result of this.

Verstappen closed the distance from eight seconds to five seconds in the second stint after pitting three laps ahead of the Ferrari, and he also had a decent shot at passing a less-sharp Leclerc during a mid-race safety car restart.

Therefore, before Verstappen retired, Leclerc had the speed to reclaim the lead.

Leclerc now leads the title by 31 points over new second-placed driver George Russell and 46 points over Verstappen. For the majority of the race, Leclerc was Ferrari’s solitary representation as Carlos Sainz’s weekend went worse.

Sainz had a terrible start due to a last-minute steering wheel change on the grid, and he prompted an early safety car by spinning into the gravel at the Turn 9/10 flip, while attempting to recover.

Sergio Perez finished second for Red Bull, despite having to fight his way past both Mercedes. The quick-start on lap one saw Lewis Hamilton surge ahead of Perez and held him off until lap nine, when the Red Bull’s tyres began to degrade.

Hamilton led Perez by two laps before pitting, despite the fact that the Red Bull overtook the Mercedes on the out-lap. But, Russell jumped both because he was able to stop under a safety car due to Sebastian Vettel’s incident, even though Perez finally caught up to him on the track.

Russell then held off Hamilton to secure his maiden podium for his new team, as both stayed close to Perez.

Lando Norris finished just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in sixth, after the McLarens had pursued the Mercedes in the first stint but then faded away as the race progressed. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished ninth, with Fernando Alonso’s qualifying disaster putting a stop to what could have been a fantastic weekend for him.

Early on, Alonso was stuck in 10th place behind Pierre Gasly’s slower AlphaTauri, but he stayed out on his hard tyres under the safety car and moved up to fourth. He was no match for the cars on newer tyres around him, and despite two late pitstops, he ended 17th and last.

Valtteri Bottas led Alfa Romeo to ninth place ahead of Gasly after a tense midfield battle.

With a fantastic tactical manoeuvre for Alex Albon, who did not pit until the penultimate lap of the race, Williams scored their first point of 2022. He was in seventh place at the time and was able to rejoin ahead of Zhou Guanyu to take tenth place.

Kevin Magnussen used the same strategy as Alonso and advanced to eighth before pitting, but for Haas he could only manage 14th, behind teammate Mick Schumacher.

Vettel’s dreadful weekend took a turn for the worse during the race. With an early gravel excursion, he dropped to last and then provoked the second safety car by losing control of his car over the curb on the Turn 4 exit and spinning into the wall.

Lance Stroll, his Aston Martin teammate, was momentarily in the points thanks to some savvy bets, including two pitstops under the first safety car to clock a lap on mediums, but he was penalised 5 seconds for weaving and finished 12th.

About the Author

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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

Jude Obafemi, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

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