ferrari – Fortunebets

Charles Leclerc extended his championship lead by winning the Australian Grand Prix and Max Verstappen retired for the second time in three races on Sunday.

Ferrari driver Leclerc led from start to finish at Albert Park to secure his second victory of the season, with Sergio Perez finishing second and George Russell third.

World champion Verstappen pulled over on lap 39 of 58, while Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz – who started the day second in the driver standings – spun off early in the race after starting back in ninth spot.

Leclerc got off to a good start and Lewis Hamilton moved up from fifth to third behind world champion Verstappen.

The safety car was deployed when Sainz found himself in the gravel after losing control on lap three, with Leclerc extending his advantage as Perez used the DRS to overtake Hamilton.

Verstappen pitted for hard tyres on lap 19 and the safety car was out again when Sebastian Vettel retired, giving Russell the opportunity to pit and remain in third place.

Leclerc fended off Verstappen when the race restarted and that was as close as the Dutchman came to taking the lead before he pulled over due to another issue with his Red Bull.

Monegasque Leclerc was untroubled, easing to a second win in three races and put the icing on the cake by clocking the fastest lap.

Leclerc finished over 20 seconds ahead of Perez, with Russell securing a podium spot and Hamilton crossing the line in fourth spot.

Leclerc could not have wished for a better weekend as he converted his pole into a victory and nipped in with the quickest lap to secure maximum points.

The 24-year-old’s win was the Scuderia’s third in four races in Australia and extended his lead to 34 points ahead of Russell, who jumped into second spot with his second podium finish in Formula One.

Ferrari make changes to their car

Ferrari are bringing forward some planned upgrades to their car after a disappointing showing at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.

Lead driver Charles Leclerc was runner-up on Sunday, but the car was a second off the pace in qualifying seventh.

At this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix, Ferrari will introduce some of the parts originally scheduled for the subsequent race in Hungary.

“We have to respond immediately,” chief executive officer Louis Camilleri said.

“We know there’s lots of work to do. This is certainly not the grid position that a team like Ferrari should have.

“It’s clear that we have to improve on all fronts. The only solution is to react.”

The car’s main problem was a lack of speed on the straights, where it was losing 0.7 seconds a lap to Mercedes.

Camilleri added: “It’s not that these new parts are expected to completely bridge the gap compared to the front of the grid.

“But the progress in terms of lap time could allow the team to move up the order and put the drivers in a better condition to be able to display their talent.

“Moreover, it’s about checking that the chosen direction of development is the right one, precisely because it will be possible to do a true back-to-back on every upgrade.”

Ferrari said before the race weekend that they had discovered a problem with their car since it ran in pre-season testing, prompting a “significant change of direction in terms of development”.

But their lack of pace in Austria was even worse than they were expecting – the car was not only a second off the Mercedes, but it was also nearly a second slower than Ferrari had been at the same track last year, when Leclerc was on pole position.

Camilleri, speaking in a statement issued by the team, said he had “every confidence” in team principal Mattia Binotto and the rest of the team to “address our shortcomings”.

Leclerc was running sixth for most of the race but moved up to second in the closing laps as a result of retirements in front of him and two audacious overtaking moves on McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

He later described it as one of the best drives of his career.

Team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished 10th, after a spin while trying an ambitious overtaking manoeuvre on Sainz. It was the latest in a series of mistakes during races that stretch back two years.

The four-time champion was struggling throughout the race with the handling of his car and said he was surprised he had not spun more times.