On Lap 39 of 58, Verstappen was forced to retire, leaving him in sixth place in the drivers' standings, with only 25 points for his Jeddah victory.
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In Melbourne, Max Verstappen retired from his second Grand Prix in three races, missing out on what he described as an “easy P2” behind eventual winner Charles Leclerc – with the Dutchman unimpressed by his Australian Grand Prix stoppage. Verstappen had qualified a disgruntled P2 behind Leclerc on Saturday and looked set to repeat the performance in Sunday’s race, despite never having the pace to threaten the Ferrari driver, who went on to win his second race of the season and extend his championship lead.
But then, on Lap 39 of 58, Verstappen was forced to retire, leaving the reigning champion – now in sixth place in the drivers’ standings, with only 25 points for his Jeddah victory – looking unimpressed when asked how much of a setback this was for his 2022 title hopes.
“We’re already miles behind,” a frustrated Verstappen said. “I don’t even want to think about the championship fight at the moment. I think it’s more important to finish races.”
Read More – Australian GP 2022: Charles Leclerc takes dominating win as Max Verstappen retires
“Of course today was in general just a bad day again, just not really having the pace, I was just managing my tyres, trying to just bring it to the end because it looked like quite an easy P2 anyway. I knew I could not fight Charles and there was no point to try and put pressure on him. But we didn’t even finish the race, so it’s pretty frustrating and unacceptable.”
The 2022 Australian Grand Prix was won by Charles Leclerc, consolidating his and Ferrari’s championship lead, while Max Verstappen retired for the second time in three races. Sergio Perez of Red Bull finished second, with Mercedes’ George Russell rounding out the podium. Melbourne’s first Australian Grand Prix in 1,100 days drew a sell-out crowd to Albert Park. On Sunday afternoon, they were treated to another thrilling show after an action-packed free practice and qualifying session.
Leclerc, who was also named Driver of the Day, was able to keep his rival Verstappen at bay thanks to two Safety Cars: the first after teammate Carlos Sainz spun out from P14 on Lap 2 and the second after Sebastian Vettel’s crash on Lap 23. On Lap 39, the threat vanished when Verstappen came to a halt with his engine on fire, allowing the Ferrari driver to cruise to victory over Perez while also setting the fastest lap.
