Race Highlights | 2022 Australian Grand Prix

And it's lights out and away we go. Decent start from Charles Leclerc. And he gets ahead then of Max Verstappen with Sergio Pérez coming at his teammate. There's Lewis Hamilton and George Russell down the inside. Leclerc through from Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton has moved his Mercedes up and into a further place as we head now down towards Turn 3. There's Esteban Ocon having a move on Daniel Ricciardo. Leclerc goes through from Verstappen. Then Hamilton ahead of Pérez then in third. Then comes George Russell. Lando Norris gets slightly compromised. Daniel Ricciardo all over the back of his teammate's rear wing. Carlos Sainz bogged down there behind the fast starting for once Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas. As we now head through the little flick. 9 and 10 and going wheel to wheel side by side. Valtteri Bottas and the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda. Bottas is in 11th. Tsunoda's 12th. Alonso's dropped to 10th. Ocon in 8th. And they're all just compressing up now at Turn 11. Carlos Sainz, he's struggling a bit in these opening laps. And barging wheels there with Mick Schumacher. Sainz tried to go around the outside. Remember Sainz and Alonso on the hard compound tyre. Just watching Sergio Pérez and his start. And watching closely once again how he has to pull out before he collects his teammate Max Verstappen. Yeah, he had to be cautious there, didn't he? This visor cam is going to be very interesting later on in the race as the sun starts to go down. And we'll see how the sun can impact the driver's vision around here. He's constantly checking his mirrors, isn't he? Constantly. That is Carlos Sainz, who looks like he's beat that Ferrari in the gravel on the exit of Turn 10. Past Mick Schumacher and then, well, he's going in a little bit too hot. Couldn't keep it on the tarmac. And that grass, not exactly grippy, even though we haven't had much rain around here. Yes, he's gone in a little bit deep, had to turn in and correct a slide across the grass. And he's had a miserable, miserable weekend. Oh, and going off, Sebastian Vettel, who's only had 26 laps around Alba Park this weekend. This is down at Turn 11. We saw the results and that was the cause. He's tipped in, look, gone in deep. All OK, Ken? Yeah, my bad, sorry. Daniel Ricciardo coming out. Will the Williams get in Ricciardo's way? Almost going into the back. Alex Albon on Daniel Ricciardo. And Albon is now getting a little bit squeezed by Lance Stroll and Aston Martin. There's three of them trying to go into Turn 3 now. Ricciardo on the inside. Albon goes a long way round the outside. He's going to lose out to Lance Stroll, who really picked his moment well. The warm-up is bad on this tyre. Just do what you can. As Lewis Hamilton sees the Red Bull going round the outside, trying to pass it, going into the chicane. And he has done that, Sergio Perez. He had the pace advantage, going round the outside, gets a ripple of applause from the crowd. Now the safety car is out because Sebastian Vettel has stopped by the side of the track. George Russell has come into the pits. George Russell out again and up into third place. He was right behind Alex Albon. Oh no, he's on the exit of Turn 4. That's highly unusual. He's dropped it coming off the kerb. Holy cow, that was close. Yeah, understood. Whoa! Charles Leclerc, now we're going green. Did not get away well. And Max Verstappen is right on his tail. And they're going to go wheel-to-wheel into Turn 1 here. Charles Leclerc has been leading this race. Verstappen fancies his chances. Leclerc stays ahead, but now we've got the rundown towards Turn 3. Can Verstappen get a slipstream behind the Ferrari and make an impression and take the lead in this race? Leclerc under braking. Verstappen second. Hamilton and George Russell, I should say, all over Max Verstappen. Behind him comes Fernando Alonso as well. And what an exciting restart this is. George Russell got into the dirt a bit there. Sergio Perez thought he might go round the outside into Turn 9. Now we've got the run down towards Turn 11. And Perez much closer than he has been before. Russell's looking in his mirrors. Sees where Perez is. Perez, well, he doesn't need to look at his mirrors now. Sergio Perez has got past. Max Verstappen has pulled over to the side of the track. Okay, Max, stop the car, please. Oh, and is this another power unit issue for Red Bull and Red Bull powertrains? Well, that's... Did he shut that off, the engine off himself? Yeah. So he smelt it, turned the engine off, was told by the team to turn the engine off and pulled over at Turn 2. This is Valtteri Bottas. Oh, getting very, very close indeed as the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll squeezes his way down the inside. Stroll may need to go off the track just to review the overtake. Understood, understood. Pierre Gasly has locked up into Turn 13. There's another one that has gone onto the grass. And as a result, Gasly has been passed by Valtteri Bottas. Here he is. Nice gap on the inside. Don't mind if I do. Charles Leclerc keeping up Ferrari's happy hunting ground in Australia. His three previous career wins have come from pole. Make that four career wins from pole position as Charles Leclerc takes the fastest lap of the race and wins the Australian Grand Prix. Perez finishes on the podium, takes second place. And for his first podium of the season, George Russell comes home to finish in third ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in fourth. Fifth for Norris, sixth for Daniel Ricciardo. Good finish for Pierre Gasly. They lost time in the early pit stops behind the safety car. And it's a good recovery there. Alex Albon taking the final points of the day. Well done, Williams. Very good strategy. Left him hanging on 57 laps on a set of hard compound tyres. And they pitted him right at the final moment. Charles Leclerc started on pole and he came home to take the win as well. Well, it has been a bumper weekend of motorsport festivities here in Albert Park. What a weekend as Formula 1 returns Down Under.