MELBOURNE – Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix on March 24 in a triumphant return two weeks after appendicitis surgery, as Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen suffered his first retirement in two years.

Sainz, the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in the 2023 season, held off teammate Charles Leclerc before a final-lap crash by Mercedes driver George Russell triggered a virtual safety car and eased the Spaniard’s path to victory.