F1 Australian Grand Prix: Full race results explored as Carlos Sainz wins his first race of the season

Carlos Sainz won the third race of his career at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix in a fairytale comeback that saw him return to the sport after an appendix surgery.

The Spaniard had to miss out on the race in Saudi Arabia a couple of weeks back because of appendicitis and wasn't fully recovered heading into Melbourne. There, he was replaced by Oliver Bearman, who secured an impressive P7 finish on his F1 debut.

But Sainz made the most of his opportunities after qualifying P2 behind Max Verstappen in Melbourne. He took the lead from the Red Bull in the starting laps and never looked in trouble throughout the race.

Sainz finished ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc to get the first 1-2 for the team in two years with McLaren's Lando Norris close behind in P3.

Below are the complete results of the race:

1. Carlos Sainz (25 pts)

2. Charles Leclerc (19)

3. Lando Norris (15)

4. Oscar Piastri (12)

5. Sergio Perez (10)

6. Fernando Alonso (8)

7. Lance Stroll (6)

8. Yuki Tsunoda (4)

9. Nico Hulkenberg (2)

10. Kevin Magnussen (1)

11. Alex Albon

12. Daniel Ricciardo

13. Pierre Gasly

14. Valtteri Bottas

15. Zhou Guanyu

16. Esteban Ocon

17. George Russell

DNF: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen

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Carlos Sainz chimes in on his first race win of the season

Carlos Sainz stated that he was happy with his performance at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne but accepted that he was a bit 'stiff' physically owing to his troubles post-surgery.

In his post-race interview, the 29-year-old Spaniard said (via Guardian):

“It was a really good race. I felt really good out there. Of course a bit stiff. Especially physically it wasn’t the easiest but I was lucky that I was more or less on my own and I could manage my pace, manage the tyres, manage everything. It wasn’t the toughest race of all.

“Very happy, very proud of the team. Happy to be in a one-two with Charles here. It shows that the hard work pays off. Life, sometimes it’s crazy. What happened at the beginning of the year then the podium in Bahrain, then the appendix, then the comeback, and the win, It’s a rollercoaster but I love it and I’m extremely happy.”

With his win at the Australian Grand Prix, Sainz has gone up to fourth in the driver's standings with 40 points — just 11 points behind leader Max Verstappen. Sainz now has as many F1 GP wins as Charles Leclerc (3) since the two became teammates.