MELBOURNE－Charles Leclerc led from start to finish to steer his Ferrari to an action-packed win at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, with world champion Max Verstappen failing to finish.

The world championship leader from Monaco started from pole, held his position at the first corner and never looked back, scorching round the 58-lap Albert Park circuit to take the checkered flag by a massive 20.5 seconds.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez was second with George Russell an encouraging third for struggling Mercedes. Russell's seven-time world champion teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was fourth.

"It's amazing, the car was incredible today. What a race and what a pace today," said Leclerc after clocking a fourth career win and second of the season.

"Honestly, what a car today. I did a good job all weekend but it's not possible without the car. I'm just so happy.

"Obviously we have only had three races so it's difficult to think of the championship but we have a very strong car and a reliable car," he added.

The McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo were fifth and sixth respectively.

Alpine's Esteban Ocon came seventh ahead of Valtteri Bottas in an Alfa Romeo, with Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri and Alex Albon's Williams completing the top 10.

But there was disaster for Red Bull's Verstappen, the winner two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia, who pulled over on lap 39 when second.

It was the second time in the opening three races of the season that the Dutchman had failed to go the distance after also retiring in Bahrain.

"We are so far behind (Ferrari).We need to finish races," Verstappen said after pulling over on lap 39 at Albert Park when running second to Leclerc's Ferrari.

"I smell some weird fluid," Verstappen reported over team radio before stopping the car, jumping out and grabbing a fire extinguisher to help marshals put out flames.

"Today was a bad day, I was managing the tires, I could not fight Charles," he added.

"It was an easy P2 but we didn't even finish the race－frustrating and unacceptable. These kinds of things, if you want to fight for the title, are unacceptable."

Verstappen seemed out of sorts all weekend, saying after qualifying second that he did not feel happy with his Red Bull.

"I never felt comfortable for one lap except the long runs," he said, blaming it on balance issues.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin veteran Sebastian Vettel also failed to finish after spinning out.

Victory consolidated Leclerc's championship lead after three rounds with the Ferrari ace, who won the opening race of the year in Bahrain, earning the extra point for the fastest lap to add to the 25 for winning.

Alfa Romeo's Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu again drove solidly to finish 11th, just as he did in Saudi Arabia.

Track revamp

The Albert Park circuit has been revamped this year for the first time since 1996, promising to be faster and with better overtaking opportunities, and it delivered for the fans.

Starting on medium tires on a fine day, Leclerc got a perfect getaway from his 11th pole in 83 grand-prix starts and built a gap of 0.6 seconds on Verstappen after the opening lap.

Hamilton, who started fifth, was a big mover off the grid, powering to third at turn 1 ahead of Perez and Norris.

But Sainz had a terrible day. After starting ninth, he lost traction on lap 2, and was lucky not to take out any rivals as he slid across the track and into gravel. His race was over and the safety car was deployed.

After the restart, Leclerc and Verstappen began consolidating their advantage over Hamilton, growing the gap before Perez grabbed third back from the Briton on lap 9.

Leclerc was storming away, with a 3.3-second lead over Verstappen by lap 12, lapping half a second faster than the Dutchman, who pitted on lap 19 and switched to hard tires.

Leclerc waited until lap 22 for his tire change, retaining the lead when he blasted back out 6.9 seconds in front of Verstappen.

The safety car was needed again when Vettel spun and crashed into a wall, leaving debris on the track to cap a miserable weekend for the four-time world champion.

Leclerc saw his lead wiped out, but after a bunched restart on lap 27, he again began clocking the fastest laps to pull away before Verstappen's race ended leaving Leclerc alone to cruise to the checkered flag.

Russell's third place was the 24-year-old Briton's first podium finish of the season.

AFP