Verstappen suffers disaster as Leclerc wins and Russell beats Hamilton - driver ratings

The third race of the season is in the books and once again Charles Leclerc was the man to beat. The Ferrari ace continued his stellar start to the campaign by winning the Australian Grand Prix and extending his lead at the top of the standings.

Leclerc never looked likely to be caught by Max Verstappen, but the Red Bull man's chances of doing so ended entirely with 20 laps to go as his car caught fire. A second DNF in three races so far means his title defence has got off to a less-than-ideal start.

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez continued his consistent form by finishing second, George Russell beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to third and Alex Albon scored his first point since returning to the Formula 1 grid with Williams. McLaren also returned to form as Daniel Ricciardo finished in the top 10 on home soil.

Here are Express Sport's driver ratings from the Australian Grand Prix:

Started well and overtook Perez, but lasted only 10 laps before losing the place again to the much faster Red Bull. Did about as well as he could, but seemed a bit miffed to finish behind his new team-mate.

Benefitted nicely from the safety car caused by Vettel's crash, as he came in and out of the pits in third to boost his chances of a podium expense. Could not keep Perez at bay but beat Hamilton and scooped his first Mercedes podium.

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Always looked comfortable for second throughout the race, but at the same time carried little threat in terms of a push for the lead. The problem which ended his race was no fault of his own on a terrible weekend for the champion.

Followed his team-mate as one of the earliest to pit to avoid being overtaken by Hamilton while he struggled