Australian F1 Grand Prix 2024 Results: Carlos Sainz Wins as Max Verstappen DNF

Another Max Verstappen winning streak is over at the hands of Carlos Sainz.

Sainz captured the checkered flag Sunday in the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.

The 29-year-old was in a jovial mood after his victory, joking about his impending free agency in 2025 with Lewis Hamilton due to join the Ferrari team.

It was quite the turnaround for Sainz, who had only recently recovered from appendicitis.

Verstappen closed the 2023 season on a seven-race winning streak. He carried that form into 2024 by taking the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. However, the reigning F1 champion ran into the one thing Sunday that can stop Max Verstappen: himself.

His car experienced a mechanical failure just four laps in and he was forced to retire.

Given his general dominance on the track, a lot of fans welcomed the fact somebody else was going to win for once.

Verstappen wasn't the only major star to get a DNF. Engine failure ended Hamilton's day after he completed just 15 laps.

That move to Ferrari probably can't come soon enough for the seven-time F1 champion. Following a disappointing 2023 season with Mercedes, he has finished seventh, ninth and 18th to start 2024.

Seeing Ferrari drivers claim two spots on the podium at least offered Hamilton a glimpse into what next year could bring.

It was a tough day for Mercedes all around with George Russell crashing out on the final lap as he was battling with Fernando Alonso for sixth place.

Formula 1 stewards assessed a 20-second penalty to Alonso, which dropped him from sixth to eighth. They cited his "potentially dangerous" driving thanks to a brake test that led to Russell's wreck.

For the Mercedes team, Alonso's penalty didn't change the outcome for Russell. Team principal Toto Wolff said the double DNF was "tough to take, super tough."

"And I would be lying if I could say I feel positive about the situation and optimistic," he told reporters. "But you just need to overcome the nagging, negative thoughts and say, 'We will turn this around.'

"But today it feels very, very brutal."

Team Mercedes along with Verstappen will have some time to stew on their underwhelming finishes from the weekend. Drivers will get another week off before the Japanese Grand Prix gets underway at Suzuka International Racing Course.