Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Charles Leclerc took a dominant victory in the Australian Grand Prix to move into a commanding position in the World Championship.

The Ferrari driver was in total control of the race when his main rival Max Verstappen retired with a technical failure on his Red Bull at two-thirds distance.

Verstappen is 46 points - almost two clear wins - behind Leclerc after just three races of the season, in two of which the Red Bull has failed to finish.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez was second after winning battles with Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Remarkably, in the context of Mercedes' disappointing start to the season, Russell is second in the drivers' championship at this early stage and Mercedes second in the constructors' chase.

Full report

Image source, Getty Images

That's all from us on this page today. In the end it was a dominant win for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. They are looking very strong.

Scroll down for all of the reaction or head here to read Andrew Benson's report.

Keep an eye out for the Chequered Flag podcast too.

Melbourne, it was good to be back.

F1 has a week off now before attention turns to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola from Friday 22 April.

That GP is the closest on the calendar Ferrari HQ. It could be lively.

Jennie Gow
BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull are still trying to get to the bottom of their problems. Helmut Marko, the professor who helps to run the team has been quoted by the Orf TV channel as saying that there was a fuel issue and maybe the fuel tank broke.

They will need to get the car back to Milton Keynes to do some forensic analysis on it but we know Max Verstappen complained of smelling something funny, which is never a good sign when you are a Formula One driver hurtling around Albert Park at 200 mph.

Huge disappointment for Red Bull - they know they have a very fast car but reliability is a real problem for them.

Verstappen has now lost 36 points due to failing to finish a race.

Jennie Gow
BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter

Mercedes are making hay while the sun shines - they see this as an opportunity to score points while Red Bull can't.

It is quite staggering that George Russell is now second in the championship and Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship even though they have a car they have said is difficult to drive.

They certainly will find more performance later in the season so it is quite incredible to think of the potential Mercedes have.

Carlos Sainz, who failed to finish speaking to Sky Sports: "I'm not sure the hard tyre was a mistake, we had to change steering a minute before lights out which means I had a lot of anti-stall. I made a mistake on the tyre when I shouldn't have pushed, Hopefully [Imola] should be better and I will stay a bit more patient, this car can win every race, the hard tyres are difficult to manage and today I paid the price for pushing."

Image source, gett

Unsurprisingly they're feeling good at Ferrari...

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Live

We have talked for years about how Formula One needs Ferrari as much as Ferrari needs Formula One. They are part of the fabric of this sport.

But more than just Ferrari, we needed some more competition at the front of this field. We needed more teams battling for race wins and championships.

The sport has been dominated by one team and one driver for a very long time now. It's been shaken up by the new regulations and early signs are good.

Alex Albon, who won Williams' first point of the season by finishing 10th: "We fought hard, it was like qualifying for 30 laps. I don't know what it is with the hard tyre but it really works for us. Tenth to us seems unimaginable."

1. Ferrari 104
2. Mercedes 65
3. Red Bull 55
4. McLaren 24
5. Alpine 22

Australian GP winner Charles Leclerc speaking to Sky Sports: "I wasn't expecting the car to be so dominant, apparently we were stronger than we thought [compared to Red Bull]. I'm incredibly happy to be driving a pole Ferrari, it wasn't a given that we'd be at this level but we are so we need to keep pushing."

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth, speaking to Sky Sports: "We definitely didn't expect to be third and fourth. George did a great job today.

"We'll take these points and keep pushing. I couldn't fight for third as the engine kept over heating. I had to back off.

"We bagged as many points as we could for the team and that's great."

Paul Gambles: There were six British/British-born drivers in the top 10 of the first F1 series race, the 1950 British GP, although two shared 10th place. Highest place was Reg Parnell in third, despite hitting a rabbit...

Gavin Robbie: Is it time for Red Bull to switch and make Sergio Perez no.1 driver over Max Verstappen? His points lead is growing!

McLaren's Lando Norris, who finished fifth, speaking to Sky Sports: "I want to be optimistic but the car is exactly the same as it was in Bahrain. There's not many things different it's just that car works on this [Australian] circuit. It's incredible to be back in Australia it feels how F1 should be."

Lewis Hamilton is a happy man - happier than he was earlier.

He says third and fourth is a "great result" for the team.

Hamilton also says his team radio message about being put in a "difficult position" was a reference to engine overheating issues he had.

Image source, Getty Images

More from Red Bull boss Christian Horner, speaking to Sky Sports: "I would rather fix a fast car than make a reliable one fast. We need to get onto op of it. We can't accept DNFs. We have to find out what the issue is and address it.

"We have things in the pipeline I think will help.

"Today we expected to be a lot closer to Ferrari in pace but they were untouchable. We have some work to do."