Carlos Sainz puts appendix surgery behind him to WIN the Australian Grand Prix in a race dominated by retirements for Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell

Lewis Hamilton suffered an engine explosion to end his Australian Grand Prix, in a race won by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz after Max Verstappen’s hopes of a 10th consecutive victory were dashed.

George Russell caused late drama when he lost control on the final lap, his car breaking the barrier and spinning as his Mercedes rolled onto its side.

“I’m fine,” said the Briton.

No one could have predicted Verstappen’s misfortune from the brake failure that occurred at the start of the 58-lap event.

He started from pole but was overtaken by Sainz, who used his DRS power to take control of the afternoon 16 days after undergoing appendix surgery. What a star!

Ring the church bells! Because Verstappen reported that he had lost his car. Then smoke billowed from the back of his normally impregnable machine.

He retired at the end of the fourth lap, as flames billowed from his damaged machine as he entered the pits.

He came out dissatisfied, obviously. But he can afford to dismiss his problem as a probable problem, even if the applause from the record crowd of 132,105 could hardly have comforted him. They were delighted to see a period of dominance unlike any other in the history of the sport interrupted.

He was furious that they kept him in the car while his mechanics tried to stop him in the pits even though he was sitting in the middle of a fire. He protested to acting director Tom Hart in the garage about this point, apparently saying, “Damn stupid.”

Verstappen visited the pit wall to give his opinion. All disappointingly cordial in a team that has dominated the war in recent months.

He put on his civilian clothes and said, ‘The brake got stuck when the lights went out. Temperatures continued to rise to the point where it caught fire.

‘Having a brake caliper on is like driving with the handbrake on. I didn’t know it at the time, but I could feel that the car’s balance was off.’

About the setback he said: ‘It excites me in a way. I’d like to win and we’ve had a lot of good races in a row and reliability and I knew the day would come when we would retire and unfortunately that day was today.’

Of the cheering crowd, he said, “I have a helmet on, so I don’t hear that.”

Of the 10 consecutive victories he was about to achieve, the Dutchman added: “I’m not interested in records. I just want to win. Whether it’s 11 in a row or not, it doesn’t matter. The championship is the most important thing.

Hamilton, however, is enduring the worst star of his 18-season career: seventh, ninth and retirement. Even in 2009, a bad year, he finished: disqualified, seventh and sixth, a little better.

His Mercedes has little rhythm and is now unreliable. Russell finished seventh, nothing great and nothing close to a race with the Ferraris to achieve a one-two finish with Charles Leclerc second and Lando Norris third for McLaren.

Hamilton is in a bad mood, his car is still a nightmare after three seasons without development. All the changes they have tried to make have been completely unsuccessful.

The investigation began before the race finished.