Charles Leclerc won the Australian Grand Prix to extend his lead in the Formula One Championship.
Leclerc completed an impressive light-to-flag victory with Sergio Pérez runner-up and Jorge Russell third, 20.5 seconds earlier. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth.
World champion Max Verstappen failed to reach the checkered flag for the second time in three races when his Red Bull finished with 19 laps remaining.
Leclerc, a two-time winner this season, is now 34 points ahead of second-placed Russell in the rankings. Hamilton is 43 points behind in fifth.
Hamilton started in fifth place and moved up two places to third at the start.
The seven-time world champion drew with Lando Norris within meters and then went past Perez after out-breaking the Mexican heading into the first corner.
While Leclerc held off for Verstappen to take the lead, there was drama for Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. After poor qualifying, Sainz started in ninth place, dropped to 14th and got too hot until Turn 9, running across the grass and then slamming into the gravel.
The safety car was deployed before the race resumed on lap seven, with Sainz's Ferrari caught in a sand trap.
Three laps later, Perez finished third in his superior Red Bull machinery, leaving Hamilton behind, with the 37-year-old Mercedes driver leading Russell.
Hamilton appeared to struggle, but as the lap counter ticked down, he began to trust his Mercedes. By lap 20, Hamilton had Pérez back inside, and he was crawling on the Red Bull gearbox before Pérez stopped for fresh rubber. Hamilton closed two laps later and moved ahead of Perez to net third.
But Hamilton could not find the heat in his new tyres, and Perez overtook him for Turn 11 on the run down and regained the position. When the safety car was sent out for the second time, Hamilton was ready to launch another attack.
Sebastian Vettel, who crashed out of final practice and then finished only 18th, was at war again. The four-time world champion ran on the Rumble Strip at the exit of Turn 4, lost control of his Aston Martin, and made a career into the wall.
Russell took advantage of the safety car to change tyres, moving him from fifth to third on the road and ahead of Hamilton.
"George benefited from the safety car," Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington told him over the radio.
Hamilton replied: "What does that mean? I've lost a position?"
"Confirm," said Bonington. "It's just bad luck, Lewis."
The safety car arrived at the end of lap 27. Verstappen had a chance to move on from Leclerc, but the Ferrari driver rejected the world champion's progress.
Russell soon came under pressure from Perez.
"If you're hurting the tires to keep Perez behind, you can let him go," came the message from the Mercedes pit wall.
"That's not what I want to hear," replied Russell. And on lap 36, Perez got the job done.
Red Bull looked set to put both of its drivers on the podium, but trouble struck for Verstappen when he came to an abrupt halt.
This promoted Perez to second and Russell to the podium. Hamilton finished fourth and said in the final round: "You guys put me in a really tough position."
Lando Norris finished fifth, one place ahead of McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Leclerc, who also set up the fastest lap, said: "What a car today. I did a good job but without the car it wouldn't have been possible. We were extremely strong and I'm just so happy. To win here is incredible."
"We are only in the third race so it is difficult to think about the championship. But we have a strong and a reliable car, and if it continues like this, we have a chance for the championship."
Russell said: "We took advantage of the misfortunes of others. We were lucky but we take it. A lot of hard work is going to get us back to the front, so standing on the podium is special.
“We are never going to give up. We will keep fighting. We are far behind our rivals this weekend, but we are on the podium.
"We want to fight these boys in blue and red. They are very much ahead, but if anyone can, Mercedes can."