Listen to this article Sainz topped FP1 at Albert Park and, in the subsequent practice sessions and early qualifying segments (he was the lead Ferrari driver in Q2), looked to able to match the times set by team-mate Charles Leclerc – who went on to score pole and lead every lap on the way to victory – before things went awry for the Spaniard in Q3. Leclerc had just moved to the top of the times in the top 10 shootout when the session was halted after Fernando Alonso’s crash, seconds before the following Sainz was able to cross the line and set his own banker time. When the session resumed, an ignition problem on Sainz’s car meant he left the pits too late to complete the necessary extra warm-up lap on the new, smooth track surface in Melbourne, which contributed to a wild slide late in his final lap and his eventual ninth-place grid spot. Ahead of the race start, a switch issue meant Ferrari had to change Sainz’s steering wheel, with the replacement not set with the correct torque map, which resulted in him dropping five places on the first lap after his car went into anti-stall off the line. He then retire …