MAX VERSTAPPEN’S bid to win a record-equalling 10 consecutive races went up in smoke as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz returned from surgery just 16 days ago to win in Australia.

Verstappen suffered a brake failure after just four laps of Sunday’s 58-lap race at Melbourne’s sun-cooked Albert Park to end his winning streak which stretched back to September’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Sainz took advantage of Verstappen’s first retirement in 43 races to claim just the third win of his career a fortnight after he was ruled out of the previous round in Saudi Arabia with appendicitis.

Charles Leclerc finished second to complete a Ferrari one-two with Lando Norris next up as the British driver landed his first podium of the year.

Lewis Hamilton’s miserable start to his final season with Mercedes continued after he retired on lap 17 with an engine failure.

Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari at the end of the season, has taken just eight points from the opening three rounds – the worst start of his 18-season career.