Charles Leclerc claimed his second win of the Formula One season for Ferrari with a pole-to-flag victory at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday while Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen was forced to retire again due to mechanical issues. 

Red Bull's Sergio Perez was second with George Russell an encouraging third for the struggling Mercedes and his seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton fourth.

China's Zhou Guanyu finished 11th, and his teammate Valtteri Bottas earned three points for Alfa Romeo by ranking eighth.

Leclerc's car showed impressive pace and performance on the upgraded Albert Park circuit to seal his fourth career win.

"What a race and what pace," said a thrilled Leclerc on the team radio, having finished more than 20 seconds ahead of Perez in the 58-lap race, "the car was incredible today, well done guys." 

Leclerc has now built a 34-point lead over Russell in the F1 championship. 

Verstappen was second behind the Monagesque leader when his RB18 car suffered a reliability problem and rolled to a halt during his 39th lap with smoke billowing.

It was a similar outcome to the season-opener in Bahrain, where Verstappen retired three laps from the end while on course for a second-place finish. 

Sebastian Vettel also finished early, locking up on a curb at turn four before shunting his Aston Martin into a wall and leaving a trail of debris across the track.

Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth respectively as McLaren showed improvement after a poor start to the season.

Organizers said an estimated 420,000 people flocked to Albert Park over the race week, making it the biggest attendance for a weekend sporting event in Australia.

(With input from agencies)