The Dutchman charged past the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on lap nine of the 19-lap dash.
A fearless "all or nothing" lap from McLaren's Lando Norris in wet and wild conditions Friday denied Lewis Hamilton pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.
Max Verstappen won the first two grands prix of this season but he retired in Melbourne after a brake issue.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who finished third at last year's race, clocked 1min 34.725sec in on-off showers to finish 0.501sec clear of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen emphatically led home teammate Sergio Perez in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but the celebrations were overshadowed by team disunity and allegations against Christian Horner.
Lewis Hamilton, who will leave Mercedes for Ferrari next year, said he felt much happier with the team's new 2024 car
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the fastest time as Formula One's winter testing ended Friday on the same Sakhir circuit which will stage the season opener next week
Lewis Hamilton says his switch to Ferrari programmed for 2025 will add a brand new chapter to his sparkling career, but insisted he hopes to leave Mercedes on a high.
The seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has called it "the greatest honour" if he could assist Mercedes return to the top of Formula One in his final season with the Silver Arrows
Fernando Alonso said he is "attractive" to other Formula One teams but denied any contact with Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton announced he was quitting to drive for Ferrari in 2025
Esteban Ocon on Thursday confirmed his "strong links" with Mercedes F1 Team following Lewis Hamilton's dramatic switch to Scuderia Ferrari after the end of the 2024 season.
Lewis Hamilton said his "childhood dream" to race for Ferrari fuelled his bombshell decision to agree to join the team next year.
Even though 12 years ago Hamilton was switching between teams that were both much slower than Red Bull, he made the right decision as he collected six more world titles.
The news of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari in 2025 took the Formula 1 world by storm.
Seven-time Formula One world champion LewisHamiltonwill make a surprise switch to Ferrari next year, after Mercedes announced Thursday he would leave the team at the end of the 2024 season.
Lewis Hamilton won the last of his world titles in 2020 but lost the 2021 championship in controversial fashion to Max Verstappen, 13 years his junior.
Toto Wolff signed a three-year contract to remain as team principal and chief executive of Formula One outfit Mercedes on Monday.
On December 29, 2013, Michael Schumacher suffered a life-threatening injury while skiing in the French ski resort of Meribel