Standings leader Leclerc cruised to an almost uncontested victory from pole position with his only moment of concern a slow restart on lap 27 after a safety car. Verstappen was close enough to threaten an overtake but Leclerc held him off and drove into the distance.
And Verstappen lost more points in the early title race when he stopped the 40th of 58 laps of the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne, reporting he "smelled some weird fluid."
It was his second DNF of the year and leaves Ferrari unchallenged atop the constructors' standings despite Carlos Sainz's disappointing weekend ending in the gravel after just two laps.
Sergio Perez took a distant second in the other Red Bull and George Russell took his first podium for Mercedes in third, one place better than team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The next race is the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy's Imola on April 24.
