Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying: Max Verstappen unbeatable

While the Ferraris were expected, it is the inevitable Max Verstappen who clinches the pole position. He is ahead of Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc is only 5th.

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Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying: Max Verstappen unbeatable

6 am in France, 4 pm in Australia, this qualifying session can begin. 19 cars will take to the track at Albert Park, an unusual fact due to the withdrawal of Logan Sargeant who left his car to his teammate Alex Albon. The Ferraris are expected, after occupying the top spots in the timesheets in FP2 and FP3, Charles Leclerc even broke the track record during the last practice session in 1:16.714!

Q1

While Alex Albon complains about the wind, Charles Leclerc asks him for a different visor for the Q2, being bothered by the brightness of Melbourne. The two Ferraris quickly find themselves at the front, Carlos Sainz sets the fastest time, immediately beaten by the Monegasque. Many mistakes have been made since the start of the weekend on this slippery track, and Esteban Ocon touches the wall at the last corner: a puncture for the Alpine driver, who heads back to the garage, currently in 18th position.

Max Verstappen, not as dominant as in the first two weekends, complains of understeer. He still climbs up to 2nd position. The first place keeps changing, first held by the Ferraris, Fernando Alonso completes a very nice lap… then he is demoted to third position, once again beaten by the Ferraris, with Carlos Sainz clocking a lap time of 1:16.731. The McLarens are in 6th and 7th position with 5 minutes left in the session.

Pierre Gasly then climbs back up to 14th provisional, 1.251 seconds behind Carlos Sainz. The last laps are coming and Alex Albon is also moving up: 5th, 4 tenths behind the Ferrari driver, still setting the best time. Daniel Ricciardo, then 17th, finds himself in need to react at home to make it to Q2: 10th provisional at the checkered flag…. before seeing his lap time invalidated for exceeding track limits at turn 5. Disappointing, especially as his teammate Yuki Tsunoda sets the 8th fastest time and beats him for the 3rd consecutive time since the start of the season. Valterri Bottas climbs to 13th, Esteban Ocon to 14th and qualifies an Alpine in Q2 for the first time this year!

The eliminated in Q1: Guanyu Zhou (19th), Daniel Ricciardo (18th), Pierre Gasly (17th), Niko Hülkenberg (16th).

Q2

This session starts quickly, with very good lap times right away! Max Verstappen sets the fastest time ahead of the 2 Ferraris. With 10 minutes to go, Oscar Piastri, now the only Australian on track, sets the 2nd fastest time, two tenths behind the Red Bull driver. Sergio Perez is 6th, with the two Mercedes following suit.

Carlos Sainz starts for the second time in Q2, this time on new tires, and sets the best time: 1:16.189, two tenths faster than Max Verstappen.

Without surprise, Esteban Ocon finds himself in difficulty in last position 5 minutes from the end of Q2. Fernando Alonso sets the 7th time. His teammate Lance Stroll is then in 10th position, at the mercy of an improvement from one of the drivers behind him. One minute before the end, Lewis Hamilton, in difficulty since the start of the weekend, tries to improve his previous time: without success. He remains in 9th position. Valterri Bottas improves but not enough to make it to Q3: 13th. At the checkered flag, Yuki Tsunoda completes a quick lap that places him ahead of the 2 Mercedes cars. Lance Stroll does the same and knocks Lewis Hamilton out of the Q3 qualification zone!

Eliminated in Q2: Esteban Ocon (15th), Kevin Magnussen (14th), Valterri Bottas (13th), Alex Albon (12th), Lewis Hamilton (11th).

Q3

For his return this weekend, Carlos Sainz starts off in first position: 1:16.331 straight away for the Spaniard. Charles Leclerc fails to do better, one tenth behind his teammate. Max Verstappen sets off and immediately makes an impact, he responds and takes the best time in 1:16.048. Perez is fourth at the end of the first attempt, followed by the McLarens. The Aston Martins bring up the rear, Fernando Alonso had a scare at turn 6 where he went through the gravel.

Less than 3 minutes before the end of qualifying, everyone is warming up their tires for the final laps. Max Verstappen improves his time in 1:15.915. Carlos Sainz fails by just over two tenths of a second from the triple world champion. Charles Leclerc doesn’t even complete his last lap, he finishes 5th, sandwiched between the 2 McLarens. Sergio Perez completes the podium.