Australian GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen beats Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to pole

Max Verstappen held off a shock Mercedes cost in Australian Grand Prix Qualifying to beat George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to pole place.

The reigning world champion turned an awesome favorite for pole when his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez crashed out in Q1, however in difficult cool and windy situations at Albert Park, Mercedes posed an sudden problem.

Hamilton was simply 9 thousandths of a second off Verstappen after the primary set of runs in Q3, however the Dutchman was in a position to pull out a transparent 0.2s benefit as he delivered a 1:16.732 within the closing moments.

It was Russell who was in a position to snatch a spot on the entrance row, edging out Hamilton by additional tenth and out-qualifying his seven-time world champion team-mate for the third time in as many races this season.

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Drive onboard with Max Verstappen as he takes pole place on the Australian GP for Red Bull.

“I think the last run was very good,” Verstappen mentioned. “The whole weekend has been very tough to get the tyres ready to push straight away, but it worked out in Q3 and I am very happy with the lap and to be on pole position.

“I believe we could have a great race automotive however it’s tough to preserve the tyres alive so it will likely be an attention-grabbing race for certain.”

Fernando Alonso, who has finished on the podium behind Red Bull one-twos in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, was only able to finish fourth for Aston Martin, while his team-mate Lance Stroll was sixth.

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Karun Chandhok takes a look at George Russell and Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying laps as the Mercedes teammate qualify second and third in Melbourne.

Carlos Sainz split the Aston Martins in fifth, pulling off a rare Qualifying triumph over his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was seventh.

Alexander Albon produced a hugely impressive performance to take eighth, as a Williams driver reached Q3 for the first time this season, finishing ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, who continued his strong start to the campaign.

Australian GP Qualifying Result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) George Russell, Mercedes
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
6) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
8) Alexander Albon, Williams
9) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

What happened to Perez?

Having delivered a hugely impressive performance to beat Verstappen in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, Perez’s hopes of mounting a world championship challenge had been a hot topic coming into the weekend in Melbourne.

However, the Mexican endured one of the worst days of his Formula 1 career, initially struggling badly in final practice on Saturday morning as he went off track several times after missing the beginning of the session while his mechanics worked on his car.

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Sergio Perez brings out the red flag in Qualifying as he beaches his Red Bull at the Australian GP.

Light rain in the moments before Qualifying meant conditions remained challenging as the session began, with Logan Sargeant’s early spin in his Williams at Turn 13 a clear warning to other drivers.

However, Perez didn’t learn, and as he had done in practice, locked up on the way into Turn 3, before running into the gravel and becoming beached in mud just before the barrier.

“It was actually unhealthy, a horrible day,” Perez said. “Already in FP3 we had this difficulty. We thought we fastened it, however we did not, so I actually hope we’re in a position to repair it come the race or it will likely be very troublesome to race like this.

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After struggling a number of points in last follow, Sergio Perez then crashed out of Q1 to guarantee he’ll begin final on the Australian Grand Prix.

“I don’t want to go too much into detail, I don’t think it is worth it for us. We have to work together as a team to overcome this problem. Minimising the damage will be really important.”

While Verstappen was in a position to struggle again from fifteenth on the grid to end second in Saudi Arabia, Perez faces an enormous activity to give Red Bull an opportunity of extending their streak of one-twos to begin the season.

Mercedes come from nowhere to create Q3 drama

It has been all doom and gloom thus far this season at Mercedes given Red Bull’s dominance, with workforce principal Toto Wolff confirming the implementation of main adjustments to their design philosophy are underneath method.

Russell and Hamilton mentioned after Friday follow that the third row of the grid was the most effective they might hope for in Qualifying, however because the pole place shootout performed out – with Perez absent – it turned clear the W14s have been Verstappen’s largest challengers.

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George Russell on Lewis Hamilton react to securing second and third on the grid for the Australian GP.

Verstappen was solely in a position to knock Hamilton off provisional pole by the narrowest of margins as the primary runs concluded, and the prospect of a primary pole since December 2021 for the 38-year-old abruptly appeared real looking.

However, with time left for just one flying lap after the sphere pitted for contemporary tyres, Verstappen delivered a surprising lap which might be sufficient to seal a primary pole at Albert Park for the two-time world champion.

Russell was in a position to get inside 0.3s, however Hamilton’s try to get nearer to Verstappen fell quick after his preparations for his last lap have been hindered by Hulkenberg, who did not go away a transparent path for the Mercedes to move.

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Lewis Hamilton says its an ‘wonderful feeling’ to extract extra from the Mercedes this weekend after qualifying in third place.

“This is a totally unexpected,” Hamilton mentioned. “I’m really proud of the team.

“George did a tremendous job there right now so for us to be up on the entrance two rows is truthfully a dream for us.

“We are all working as hard as we can to get right back up to the front so to be this close to Red Bull is incredible.”

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Max Verstappen simply avoids colliding with a chicken calmly strolling throughout the Albert Park Circuit throughout qualifying.

Melbourne’s Albert Park is among the few remaining F1 circuits that Verstappen has but to win at, with the 36-time race-winner having managed only one podium in his 4 visits as a Red Bull driver.

“I have been on the podium once here,” Verstappen mentioned. “But I want to be on a different step.”