In Melbourne, Red Bull’s Formula One world champion Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, with Carlos Sainz from Ferrari qualifying alongside him on the front row. This comes just two weeks after Sainz underwent surgery for appendicitis. Verstappen clocked in at one minute, 15.915 seconds at Albert Park, edging out Sainz by 0.27 seconds to claim his third pole for the season and fourth in a row.
“It was a bit unexpected today in qualifying, but very happy with Q3,” Verstappen commented. “It was a bit of a tricky weekend so far but we managed to be there at the end, so very happy with that. They (Ferrari) seem very quick, also in the long runs. So a bit of a question mark tomorrow but that makes it exciting.”
Sainz expressed his contentment at challenging the Red Bulls, stating, “To make it through this weekend and then obviously to put it on the front row after leading through qualifying, I was almost not believing it, especially after how tough it’s been.”
The qualifying session proved challenging for Mercedes, as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had his worst performance at Albert Park in over a decade. Hamilton failed to progress to the third session of qualifying (Q3) and will start 11th on the grid, marking his worst result at Albert Park since 2010 when he qualified 11th.
Lando Norris secured fourth place on the grid, one spot ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Only one Williams car featured in the qualifying session, with Alex Albon taking over Logan Sargeant’s car after crashing his own during Friday practice. Albon will begin the race from 12th place.
Home racer Daniel Ricciardo from RB suffered a setback as he was eliminated in Q1, resulting in an 18th place start after his fastest lap was invalidated for going off-track at turn five. RB team boss Laurent Mekies expressed disappointment, saying, “It’s very difficult to swallow but that’s the way it is. Daniel was doing a very good job, it was probably his best lap so far of the weekend.”
Overall, Red Bull’s Verstappen claimed pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Sainz qualifying alongside him on the front row. Mercedes’ Hamilton faced a challenging qualifying session, while Norris and Leclerc secured strong starting positions. The race is set to be competitive and exciting, with various teams and drivers vying for success on the track.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
