Third qualifying, third pole position for Max Verstappen (Red Bull RB20/Honda), this time beating Carlos Sainz (Ferrari SF-24) by 0.270s in a session in which Charles Leclerc (Ferrari SF-24) did not go beyond fifth place after having ‘ruined’ his last timed lap with an error. Once again, Ferrari made mistakes, when everything pointed to, at the very least, giving Red Bull another fight.
The Milton Keynes team, who were having a somewhat complicated weekend, with several small problems, returned to normal when it mattered most, and Max Verstappen once again made the difference.
Sergio Pérez (Red Bull RB20/Honda) was third ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren MCL38/Mercedes) who had his best qualification of the year here.
After having been second twice, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and after leading free practice, this time and when it mattered most, Charles Leclerc failed and allowed four single-seaters ahead of him, right on a track where it is very difficult to overtake .
Oscar Piastri (McLaren MCL38/Mercedes) was sixth, ahead of the best of the Mercedes
George Russell (Mercedes F1 W15), in a session in which Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes F1 W15) didn’t even make it past Q2, showing once again the enormous difficulties that the Englishman is once again having with his Mercedes, with his positions not changing much on the grid, this time a little worse, 11th, after having been ninth in Bahrain and eighth in Jeddah.
Yuki Tsunoda (RB VCARB 01/Honda) was eighth, and has continually improved his qualifications, this year, after starting in Bahrain in 11th, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin AMR24/Mercedes) was ninth ahead of his colleague team, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin AMR24/Mercedes), with the Canadian beating the Spaniard for the first time this year.
Q3 started with the Ferraris at the front, but in the decisive phase, Max Verstappen pushed hard again and made the difference with a time of 1:15.915s. Carlos Sainz still improved his record but he no longer got much closer to the Red Bull driver. Alonso’s session was hampered in the first quick lap attempt, with the Spaniard heading through the gravel pit at turn 6, with Lance Stroll taking the opportunity to beat him for the first time this year.
Q2: Lewis Hamilton eliminated
Big surprise in Q2 of the Australian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in the middle segment of the qualifying session, along with Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Esteban Ocon.
It was once again the Ferrrari drivers who placed themselves at the top of the timesheets, but Max Verstappen took the lead when he finished his first fast lap with a time of 1:16.387s, leaving Carlos Sainz at 0.284s. Moments before entering the last ten minutes of Q2, Oscar Piastri performed a good lap, jumping into second place, with a margin of 0.214s over Verstappen.
After the second fast laps, Carlos Sainz returned to the top of the timesheets, with 1:16.189s, followed by Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, while further back, Alexander Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon were in the elimination zone.
Albon did not leave the pit for a final fast lap, while Kevin Magnussen improved his previous record a little, but not enough to leave the elimination zone. Yuki Tsunoda left the bottom of the timesheets, pushing Lance Stroll into that zone. The Canadian Aston Martin driver managed to improve his record and reached Q3, at the same time that the pressured Lewis Hamilton dropped to 11th place and was thus eliminated.
Daniel Ricciardo eliminated in Q1
Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated for the first time in Melbourne, still in Q1, after his last time was erased for exceeding track limits on the Albert Park circuit. With only 19 drivers on the track, Esteban Ocon made it to Q2, which can already be considered a good result for Alpine in qualifying, while Nico Hülkenberg, Pierre Gasly and Zhou Guanyu joined Ricciardo, being eliminated in this first segment.
Haas, Alpine and Alexander Albon drivers were the first to take to the track. The Thai driver had some difficulties in holding the Williams FW46 in turn 11, exceeding the track limits and seeing his first time erased by the race direction.
With Max Verstappen complaining about a lot of understeer in his RB20, Carlos Sainz jumped to the front of the timesheets, followed by Charles Leclerc, with 1:17.244s.
Still in Q1, it was announced that at the end of the session a possible impediment between Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg will be analyzed by the College of Sports Commissioners.
At around eight and a half minutes, the Mexican Red Bull driver jumped to second place on the timesheets, but just behind were faster Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen. The experienced Spaniard jumped to the top of the timesheets, followed by the Dutchman from Red Bull.
Alonso’s lead took a short time, once again with the Ferrari drivers taking the lead, with Sainz completing another lap in 1:16.731s, with Leclerc at 0.253s.
With five minutes left in Q1, Albon, Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were in the elimination zone.
Gasly is another who will be investigated after the session, this time for violating the race director’s instructions when leaving the pits.
With three minutes left to finish the first segment of qualifying, Alexander Albon jumped into the top 5 of the timesheets, escaping the elimination zone, while Daniel Ricciardo found himself in a more complicated situation, among the last drivers in the field.
In the end it was Yuki Tsunoda who came under more pressure, but the Japanese driver improved his previous time and left the last places, as did Esteban Ocon, who managed to get through to Q2, while Ricciardo saw his last time erased and was eliminated. at home. When he needed a good result, the Australian joined Nico Hülkenberg, Pierre Gasly and Zhou Guanyu in eliminating him in Q1.
