A normal Saturday for Max Verstappen | Formula 1

Another Saturday, another pole position. Max Verstappen was fastest in the qualifying session for the Australian Grand Prix and will head into Sunday’s race with an important advantage – the same as he already had in the previous two races.

At the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, it has been especially relevant to start the race at the front, with 17 victories by front-row drivers in 26 races.

And if Max no longer needs statistics to be a favourite, with these data he becomes the favorite for the race that will start the next morning, starting at 4am in mainland Portugal.

It is important to say that Verstappen’s time, which was 1m15.915s, was much better than everyone else’s – Carlos Sainz and Sérgio Pérez were already around two tenths of a second behind, and both in 16th second.

This means that Max looks relatively dominant in Australia on a weekend where… he doesn’t feel well. The Dutch driver has complained of some instability in the single-seater, with some slipping from the front. And if this is the case on a weekend of instability at Red Bull, great emotions are not expected for Sunday, especially if the team corrects the problems by then.

It remains, then, to talk about those that come later. Pérez missed a “buffer” position between Verstappen and a Ferrari, so the start will be very important in how to stop Sainz.

The Spanish driver even seemed fast during qualifying, but ended up not being able to fight Verstappen’s last laps in the qualifying session.

Still, not bad for someone who has been in bed with appendicitis for the last week.

Further back, note to Lewis Hamilton, who not only was beaten again by his colleague George Russell but also did not even set foot in Q3. It will leave 11th position.

Yuki Tsunoda was, on the other hand, one of the good surprises, with eighth place, as well as Alexander Albon, who managed to reach Q2 comfortably and still ended the session in 12th place, a relevant performance for a Williams.

And Albon really needs a good weekend, as damage to the single-seater during training led the team, lacking parts, to hand over Logan Sargeant’s car to Albon. In the background, Albon has started a car and is going to race with his colleague, who will watch the race on television. The decision was controversial, so Albon will have to justify this bet by Williams well. So far, it’s started well.

Esteban Ocon also managed to take an Alpine to Q2 and celebrated it with pomp.

The starting grid for the Australian GP:

1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 1m15.915s
2) Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari), +0.270s
3) Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), +0.359s
4) Lando Norris (McLaren), +0.400s
5) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), +0.520s
6) Oscar Piastri (McLaren), +0.657s
7) George Russell (Mercedes), +0.809s
8) Yuki Tsunoda (RB), +0.873s
9) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), +1.157s
10) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), +1.637s
11) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), +1.045s
12) Alexander Albon (Williams), +1.252s
13) Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), +1.425s
14) Kevin Magnussen (Haas), +1.512s
15) Esteban Ocon (Alpine), +1.782s
16) Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), +2.061s
17) Pierre Gasly (Alpine), +2.067s
18) Daniel Ricciardo (RB), +2.170s
19) Zhou Guanyu (Sauber), +2.273s