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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made a strong statement Saturday taking pole for Sunday’s F1 Australian GP just ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
Returning Down Under for the first time since 2019 and on a new layout, the qualifying session came after Free Practice 3 led by Lando Norris and which saw both Aston Martins crash, and several others take off-track excursions.
Verstappen led Q1 and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez Q2 with Perez coming under investigation for not slowing for a caution in Q1; he would later be cleared and take the third starting spot.
Ferrari saved its best for last as Leclerc topped the final top 10 shootout besting Verstappen by .286 of a second.
Norris recovered from his practice crash to grab fourth; teammate Daniel Ricciardo will start seventh at his home track. In between the McLarens Lewis Hamilton will start fifth and George Russell sixth – and behind Ricciardo Esteban Ocon will roll off eighth. The second Ferrari driven by Carlos Seinz struggled and could only manage ninth, 1,540 seconds behind his teammate.
Fernando Alonso crashed out in Q3 after a suspected hydraulics issue and will start 10th for Alpine.
Pierre Gasly missed out on the top 10 shootout but in front of Valtteri Bottas, whose streak of 103 Q3 appearances ended with a 12th
for Alfa Romeo. Neither Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu nor Mick Schumacher made it out of Q2.
Williams’ Alex Albon (P16, but with a three-place grid drop from Jeddah hanging over him for Sunday) and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen (P17) failed to move on from Q1 after a red flag halted the action late in that session.
