Max Verstappen is meticulously paving his way towards achieving an exceptional record of 10 back-to-back victories by securing the pole position at the Australian Grand Prix in his Red Bull vehicle. The Dutchman’s dominance was greatly challenged as Ferrari aimed to dethrone him from his winning streak, but thanks to an impressive performance amidst the watchful eyes of nearly 131,000 spectators on Saturday at Melbourne’s Albert Park, Max outperformed Carlos Sainz by 0.270 seconds to sustain his winning position.
Lewis Hamilton, who was once known for his record eight pole positions at this location, was disappointingly eliminated in Q2, finishing 11th in the grid – Hamilton’s poorest debut in Melbourne for a span of 14 years. Hamilton could not advance to Q3 after finishing 0.059 seconds behind his teammate George Russell in the Mercedes.
Russell, starting from a seventh position, maintains a 3-0 qualifying lead against teammate Hamilton who is designated to transfer to Ferrari once this season concludes. Meanwhile, Verstappen’s Red Bull associate Sergio Perez marked his place third in the queue, succeeded by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen, who is looking forward to the upcoming 58-lap race with great optimism, remained undefeated in the previous nine races following his victory in Japan last September. His objective to prolong his winning steak remains intact and unthreatened. The Dutch Champion expressed his satisfaction with Q3. Although he found the weekend challenging, he appreciates how things fell in place eventually.
Carlos Sainz, who underwent an urgent appendectomy in Jeddah just two weeks before, was overjoyed with his performance. After spending days in recovery, he was uncertain about his participation in the race. Nevertheless, he shook off the initial rustiness, found the pace, and is now satisfied with his vehicle.
Daniel Ricciardo, grand prix victor on eight occasions, revealed that while he feels uncomfortable on the track, he’s driven by a lack of pain and commitment to giving maximum performance. However, he will be commencing his home race nearly at the tail end after his foremost lap in Q1 was disqualified.
His RB seemingly made it to the second qualifying stage following his concluding lap, when unexpected interference by stewards due to his diversion off the track at Turn 5 affected his position. On the grid, only one competitor, Zhou Guanyu of Team Stake, lags behind Ricciardo, following a reduction of the overall field from 20 to 19 drivers.
Alex Albon’s Williams was ruled unrepairable after his collision during practice the preceding Friday. This manoeuvre results in Albon obtaining his teammate Logan Sargeant’s vehicle, which in turn relegates Sargeant to observe Sunday’s race from the comfort of the Williams team garage. Albon managed to secure the 12th qualifying spot.