Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing secured the top spot in qualifying for the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. This marks his third consecutive pole position of the season, as Charles Leclerc was unable to complete his final run. Carlos Sainz managed to come in second, splitting the two Red Bulls after a highly competitive session. Leclerc, who had shown great potential in the practice sessions leading up to qualifying, seemed poised to challenge for pole position. However, it was Verstappen who once again claimed this accolade, having previously done so in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The stage was set for an intense session at Albert Park, with less than four-tenths of a second separating the top eight drivers in the third practice session. As a result, when qualifying began in front of a full crowd, it was anyone’s guess as to who would come out on top. The competition was fierce right from the start, with Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston Martin all showing strong performances and minimal differences in pace.
Sainz emerged as the leader after the first qualifying session, while Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg surprisingly failed to advance. Hulkenberg was joined by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in the elimination zone. The field was incredibly competitive, with a spread of 1.457 seconds between the drivers and less than a second separating those who were safe from elimination. Every mistake during the qualifying session resulted in a significant drop in position.
Alex Albon of Williams comfortably made it through to the second qualifying session, along with Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who had reasons to be optimistic after avoiding early elimination. However, after the initial runs in Q2, these three drivers were in danger of being eliminated, as Verstappen took the top spot on the leaderboard. Sainz and Leclerc managed to surpass Verstappen’s time, pushing him down to third place. Surprisingly, Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, was eliminated in 11th place, marking his worst qualifying performance in Melbourne since 2010.
With two sessions complete, the battle for pole position was primarily between Verstappen and the two Ferraris, with only 0.712 seconds separating the top 10 drivers heading into Q3. Verstappen set an impressive benchmark time in his first run, establishing his claim for pole position. In the final runs, Verstappen and Sainz exchanged fast sector times, but it was Verstappen who ultimately came out on top with a time of 1:15.915s, 0.270 seconds ahead of Sainz. Sergio Perez finished in third place, while Lando Norris of McLaren secured fourth position.
Leclerc, unfortunately, had to abandon his final run and settled for fifth place on the grid. Local driver Oscar Piastri finished in sixth place, followed by George Russell of Mercedes in seventh. Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull completed an impressive Saturday performance with the eighth-best time in Q3. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll outperformed his teammate Fernando Alonso, and they will start on the fifth row of the grid for tomorrow’s race.
Once again, Verstappen has the advantage going into the Australian Grand Prix, which will commence on Sunday at 15:00 local time (04:00 GMT).