Verstappen takes pole position at Australian Grand Prix
Verstappen had bemoaned handling problems through practice but put together a sizzling lap of one minute, 15.915 seconds on a glorious afternoon at Albert Park to be 0.27 seconds clear of Sainz.
MELBOURNE: Red Bull’s Formula One world champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday with Carlos Sainz qualifying alongside on the front row for Ferrari two weeks after undergoing surgery for appendicitis.
Verstappen’s team mate Sergio Perez qualified third but will start sixth after stewards imposed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in the first session of qualifying.
That promoted both McLaren drivers, with Lando Norris to start third and Oscar Piastri fifth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen had bemoaned handling problems through practice but put together a sizzling lap of one minute, 15.915 seconds on a glorious afternoon at Albert Park to be 0.27 seconds clear of Sainz.
It was the irrepressible Dutchman’s third pole for the Formula One season and fourth in succession.
“It was a bit unexpected today in qualifying, but very happy with Q3,” said the triple world champion, who won the race last year after his maiden pole at Albert Park.
“It was a bit of a tricky weekend so far but we managed to be there at the end, so very happy with that.
“(Ferrari) seem very quick, also in the long runs. So a bit of a question mark tomorrow but that makes it exciting.”
Sainz, who missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix while recovering from surgery, said he was happy with Ferrari’s pace and to be challenging the Red Bulls.
“To make it to this weekend and then obviously to put it on the front row after leading through qualifying, I was almost not believing it, especially after how tough it’s been,” he added.
‘DIFFICULT TO SWALLOW’It was a tough afternoon for Mercedes, with seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton suffering his worst qualifying at Albert Park in over a decade.
Hamilton failed to make the third session of qualifying (Q3) and will start 11th on the grid, his worst result at Albert Park since qualifying 11th in the 2010 race.
The Briton was 0.77 seconds off Sainz’s best (1:16.189) in Q2, and he has been outqualified in every race this season by team mate George Russell, who will start seventh on Sunday.
“It felt great in P3, and it was strange because we were right there with these guys and we didn’t really understand why,” said Hamilton, who was fourth quickest in the final practice earlier on Saturday.
Alexander Albon will start 12th on the grid in the race.