Australian GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen beats Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to pole

Max Verstappen held off a surprise Mercedes charge in Australian Grand Prix Qualifying to beat George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to pole position.

The reigning world champion became an overwhelming favourite for pole when his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez crashed out in Q1, but in challenging cool and windy conditions at Albert Park, Mercedes posed an unexpected challenge.

Hamilton was just nine thousandths of a second off Verstappen after the first set of runs in Q3, but the Dutchman was able to pull out a clear 0.2s advantage as he delivered a 1:16.732 in the closing moments.

It was Russell who was able to snatch a place on the front row, edging out Hamilton by further tenth and out-qualifying his seven-time world champion team-mate for the third time in as many races this season.

“I think the last run was very good,” Verstappen said. “The whole weekend has been very tough to get the tyres ready to push straight away, but it worked out in Q3 and I am very happy with the lap and to be on pole position.

“I think we will have a good race car but it is tricky to keep the tyres alive so it will be an interesting race for sure.”

Fernando Alonso, who has finished on the podium behind Red Bull one-twos in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, was only able to finish fourth for Aston Martin, while his team-mate Lance Stroll was sixth.

Carlos Sainz split the Aston Martins in fifth, pulling off a rare Qualifying triumph over his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was seventh.

Alexander Albon produced a hugely impressive performance to take eighth, as a Williams driver reached Q3 for the first time this season, finishing ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, who continued his strong start to the campaign.

Australian GP Qualifying Result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) George Russell, Mercedes
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
6) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
8) Alexander Albon, Williams
9) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

What happened to Perez?

Having delivered a hugely impressive performance to beat Verstappen in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, Perez’s hopes of mounting a world championship challenge had been a hot topic coming into the weekend in Melbourne.

However, the Mexican endured one of the worst days of his Formula 1 career, initially struggling badly in final practice on Saturday morning as he went off track several times after missing the beginning of the session while his mechanics worked on his car.

Light rain in the moments before Qualifying meant conditions remained challenging as the session began, with Logan Sargeant’s early spin in his Williams at Turn 13 a clear warning to other drivers.

However, Perez didn’t learn, and as he had done in practice, locked up on the way into Turn 3, before running into the gravel and becoming beached in mud just before the barrier.

“It was really bad, a terrible day,” Perez said. “Already in FP3 we had this issue. We thought we fixed it, but we didn’t, so I really hope we are able to fix it come the race or it will be very difficult to race like this.

“I don’t want to go too much into detail, I don’t think it is worth it for us. We have to work together as a team to overcome this problem. Minimising the damage will be really important.”

While Verstappen was able to fight back from 15th on the grid to finish second in Saudi Arabia, Perez faces a huge task to give Red Bull a chance of extending their streak of one-twos to start the season.

Mercedes come from nowhere to create Q3 drama

It has been all doom and gloom so far this season at Mercedes given Red Bull’s dominance, with team principal Toto Wolff confirming the implementation of major changes to their design philosophy are under way.

Russell and Hamilton said after Friday practice that the third row of the grid was the best they could hope for in Qualifying, but as the pole position shootout played out – with Perez absent – it became clear the W14s were Verstappen’s biggest challengers.

Verstappen was only able to knock Hamilton off provisional pole by the narrowest of margins as the first runs concluded, and the prospect of a first pole since December 2021 for the 38-year-old suddenly seemed realistic.

However, with time left for only one flying lap after the field pitted for fresh tyres, Verstappen delivered a stunning lap which would be enough to seal a first pole at Albert Park for the two-time world champion.

Russell was able to get within 0.3s, but Hamilton’s attempt to get closer to Verstappen fell short after his preparations for his final lap were hindered by Hulkenberg, who didn’t leave a clear path for the Mercedes to pass.

“This is a totally unexpected,” Hamilton said. “I’m really proud of the team.

“George did an amazing job there today so for us to be up on the front two rows is honestly a dream for us.

“We are all working as hard as we can to get right back up to the front so to be this close to Red Bull is incredible.”

Melbourne’s Albert Park is one of the few remaining F1 circuits that Verstappen has yet to win at, with the 36-time race-winner having managed just one podium in his four visits as a Red Bull driver.

“I have been on the podium once here,” Verstappen said. “But I want to be on a different step.”