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Charles Bradley

F1 Australian GP qualifying results: Leclerc beats Verstappen to pole

Leclerc secured his second pole of the season courtesy of a final lap improvement that surpassed Verstappen's previous best. 

The one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3, was twice red-flagged and meant the decisive final laps took place amid a low sun that proved distracting for the drivers.

But Leclerc made no such mistake to claim the tenth pole of his F1 career and draw level with 1970 world champion Jochen Rindt's tally. 

Australian Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Verstappen

Cla Driver Time Gap km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc
1'17.868 245.168
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen
1'18.154 0.286 244.271
3 Mexico Sergio Perez
1'18.240 0.372 244.003
4 United Kingdom Lando Norris
1'18.703 0.835 242.567
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton
1'18.825 0.957 242.192
6 United Kingdom George Russell
1'18.933 1.065 241.860
7 Australia Daniel Ricciardo
1'19.032 1.164 241.557
8 France Esteban Ocon
1'19.061 1.193 241.469
9 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr
1'19.408 1.540 240.414
10 Spain Fernando Alonso
11 France Pierre Gasly
1'19.226 1.358 240.966
12 Finland Valtteri Bottas
1'19.410 1.542 240.408
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda
1'19.424 1.556 240.365
14 China Zhou Guanyu
1'20.155 2.287 238.173
15 Germany Mick Schumacher
1'20.465 2.597 237.255
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen
1'20.254 2.386 237.879
17 Germany Sebastian Vettel
1'21.149 3.281 235.256
18 Canada Nicholas Latifi
1'21.372 3.504 234.611
19 Thailand Alex Albon
1'20.135 2.267 238.232
20 Canada Lance Stroll

What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q1?

Leclerc set the early pace at 1m19.391s, which was quickly beaten by his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr on 1m19.179s. But Leclerc took top spot back on his second push lap of 1m18.881s, with Verstappen rising to second, just 0.044s in arrears.

Verstappen then grabbed P1 at 1m18.580s on his third attempt, a quarter of a second ahead of Perez and the Ferraris.

Williams’ Nicholas Latifi brought out a red flag for the second Q1 in a row with two minutes to go, as he collided with fellow Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) in a bizarre incident that sent him spinning into the wall.

Falling at the first hurdle were Williams driver Alex Albon, who has a three-place grid penalty carried over from contact with Stroll in Jeddah and stopped on track on his in-lap, Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Sebastian Vettel (whose Aston Martin was repaired after a big shunt in FP3), Latifi and Stroll.

Australian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen
Red Bull 7 1'18.580 242.947
2 Mexico Sergio Perez
Red Bull 7 1'18.834 0.254 0.254 242.164
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 5 1'18.881 0.301 0.047 242.020
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr
Ferrari 7 1'18.983 0.403 0.102 241.707
5 Spain Fernando Alonso
Alpine 6 1'19.192 0.612 0.209 241.069
6 Finland Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo 5 1'19.251 0.671 0.059 240.890
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris
McLaren 6 1'19.280 0.700 0.029 240.802
8 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 8 1'19.401 0.821 0.121 240.435
9 United Kingdom George Russell
Mercedes 8 1'19.405 0.825 0.004 240.423
10 France Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri 11 1'19.580 1.000 0.175 239.894
11 France Esteban Ocon
Alpine 9 1'19.605 1.025 0.025 239.819
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 10 1'19.665 1.085 0.060 239.638
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri 10 1'19.742 1.162 0.077 239.407
14 China Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo 11 1'19.910 1.330 0.168 238.903
15 Germany Mick Schumacher
Haas 11 1'20.104 1.524 0.194 238.325
16 Thailand Alex Albon
Williams 11 1'20.135 1.555 0.031 238.232
17 Denmark Kevin Magnussen
Haas 11 1'20.254 1.674 0.119 237.879
18 Germany Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin 3 1'21.149 2.569 0.895 235.256
19 Canada Nicholas Latifi
Williams 8 1'21.372 2.792 0.223 234.611
20 Canada Lance Stroll
Aston Martin 2

What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q2?

Verstappen set the bar at 1m18.611s, which was beaten by Perez on 1m18.340s. On his in-lap, Verstappen appeared to impede Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, which he hadn’t been told was on a fast lap, while stewards will investigate whether Perez slowed enough for yellow flags.

In the closing moments, Sainz took second, ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen.

Knocked out at this point were Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri, who suffered a gravelly off), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and Mick Schumacher (Haas).

Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix Q2 results: Perez fastest from Sainz

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Mexico Sergio Perez
Red Bull 5 1'18.340 243.691
2 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr
Ferrari 9 1'18.469 0.129 0.129 243.290
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 8 1'18.606 0.266 0.137 242.866
4 Netherlands Max Verstappen
Red Bull 8 1'18.611 0.271 0.005 242.851
5 Spain Fernando Alonso
Alpine 7 1'18.815 0.475 0.204 242.222
6 United Kingdom Lando Norris
McLaren 8 1'19.066 0.726 0.251 241.453
7 United Kingdom George Russell
Mercedes 9 1'19.076 0.736 0.010 241.423
8 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 10 1'19.106 0.766 0.030 241.331
9 Australia Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 6 1'19.130 0.790 0.024 241.258
10 France Esteban Ocon
Alpine 8 1'19.136 0.796 0.006 241.240
11 France Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri 8 1'19.226 0.886 0.090 240.966
12 Finland Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo 8 1'19.410 1.070 0.184 240.408
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri 7 1'19.424 1.084 0.014 240.365
14 China Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo 5 1'20.155 1.815 0.731 238.173
15 Germany Mick Schumacher
Haas 8 1'20.465 2.125 0.310 237.255

What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen lapped in 1m18.399s before Perez circulated 0.001s faster. Leclerc then snatched the top spot with 1m18.239s, just as Fernando Alonso shunted his Alpine at Turn 11, smashing his front-left corner against the wall and blaming his hydraulics for not being able to downshift. The lights turned red just before Sainz crossed the line to complete his first flyer.

On the final runs once Alonso's car had been craned away, Verstappen grabbed pole with 1m18.154s but Leclerc snatched it back on 1m17.868s. Sainz, meanwhile, suffered a moment at Turn 6 and didn’t complete a clear lap – meaning he starts down in ninth.

Perez will start third, ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and the Mercedes of Hamilton and George Russell. Home hero Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) was seventh from Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Sainz and Alonso.

Australian Grand Prix Q3 results: Leclerc takes pole

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 8 1'17.868 245.168
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen
Red Bull 6 1'18.154 0.286 0.286 244.271
3 Mexico Sergio Perez
Red Bull 9 1'18.240 0.372 0.086 244.003
4 United Kingdom Lando Norris
McLaren 6 1'18.703 0.835 0.463 242.567
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 10 1'18.825 0.957 0.122 242.192
6 United Kingdom George Russell
Mercedes 9 1'18.933 1.065 0.108 241.860
7 Australia Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 6 1'19.032 1.164 0.099 241.557
8 France Esteban Ocon
Alpine 6 1'19.061 1.193 0.029 241.469
9 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr
Ferrari 6 1'19.408 1.540 0.347 240.414
10 Spain Fernando Alonso
Alpine 2
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