It took just 10 minutes for F1’s brave new world - for better or for worse - to explode into life in Australia. Max Verstappen, the sport’s standout driver, was three seconds into setting his first qualifying lap of the season when, with no visible trigger, the usually immaculate Dutchman was left spinning violently into the wall. It wouldn’t be the last stoppage of a chaotic opening qualifying session.
Yet while others toiled, laboured and moaned around him, George Russell kept it clean to seal the pole position his Mercedes rocketship deserved. Oddly stagnant in Friday practice, the Silver Arrows finally turned up all the dials to maximum to send a sizable statement at the season-opener, locking out the front row and nearly a full second clear of the rest.
