Red Bull’s Max Verstappen snatched pole position for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, his third consecutive in 2024 after Charles Leclerc abandoned his final run.
Carlos Sainz split the two Red Bulls in second after an intense session Down Under that witnessed Albert Park specialist Lewis Hamilton fail to feature in the shootout.
After topping both second and third practice, Leclerc looked poised to challenge for pole, an accolade that had been reserved for Verstappen in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The stage was set for yet another close session in Melbourne after less than four-tenths of a second covered the classified top eight runners in the final practice hour.
As a result, when qualifying commenced at 16:00 local time in front of a sellout crowd, it remained an unknown proposition regarding who would emerge out on top.
Proof in the pudding came right off of the bat in Q1, with Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin all featuring toward the top end with marginal differentials in pace.
Sainz wound up in the pound seat upon the conclusion of Q1, with Haas one-lap expert Nico Hulkenberg a surprise dropout amid Sergio Perez impeding his timed run.
With Logan Sargeant benched to enable Alex Albon to compete following his crash in FP1, Hulkenberg was accompanied by three other drivers in being knocked out.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who was handed a reprimand for crossing the white line on pit exit, Daniel Ricciardo, who had a lap deleted at the death and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, who sustained damage to his front wing on his final run, followed Hulkenberg.
A 1.457s field spread and less than a second covering those safe from elimination was a testament to how competitive the field has become across a single lap, with every mistake punished by dropping several positions in the order.
Crucially, Williams’ sole charger Alex Albon made it through to Q2 comfortably and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon had reason to be buoyed after avoiding early elimination as well.
After the initial Q2 runs, however, that trio were under threat of elimination as Red Bull’s Verstappen sat at the top of the leaderboard.
However, Sainz bettered Verstappen’s effort – as did Leclerc – to end Q2 on top with Hamilton a shock elimination in 11th, his worst qualifying in Melbourne since 2010.
Lance Stroll had been responsible for demoting the Briton into the drop zone, with Albon, Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Ocon also seeing their participation cut short.
Following the first two segments, the narrative had pivoted towards a battle between Verstappen and the Ferraris, with 0.712s covering the top 10 who advanced to Q3.
Verstappen had not headed a session all weekend to this point, but punched in a 1:16.048s benchmark to go 0.283s clear of Sainz, who continued to be the lead Ferrari.
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso avoided a huge incident as a spiteful snap of oversteer sent him at speed through the gravel trap and towards the barriers down at Turn 6.
In the final runs, Verstappen and Sainz traded blows in the first two sectors, but it was advantage Red Bull in the final sector as the Dutchman’s improved time of 1:15.915s was 0.270s clear of his Spanish rival, who put in a sterling effort considering his absence in Saudi Arabia with appendicitis.
Perez was 0.359s back in third in the second Red Bull, while McLaren’s Lando Norris found his way into fourth position, four-tenths adrift from Verstappen’s pole time.
An error at Turn 12 left Leclerc resigned to abandoning his final run, heading for an early exit to the pits and what will be a disappointing fifth place on tomorrow’s grid.
Home hero Oscar Piastri finished sixth as he lamented “mistakes” having matched team-mate Norris in Q1 and 2, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in seventh.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda completed an impressive Saturday performance with the eighth-best time in Q3.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin will line up on the fifth row of tomorrow’s Australian GP grid, with Lance Stroll bettering team-mate Alonso, who faltered on his sole Q3 run.
Advantage Verstappen once again, lights out for the Australian GP commences on Sunday, 15:00 local time (04:00 GMT).
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