Verstappen snatches Australian GP pole from Ferraris as Hamilton embarrassed

23 March 2024 , 06:00

879     0

Max Verstappen went quickest in qualifying in Melbourne (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Max Verstappen held off the challenging Ferraris to secure pole position at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman is hunting a 10th consecutive race win in Melbourne this weekend to match his own record set last year. He didn't top the timesheets in any of the three practice sessions but there was always a feeling Red Bull were keeping something in reserve.

And that came to pass when it mattered on Saturday. Charles Leclerc has looked fast all weekend while Carlos Sainz was going well despite still recovering from surgery to remove his appendix two weeks ago, but neither of the Ferrari drivers could topple Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton was nowhere near the hunt for pole and failed to even reach the top 10 on a wretched day for Mercedes. Team-mate George Russell at least managed to reach Q3 but was also some way off the pace of the top cars, condemned to seventh on the grid.

Meanwhile, despite being one of two home heroes, Daniel Ricciardo suffered heartbreak in Q1 as a fine lap time was deleted and he was condemned to 18th on the grid. Only Zhou Guanyu was slower after damaging his front wing. There were only 19 runners with Logan Sargeant not taking part for Williams this weekend.

Inside the driver call which upset Red Bull and changed the course of F1 history

Ricciardo's misfortune came as a reprieve for Kevin Magnussen who thought he was out but was saved when the Aussie was relegated into the bottom four. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was not so lucky, though, while Pierre Gasly's day also ended in the first part of qualifying.

Esteban Ocon managed to get his slow Alpine out of Q1 but will still start only 15th. Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas were ahead of him while Alex Albon was 12th quickest having taken Sargeant's car for the rest of the weekend following the crash which destroyed his own.

But Hamilton was the big casualty of Q2. ""Are we safe or not?" asked the nervous seven-time F1 champion over the radio after his disappointing last lap. Race engineer Peter Bonnington replied: "Negative, we've just been bumped," after Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll managed to save themselves.

Verstappen quickly shot to the top of the timings with his first run in Q3. Sainz and Leclerc looked threatening but each made a mistake on their final efforts, and no-one else was quick enough to ever truly look like they were going to topple the Dutchman.

Sainz will start on the front row with the pole-sitter with Sergio Perez well-placed in third. Leclerc's aborted final lap left him fifth on the grid, sandwiched between the McLarens with Lando Norris ahead and hometown hero Oscar Piastri sixth. Russell was seventh ahead of Tsunoda while Stroll pipped team-mate Fernando Alonso to ninth.

Full 2024 Australian Grand Prix qualifying result

1. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
2. Carlos Sainz - Ferrari
3. Sergio Perez - Red Bull
4. Lando Norris - McLaren
5. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
6. Oscar Piastri - McLaren
7. George Russell - Mercedes
8. Yuki Tsunoda - RB
9. Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
10. Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
11. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
12. Alex Albon - Williams
13. Valtteri Bottas - Sauber
14. Kevin Magnussen - Haas
15. Esteban Ocon - Alpine
16. Nico Hulkenberg - Haas
17. Pierre Gasly - Alpine
18. Daniel Ricciardo - RB
19. Zhou Guanyu - Sauber

Daniel Moxon