Red Bull’s Max Verstappen clinched a dominant pole position at 2023 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia.
Verstappen topped a chaotic FP3 but proceeded to dominate qualifying to claim his first pole position Down Under, amidst a tense Q3 scrap involving several drivers as a failed threat of rain lingered across the entire Qualifying session.
Mercedes meanwhile have produced a surprise as George Russell claimed second on the grid just ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who will line up in third as the Silver Arrows look to spring a surprise.
Now, here is a full roundup of FP3 and Qualifying.
FP3
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were first out on track but quickly pitted, leaving Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg to set the initial benchmark time of 1m 22.529 but his effort was quickly beaten by several drivers as Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz briefly went top.
Verstappen found time on his medium tyre to post 1m 18.741 to go top in the eighth minute, but Charles Leclerc went 0.010 seconds quicker just three minutes later.
Leclerc proceeded to lower his benchmark time to 1m 18.691 in the 14th minute until Sainz two minutes later found 0.564s to go quickest on 1m 18.127, heading Alonso in a Spanish one-two at the halfway mark of the session as only five drivers set their best lap time on medium tyres.
Perez though struggled to set a time in the opening half-hour and his FP3 session just continued to worsen with several off-track moments, especially at Turn 3 in the 38th minute before his misery was compounded by stalling during a practice start in the closing minutes.
The Mexican’s error also came shortly after the session resumed following a red flag, which was caused by loose bodywork of AlphaTauri’s Nyck De Vries and meant a four-minute pause in action.
Attention soon afterwards turned to the Qualifying simulations in which Verstappen emerged fastest with 1m 17.565, ahead of Alonso by 0.162s as Esteban Ocon, George Russell and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top five.
Lando Norris’ session however was curtailed early due to a clutch issue, whilst rainfall in the closing minutes put paid to any chances of late improvement, amidst technical issues concerning yellow flags in the first sector despite no car stopping on track..
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 17.565 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.162 |
| 3 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.373 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.390 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.529 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.562 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.562 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.573 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.633 |
| 10 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.765 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.845 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.988 |
| 13 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.126 |
| 14 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.148 |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.244 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.336 |
| 17 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.382 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.491 |
| 19 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | + 1.527 |
| 20 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.581 |
Qualifying
Q1
With a high risk of rain showers, several drivers opted to head straight out on track and it was Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg who set the initial pace with 1m 18.373, just before Perez brought out the red flags with 11 minutes and 44s left on the clock.
The Mexican’s FP3 issues had continued into Q1 and he locked up into Turn 3 and beeched his Red Bull in the gravel, ruining any hope of a second Red Bull front-row lockout of this season and Perez will start from 20th on the grid.
Upon the restart, Verstappen was first out on track with several drivers running for remainder of session as the track evolved rapidly, with the Dutchman topping Q1 with 1m 17.384 ahead of Hamilton.
Down in the elimination zone, Perez will be joined by Bottas on the back row with Sargeant and Zhou starting in 18th and 17th positions, just behind Melbourne’s hometown idol, Piastri who could only qualify 16th on his home debut.
Q2
De Vries was first out on track ahead of a queue of cars amidst the persistent lingering threat of rain, with Leclerc setting the initial pace of 1m 17.560 ahead of Stroll and Hulkenberg.
Verstappen in the sixth minute posted 1m 17.219 to take control at the summit whilst once everyone completed their first flying laps, the elimination zone compromised of; Tsunoda, Gasly, Magnussen, De Vries and Norris.
As the checkered flag fell, only Gasly survived at the expense of his Alpine teammate, Ocon who missed out on a Q3 spot by just 0.007s to Albon.
Tsunoda qualified 12th ahead of Norris, Magnussen and De Vries who were also eliminated in Q2, which was topped by Verstappen with 1m 17.056.
Q3
Like after the Q1 red flag, Verstappen opted for track position as he ventured straight out at the start of Q3 ahead of everyone else but Stroll, with some opting for two warm-up laps.
Verstappen though immediately set the pace with a benchmark time of 1m 17.578 but his time was quickly bettered by Hamilton with 1m 17.271 plus Alonso, Russell, Sainz and Leclerc.
The reigning champion though immediately responded to put himself top with 1m 17.262 by just 0.009s from Hamilton with six minutes left on the clock, as rain threatened to move in across the concluding minutes.
Verstappen in the eighth minute revealed on team radio that his driveshifts were worsening which suggested that he was once again enduring a technical issue, albeit this time in Q3 rather than in Q2 as happened in Saudi Arabia.
As the checkered flag fell, the anticipated rain failed to materialise as Verstappen produced 1m 16.732 to claim his first pole position in Australia, although by just 0.236s from Russell with Hamilton and Alonso sharing the second row.
Sainz, Stroll, Leclerc, Albon, Gasly and Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 16.732 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.236 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.372 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.407 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.538 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.576 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferraru | + 0.637 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.877 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.943 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.003 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1m 17.768 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.331 |
| 13 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.351 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.361 |
| 15 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | + 0.567 |
| 16 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 18.517 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.023 |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.040 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.197 |
| 20 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | No Time |
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