Verstappen takes convincing Australian Grand Prix pole

Max Verstappen has comfortably powered to pole for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix by going fastest in this evening’s qualifying.

Verstappen will have the Mercedes of George Russell starting alongside him on the front row, the Brit outqualifying his teammate Lewis Hamilton for the third time in three races.

The threat of rain loomed in the air prior to qualifying, meaning teams were quick to take to the track to set a flying lap in case of a change in conditions. Such change was never to happen, the weather holding off to allow for some dry running.

The majority of competitors were able to run cleanly over the hour, with the exception of Sergio Perez and Logan Sargeant.

Both were eliminated in Q1, Perez after beaching his car in the Turn 3 gravel without setting a time and Sargeant spinning on a flying lap early in the session. The American was able to set a competitive time shortly thereafter however it was not enough to progress.

Perez’s failure to set a time will see him start 20th and also triggered the only red flag of the session. A charge through the field is the most likely result come race time, however, given the pace Red Bull has displayed all weekend.

Hamilton was forced to settle for third and has another former World Champion for company on the second row, Fernando Alonso qualifying fourth.

The first of the Ferraris is Carlos Sainz in fifth with Lance Stroll demonstrating Aston Martin’s pace by qualifying sixth.

Charles Leclerc rounds out the Ferrari contingent in seventh and has Alex Albon alongside on the fourth row.

Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10 respectively.

An extremely tight Q1 saw hometown hero Oscar Piastri narrowly miss out on progressing, McLaren’s woes continuing with Piastri forced to start 16th tomorrow.

Alfa Romeo were the biggest losers in qualifying with both Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas failing to make Q2. Zhou will start 17th and Bottas 19th with the Williams of Sargeant splitting the pair.

Q2 ran interruption-free with the only drama of note coming from Lando Norris who ran through the Turn 3 gravel which had claimed Perez in the earlier session.

Nico Hulkenberg was the surprise package of the session, going fifth fastest while his teammate Kevin Magnussen was eliminated in 14th.

Joining the Dane in the bottom five of Q2 were Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Norris and Nyck de Vries.

This left two Ferraris, two Mercedes, two Aston Martins, a Red Bull, a Haas, an Alpine and a Williams to fight it out in Q3.

It ultimately came down to Verstappen’s final lap for the best time to be set, the two-time defending champion provisionally holding top spot until he bettered his time.

It took Russell and Hamilton’s final lap to move them up the order, the former doing enough to better his teammate.

Ferrari seem to be caught in the midst of a fierce midfield battle and was out-qualified by Aston Martin once again.

Albon only set one flying lap but it was enough to hold off the best times of Gasly and Hulkenberg to see him start eighth.

The Australian Grand Prix begins at 5 pm NZ time tomorrow and will be shown live on Sky Sports 5.

Australian Grand Prix Starting Grid