A Carlos Sainz He was two tenths away from completing his feat in Australia. The man from Madrid, who had appendicitis surgery fourteen days ago in Arabia, fought until the last minute to take pole position in the Australian Grand Prix, which finally was his usual one. Max Verstappen (1,15,915) already has three this season and 35 throughout his career.
Intractable, the Red Bull driver has waited to deliver the final blow and tomorrow Sunday he will open the grid again, ahead of Sainz, Pérez, Norris and Leclerc closing the ‘top five’, while Fernando Alonso, who damaged his car in an ‘excursion’ through the gravel in Q3, he had to settle for tenth place.
Sainz, defiant
The track conditions have evolved very quickly already in Q1 and in the last minutes of this first sifting, the drivers have chosen to go out with a second set of soft tires to improve. Alonso and later Sainz have moved to the top of the time table.
The Madrid native has moved on to the next round with the best time (1.16.731), ahead of the two Red Bulls, less than a tenth behind, Leclerc and Alonso. The stewards have annulled Ricciardo’s fastest lap and the Australian has been eliminated by his countrymen, along with Hülkenberg, Gasly and Zhou. It should be remembered that Logan Sargeant has not participated in the session, after the Solomonic and controversial decision that Williams made yesterday, by allowing Albon, who destroyed his car in Free Practice 1, to use the American’s chassis for the rest of the grand prix.
Hamilton, KO
The first surprise came in Q2 with the premature elimination of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). The Briton, who holds the record for pole positions on the Albert Park track, with a total of eight, was far from his best level today and has been ruled out for the decisive phase, along with Albon, Bottas, Magnussen and Ocon.
Carlos Sainz, very ambitious, has once again passed the round with the best time (1.16.189), improving Verstappen by almost two tenths, while Alonso, with no options to fight for pole, has managed to enter Q3 in sixth position, to half a second.
Damage to Alonso’s car
The final fight has brought together on the track the two Ferraris, the two Red Bulls, the two McLarens, the two Aston Martins, Tsunoda with the Visa RB and Russell’s Mercedes.
Sainz and Leclerc started on the new soft because they had an extra set, while Alonso, Russell and Tsunoda started on the used soft. The Spaniard went off the track in the second sector and returned to the box with damage to the ground. The Melbourne gravel is wreaking ‘havoc’ this weekend and the Spaniard has not been spared.
Sainz has not improved his Q2 time in his first attempt, while Verstappen has closed the lap with provisional pole (1.16.048), ahead of the two Ferraris and his teammate Checo Pérez.
The last round has clarified the doubts: the three-time champion Max Verstappen has been the only one to go below the 1.16 barrier (1.15.915) and has achieved his third consecutive pole of the season and the 35th of his career in F1. Carlos has improved, but not enough to chase the three-time champion and has had to settle for second position, while Fernando Alonso was unable to find time due to the problems with the flat bottom of his AMR24 and finished tenth.
Australian GP. Classification (QP):
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1’15″915
2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 1’16″185
3. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) 1’16″274
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1’16″315
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1’16″435
6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1’16″572
7. George Russell (Mercedes) 1’16″724
8. Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB) 1’16″788
9. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1’17″072
10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1’17″552
11. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’16″960
12. Alexander Albon (Williams) 1’17″167
13. Valtteri Bottas (Stake Sauber) 1’17″340
14. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1’17″427
15. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) 1’17″697
16. Nico Hülkengerg (Haas) 1’17″976
17. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1’17″982
18. Daniel Ricciardo (VCARB) 1’18″085
19. Guanyu Zhou (Stake Sauber) 1’18″188
2024-03-23 06:37:37
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