pole by Leclerc; 2. Verstappen; 3. and 4. Perez and Norris. Only 9. Sainz

With an extraordinary performance at the last second Charles Leclerc scores pole position of the Australian GP, ​​beating Max Verstappen by 286 thousandths of a second after the investigation into the Ferrari for an excessively slow return lap during qualifying. Sergio Perez will start from the second row with the other Red Bull and Lando Norris, brilliant fourth with McLaren. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton e George Russell while the red flag caused by Fernando Alonso’s departure from the track prevents Carlos Sainz from doing better than the ninth performance.

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At the end of a qualifying session twice interrupted by the pink flag, Leclerc and Ferrari print at Melbourne’s Albert Park a pole position that makes an encore of that of Sakhir’s seasonal debut and that “is worth” a mortgage on the victory in the Australian GP. In the decisive time attack, the Monegasque found the necessary thousandths (286) to leave behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez (+0.372). However, an investigation is pending on the author of the pole for having completed an excessively slow pit lane in the final qualifying phase.

The Red Bull couple has every intention of making life for Ferrari number sixteen, being able to set up a diversified strategy at the moment. In fact, Leclerc will in a certain sense only be there in front, given that his teammate Carlos Sainz was unable to do better than the ninth performance. The Spaniard, launched at the beginning of Q3 in a lap from pole, was stopped right at the finish line by the red flag, caused by Fernando Alonso’s departure from the track, betrayed by the change of his Alpine. In the final seven-minute rush Sainz was unable to repeat himself, making a mistake that cost him a lot in terms of GP Australia but perhaps even beyond, given Leclerc’s current state of grace.

From the second row Lando Norris will start with a McLaren that seems to have found itself in Melbourne: in his first Q3 of the season, the British driver joins Perez behind the two matadors Leclerc and Verstappen, while Daniel Ricciardo shares the fourth row with Esteban Ocon. To separate the two McLarens, for a four of Mercedes power unit, there are the Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton e George Russell. In the final, the seven-time world champion beats his teammate by 99 thousandths. The aforementioned completes the top ten Sainz and Alonso, for an all-Spanish fifth row in the name of … disappointment.

After the exploits of Sakhir and Jeddah, Valtteri Bottas takes a step backauthor of the twelfth performance with Alfa Romeo while his teammate grows up Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese rookie precedes Mick Schumacher (returning after the Jeddah forfeit) that finally comes out … from the shadow of Kevin Magnussen. Disastrous qualifications for Aston Martin: Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll both hit the block in the third free practice session. The red flag displayed for the accident between the Canadian Stroll (penalty of three positions on the grid) and his compatriot Nicholas Latifi allows Vettel’s mechanics to take part in qualifying at the last minute, but without being able to overcome the cut. A nightmare weekend so far for Aston Martin, an absolute disappointment in this first part of the season, all the more so now that McLaren has managed to make a first leap in quality.

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