Verstappen beats Russell and Hamilton to pole as Perez has shocker
Verstappen ended up 0.236s faster than George Russell as he secured his second pole position of the season in a close qualifying in Melbourne, but it was a nightmare session for Perez.
The Mexican beached his Red Bull in the gravel at Turn 3 on his first run of Q1, leaving him at the very back of the grid in 20th as Verstappen went on to secure his first pole in Australia.
It was a much-improved qualifying showing from Mercedes as Russell out-qualified teammate Lewis Hamilton for the third successive race as he ended up just 0.035s clear of the seven-time world champion.
Fernando Alonso will join Hamilton on the second row of the grid after ending up 0.407s off the pace in his Aston Martin, while Carlos Sainz was the quickest Ferrari driver in fifth.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was sixth, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon, who impressed on his way to eighth-fastest for Williams.
Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top-10 for Alpine and Haas.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri suffered a Q1 elimination in his first Australian Grand Prix qualifying and will start 16th for his home race.
