F1 qualifying results: Max Verstappen takes Australian GP pole

Verstappen will start ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Australian Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Russell

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Time	Delay
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'16.732
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1'16.968	0.236
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'17.104	0.372
4	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'17.139	0.407
5	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1'17.270	0.538
6	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'17.308	0.576
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'17.369	0.637
8	23	Alexander Albon	Williams/Mercedes	1'17.609	0.877
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine/Renault	1'17.675	0.943
10	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas/Ferrari	1'17.735	1.003
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine/Renault	1'17.768	1.036
12	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT	1'18.099	1.367
13	4	Lando Norris	McLaren/Mercedes	1'18.119	1.387
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas/Ferrari	1'18.129	1.397
15	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT	1'18.335	1.603
16	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren/Mercedes	1'18.517	1.785
17	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo/Ferrari	1'18.540	1.808
18	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams/Mercedes	1'18.557	1.825
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo/Ferrari	1'18.714	1.982
20	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	-	-

What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q1?

Nico Hulkenberg set the early pace for Haas at 1m18.373s when the red flag came out for Sergio Perez going off into the gravel in his Red Bull at Turn 3.

Verstappen grabbed P1 with a lap of 1m18.063s at the resumption, which he lowered to 1m17.469s and 1m17.384s, ending the session three tenths clear of the Mercedes pairing of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).

Falling at the first hurdle were local hero Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Logan Sargeant (Williams, who spun early on), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Perez.

Australian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Russell

Cla	Driver	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	1'17.384			245.539
2	George Russell	1'17.654	0.270	0.270	244.685
3	Lewis Hamilton	1'17.689	0.305	0.035	244.575
4	Esteban Ocon	1'17.770	0.386	0.081	244.320
5	Fernando Alonso	1'17.832	0.448	0.062	244.125
6	Lance Stroll	1'17.873	0.489	0.041	243.997
7	Carlos Sainz	1'17.928	0.544	0.055	243.825
8	Alex Albon	1'17.962	0.578	0.034	243.718
9	Nico Hulkenberg	1'18.029	0.645	0.067	243.509
10	Kevin Magnussen	1'18.159	0.775	0.130	243.104
11	Charles Leclerc	1'18.218	0.834	0.059	242.921
12	Lando Norris	1'18.243	0.859	0.025	242.843
13	Pierre Gasly	1'18.312	0.928	0.069	242.629
14	Nyck de Vries	1'18.450	1.066	0.138	242.202
15	Yuki Tsunoda	1'18.471	1.087	0.021	242.137
16	Oscar Piastri	1'18.517	1.133	0.046	241.996
17	Zhou Guanyu	1'18.540	1.156	0.023	241.925
18	Logan Sargeant	1'18.557	1.173	0.017	241.872
19	Valtteri Bottas	1'18.714	1.330	0.157	241.390
20	Sergio Perez
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What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q2?

The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc set the initial pace at 1m17.560s until Verstappen took over at the top with 1m17.219s. Alonso got to within 0.064s of that before Verstappen ran again and improved to 1m17.056s, ahead of Alonso and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).

Knocked out at this point were Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Lando Norris (McLaren, who suffered an off at Turn 3), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri).

Australian Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Alonso

Cla	Driver	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	1'17.056			246.584
2	Fernando Alonso	1'17.283	0.227	0.227	245.860
3	Carlos Sainz	1'17.349	0.293	0.066	245.650
4	Charles Leclerc	1'17.390	0.334	0.041	245.520
5	Nico Hulkenberg	1'17.412	0.356	0.022	245.450
6	George Russell	1'17.513	0.457	0.101	245.130
7	Lewis Hamilton	1'17.551	0.495	0.038	245.010
8	Pierre Gasly	1'17.574	0.518	0.023	244.937
9	Lance Stroll	1'17.616	0.560	0.042	244.805
10	Alex Albon	1'17.761	0.705	0.145	244.348
11	Esteban Ocon	1'17.768	0.712	0.007	244.326
12	Yuki Tsunoda	1'18.099	1.043	0.331	243.291
13	Lando Norris	1'18.119	1.063	0.020	243.228
14	Kevin Magnussen	1'18.129	1.073	0.010	243.197
15	Nyck de Vries	1'18.335	1.279	0.206	242.558
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What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen laid down his marker with a scrappy lap of 1m17.578s. Alonso beat that with 1m17.303s, before Hamilton banged in a 1m17.271s to snatch the quickest time.

Verstappen, who slipped to sixth, pushed again and grabbed P1 back with 1m17.262s, but only by 0.009s from Hamilton.

On the final runs, Verstappen lowered his pole time to 1m16.732s, 0.236s ahead of Russell, while Hamilton just pipped Alonso for third. Sainz will start fifth, ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Leclerc, Alex Albon (Williams) Pierre Gasly (Alpine), and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas).

Australian Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole

Cla	Driver	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	1'16.732			247.625
2	George Russell	1'16.968	0.236	0.236	246.866
3	Lewis Hamilton	1'17.104	0.372	0.136	246.430
4	Fernando Alonso	1'17.139	0.407	0.035	246.318
5	Carlos Sainz	1'17.270	0.538	0.131	245.901
6	Lance Stroll	1'17.308	0.576	0.038	245.780
7	Charles Leclerc	1'17.369	0.637	0.061	245.586
8	Alex Albon	1'17.609	0.877	0.240	244.827
9	Pierre Gasly	1'17.675	0.943	0.066	244.619
10	Nico Hulkenberg	1'17.735	1.003	0.060	244.430
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