(AFP via Getty Images)
Charles Leclerc took a dramatic pole position at the Australian Grand Prix, his second pole of the season Leclerc leads the drivers’ standings after two races, winning the Bahrain Grand Prix that started the season followed by second place behind world champion Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia and the Ferrari driver is now in a good position to extends this advantage to Melbourne. Albert Park Street Circuit. Verstappen finished second in qualifying behind his opponent, with Sergio Perez’s Red Bull third, Lando Norris an impressive fourth at McLaren and Lewis Hamilton fifth – surpassing Mercedes teammate George Russell. Carlos Sainz’s second Ferrari is in ninth place. There have been several accidents during the qualifiers with Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll teaming up to cause a red flag in Q1 and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine heading for the dam, which led to another interruption and delay in Q3. Watch all the latest reactions from qualifying below:
Australian Grand Prix F1 Qualifiers
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Reminder of qualifying results
A reminder of the starting line-up for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix, which starts at 6am in the UK: Dan Austin 9 April 2022 09:30 1649492574
Verstappen says he struggled with Red Bull’s “balance” all year
Max Verstappen will start tomorrow’s race in second place, but says he is having a hard time balancing the Red Bull car in all three racing weekends so far this season. The Dutchman beat his teammate, Sergio Perez, but will start behind Charles Leclerc in Melbourne. “I was hoping to start first, but we have to accept where we finished,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. “It was a little difficult for me, everywhere, and I have never found a firm grip on the front or back. But this has been the case all year, I have never found a balance where I can fully attack at all angles, especially in the qualifiers. It was difficult, we have a lot more potential in the car than we show and that is a shame. “I like a car that is pointed at the front and if it slips a lot it is not good. I think in the race the car needs to stabilize a bit and become easier to drive. “You do not have to look for the performance of a lap where we can not find the balance, and the long distances looked good, so hopefully we can have a good fight again.” Dan Austin 9 April 2022 09:22 1649491944
Leclerc says making driving style more “expensive” helped win Australia’s pole GP
Charles Leclerc says he has worked hard to modify his driving style to secure the pole for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Monegasque beat both Red Bull drivers in pole position in the final lap of the session and says becoming more “accurate” was the key. “The car felt very good,” he told Sky Sports F1. “In general I am very happy because I have always had a hard time here in the past and you may not be able to see from the outside because we look fast on the track, but I had a hard time this weekend with a lot of mistakes and inconsistencies. I’ve really worked on that and I tried to do a good round together, and I did it in Q3. For me personally [the difficulty of the Albert Park circuit] is the nature of the turns, where the turn phase is very steep and fast, and I struggle with the driving style at these turns to be very precise. So I worked hard on it and composed it, so I felt good. “ Dan Austin 9 April 2022 09:12 1649491627
Norris is looking forward to racing with Mercedes in Australia
Lando Norris excelled in qualifying to put his McLaren in the second row of the grid in Melbourne. The team struggled in the first two rounds of the season, but Norris has a strong platform to offer solid points in tomorrow’s race and the 22-year-old is looking forward to the prospect of Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. which will start fifth and sixth. “It’s nice to be so far away,” Norris told Sky Sports F1. “We took a few small steps forward as a team, but the realistic thing is that the car is much faster on this track than others. [The three DRS zones] must be good for good matches. It’s been a while, really since F2 [Russell and I] we had our last good battle in Monza. I think we can have good games tomorrow, and I hope we can play [both Mercedes] more often. “But the pace of the Mercs race is often stronger, stronger than ours, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” Dan Austin 9 April 2022 09:07 1649491344
Horner is still “happy” with the second and third for Red Bull
Red Bull may not have been able to take pole position away from Ferrari in the third quarter, but team leader Christian Horner is still happy with the team’s starting position in Australia. With Carlos Sainz starting in ninth place on Sunday morning, the Red Bulls will have a strategic advantage over Charles Leclerc’s only Ferrari and Horner believes they can still win. “I’m still very happy with it, second and third on the grid,” Horner told Sky Sports F1. “For Max, this lock cost him about three-tenths that would bring him closer to Charles. It was a great round, but we are still in the front row. “It looks like [the Ferarris] “he will have a little headache with all this bouncing,” Horner added. “What we do not know, because the big stairs were not big enough, is whether this will have an effect on the degradation. “But we are very confident that we can fight them and see what happens.” Dan Austin 9 April 2022 09:02 1649490887
Alonso disappointed after his accident cost “the best weekend in years”
Fernando Alonso is clearly disappointed in the media after a plumbing problem caused the crash that cost him a possible shot at the pole position in Australia. The Spaniard had the fastest midfield than anyone else in Q3, but lost control of the gears at turn 11 and hit obstacles and bypassed the gravel trap. “I think it’s something hydraulic because I could not change gear and the steering wheel became too heavy, so it looked like we lost the steering wheel,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I do not know if we could fight for the pole, but definitely the top three. We had two sets of new tires because we saved them. It’s so frustrating. I do not know and I honestly do not care at the moment, I had the best weekend for years, so now whatever it is we will take it “. Dan Austin 9 April 2022 08:54 1649490718
Sainz will be “angry” until he goes to bed tonight
Carlos Sainz has had tremendous luck during today’s qualifier and is furious at his press conference afterwards. The Spaniard says that a problem with the start of his Ferrari in his garage cost him a shot in the pole position and he will now start tomorrow’s race in ninth place. “It was much better, a regular lap,” Sainz said of the lap he was in shortly before the red flag went off after Fernando Alonso crashed. With one chance left, Sainz ran out in his flying lap, but blamed a technical error in Ferrari garage for the low time of the laptime. “We could not start the car and got out three minutes later than we wanted to,” Sainz explained. “I did not have time to prepare the round, I had to do it with icy tires. He was unlucky and everything went wrong because I was in the pole race. He knows I’m angry because we should not have these problems with the starter. It was just a disaster. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. I’m not going to be happy because someone tells me. “Sleep well and go again tomorrow, but until I go to sleep I will be angry.” Dan Austin 9 April 2022 08:51 1649490419
Perez wants fans to enjoy a “nice match” in Melbourne
Sergio Perez looked like the fastest player on the track for most of the qualifiers, but will have to settle for third place on the grid for tomorrow’s race after falling behind teammate Max Verstappen and pole-sitter Charles Leclerc. the checkered flag. The Red Bull man’s priority is for fans to enjoy the first race at Albert Park in 2019, due to the Covid-19 protocols. “Things were going well,” the Mexican explained. “It is always difficult to maintain momentum with all the red flags. P3 is good enough to start tomorrow. We have a nice race ahead of us and first of all I hope to make many Australians happy tomorrow. “Full stands, so let’s make them a nice match tomorrow.” Dan Austin 9 April 2022 08:46 1649490244
Verstappen mourns “everywhere” in Australia over the weekend so far
Mav Verstappen did not seem to have the same pace as teammate Sergio Perez for most of this morning’s qualifier, but managed to beat him in second place on the grid for tomorrow’s match. The world champion, however, is not happy with the balance of his car at Red Bull. “I have not felt good in the car this weekend so far,” the Dutchman explained. “There has never been a round where I feel completely comfortable or so wonderful to reach the limit. Probably in the racing rhythm everything stabilizes a bit, but this weekend so far has been everywhere. “I am happy to be second, but as a team we want more.” Dan Austin 9 April 2022 08:44 1649490112
Leclerc celebrates pole position on the track where he has “raced” in the past
Charles Leclerc took the 11th pole position of his career in Melbourne this morning and says that the F1075 Ferrari car “feels great” around the Albert Park track. “I felt good,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Even more so because it is a track that I have always had a hard time with in the past. We worked very hard, it was a bit messy in practice, as not everything is combined, but I did it in the third quarter. I feel great and very happy to start at pole tomorrow. The car is nice to drive, but the Red Bulls were very fast during the long fuel life, so tomorrow we just have to make a good start and then …
