George Russell will start this Sunday (8) from first position in the Australian Grand Prix, the opening race of the new Formula 1 season.
This Saturday (7), the British driver set the best time in qualifying at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, and beat his Italian teammate Kimi Antonelli and Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) by 293 thousandths of a second and 785 thousandths of a second, respectively.
“A great day. We knew the car had a lot of potential”, celebrated Russell. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race, I think we can offer quite exciting races to the public.”
Much more complicated was the session for young Antonelli, 19, who suffered an accident in free practice this Saturday and, after his mechanics managed to rebuild his car, entered the track just three minutes before the end of Q1 so as not to be left out of the qualifying session.
Ferrari and McLaren behind
“It was a very, very stressful day. The mechanics today were the heroes. We couldn’t even adjust the car, we just left,” said the Italian.
Frenchman Hadjar, in his first race with Red Bull, finished third, but he wasn’t completely satisfied either: “I’m eight tenths behind (Russell). It’s a lot […]. If I can get a good start, I see myself having a good race.”
Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) took fourth place, ahead of the McLarens of Australian Oscar Piastri and Briton Lando Norris, who debuts his Formula 1 champion crown.
The top 10 is completed by the British Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), the Racing Bulls of New Zealander Liam Lawson and the British Arvid Lindblad, and the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi).
“It’s not the result we wanted or what we expected. […] However, the car is solid and has more potential than its finishing position indicates. Now it’s about understanding the problems, staying calm and making the most of tomorrow [domingo]”, declared Hamilton.
Acidente de Verstappen
The first big surprise of the season was the accident of four-time world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) during the first part of qualifying.
The Dutchman, who aspires to regain the title from Norris, will have to start from the pit lane in the first Grand Prix of the season.
Verstappen, who had just started his first fast lap, lost control of his car at the end of the finishing straight, before spinning and ending up against a protective wall after crossing a gravel run-off area.
“I had just hit the brakes and suddenly the rear axle locked completely out of nowhere. I don’t know why that happened or how it happened,” Verstappen said of the incident.
“I had never experienced anything like this in my entire career. The rear axle locked completely and, of course, at that speed you can no longer save the situation,” he explained. “The crash against the barriers wasn’t that strong. The steering wheel just slipped out of my hands and so I had to go to the medical center, but everything is fine.”
Problems for Alonso, Pérez and Sainz
The Alpine team, in difficulties since the beginning of the weekend, was unable to improve its performance and Argentinean Franco Colapinto will start from sixteenth position.
Aston Martin’s bad phase also continued on Saturday, as Canadian Lance Stroll was unable to participate in qualifying and Spaniard Fernando Alonso was eliminated in the first half and will start from 17th position.
Behind Alonso will be the two Cadillacs of Mexican Sergio Pérez and Finnish Valtteri Bottas.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Williams), who suffered a breakdown at the start of the third free practice session, was also unable to participate in qualifying.
See the Australian GP classification
1º George Russell – Mercedes
2º Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
3º Isack Hadjar – Red Bull Racing
4º Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
5º Oscar Piastri – McLaren
6º Lando Norris – McLaren
7º Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
8º Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls
9º Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls
10º Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi
11º Nico Hulkenberg – Audi
12º Oliver Bearman – Hare
13º Esteban Ocon – Haas
14º Pierre Gasly – Alpine
15º Alexander Albon – Williams
16º Franco Colapinto – Alpine
17º Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
18º Sergio Perez – Cadillac
19º Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac
