Charles Leclerc seals Ferrari's first pole position in Melbourne for 15 years ahead of Australian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc took his second pole position of the season with a blistering performance at the Australian Grand Prix. The Ferrari, quickest in second practice at Albert Park, topped the timing charts with a 1:17:868, with Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez unable to match the in-form Monegasque driver in Melbourne, with second and third-placed finishes respectively.

Ad/> Perez’s final qualifying position is under investigation by the stewards, however, for an alleged failure to slow down under yellow flags during Q2. Australian Grand PrixVerstappen expecting Ferrari-Red Bull shoot-out for pole in qualifying20 HOURS AGO Leclerc’s performance was enough to secure the Scuderia team’s first pole position at Albert Park since 2007, when Kimi Raikkonen topped qualifying and went on to win the race.

Elsewhere, McLaren’s Lando Norris took a respectable fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who improved dramatically upon his performances in first and second practice and was just under a second behind pole-sitter Leclerc. Meanwhile, an error on his final flying lap left Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz down in ninth on the grid.

'No magic fix' — Wolff fires warning to Mercedes 'Nothing we change makes a difference' — Hamilton on Mercedes' struggles Home favourite Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line seventh, one place behind Mercedes’ George Russell, in a qualifying session that was red-flagged on two occasions. It was a late afternoon high on drama and excitement in Melbourne, with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll — who himself crashed out during third practice — getting into a misunderstanding that saw the former spin into the barrier at high speed during Q1.