Ferrari’s Leclerc claims pole at Australian GP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A Ferrari versus Red Bull battle is shaping up as the likely scenario on Sunday at the first Australian Grand Prix since the pandemic began in 2020.

Charles Leclerc claimed Ferrari’s first pole position at the revamped Albert Park circuit since 2007 with a decisive final lap of 1 minute, 17.868 seconds in Melbourne on Saturday.

But running close behind were the Red Bulls of world champion Max Verstappen, who qualified .286 seconds behind, and Sergio Perez, who posted the third quickest time.

Leclerc and Verstappen have shared the opening two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and will now start alongside each other on the front row.

Aston Martin endured a difficult session when both Sebastian Vettel, who qualified 18th, and Montreal's Lance Stroll crashed into walls.

Stroll was also involved in a collision in the opening qualifying session with Williams driver Nicholas Latifi of Montreal. Latifi and Stroll will start at the back of the grid 19th and 20th respectively.

Leclerc, whose teammate Carlos Sainz qualified ninth, said he had never felt entirely comfortable on the circuit in previous visits.

This continued through practice sessions on Friday and Saturday. But in front of a record Saturday crowd of 123,247, he gambled by asking his Ferrari for more in what was a dashing last lap as he took his second pole position of the season and the 11th of his career.

“It was a good lap. This time I took quite a big risk, especially on Turn 6, which was quite tricky,” Leclerc said. “I am very happy with the lap, especially on a track like this where I have always struggled in the past, and also through practices, even though we were competitive.”

However, neither Leclerc nor Verstappen