Leclerc puts Ferrari on pole at Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE : Charles Leclerc took pole position for Ferrari in crash-laden qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, pipping Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen on the upgraded Albert Park circuit.

Leclerc saved his best for last, posting a flying lap of one minute 17.868 seconds, to be nearly three-tenths of a second quicker than Dutchman Verstappen. It was the Monagesque's 11th career pole and second of the season.

"This weekend we really worked had... It was a bit messy for the three practice sessions," he said.

"Q3 (third qualifying phase) I managed to (put) everything together so it feels great and I'm very happy to be on pole position tomorrow.

"The car is nice to drive. ... We were again quite surprised by our pace in qualifying."

Verstappen finished ahead of third-placed team mate Sergio Perez, with McLaren's Lando Norris to start fourth on the grid.

Verstappen said he was having a "terrible" weekend, struggling with handling issues.

"Not good, I didn't really feel good in the car the whole weekend so far.... Of course second is still a good result.

"As a team we want more."

Lewis Hamilton, whose run of six consecutive poles at Albert Park was broken, will start fifth ahead of sixth-placed team mate George Russell.

Daniel Ricciardo will start seventh after an encouraging session for McLaren.

Twice world champion Fernando Alonso crashed out at the start of the final phase of qualifying, thudding his Alpine car into the wall at turn 11.

"I lost the hydraulics and couldn't change gear," he lamented on the team radio before his car was hauled off track by a crane.

After both Aston Martin cars crashed out in the final practice earlier on Saturday, the team's travails continued as Lance Stroll collided with