Max Verstappen claims pole for Australian GP but Mercedes roar again

Max Verstappen claimed pole for Red Bull in the Australian Grand Prix, mastering testing, cool conditions in Melbourne and lowering the Albert Park lap record four times to confirm his favouritism for Sunday’s race.

He beat the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton into second and third, a great result for the team who are struggling this season. Fernando Alonso was in fourth for Aston Martin.

“I am so happy with this,” said Hamilton. “This is a totally unexpected and really proud of the team. George did really well and for us to be up on the two front rows is a dream for us. We’re all working as hard as we can and hope tomorrow we can give them a run for their money.”

Australia’s Oscar Piastri, born in Melbourne and competing in his first home grand prix, was in 16th for McLaren at Albert Park. “We adjusted the front wing a little bit for the last run and maybe it wasn’t the best,” the 21-year-old rookie said. “A little bit of inexperience on my side potentially … it wasn’t the best preparation. All weekend it has been difficult to get the first lap going with the tyres because it’s so cold … what we did was fine, just not quite good enough.”

Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, hopeful of mounting a title challenge against Verstappen this season, suffered a huge setback. He locked-up into turn three and went off in Q1, beaching the car and ending his session, finishing in 20th place. The Mexican had struggled in final practice and indicated to his team that there was an issue with his car that was causing him to lock-up.

With the temperatures cool and the soft tyres needing working up to speed the drivers stayed out during Q3 to set quick laps and then ease off. In the opening stages Hamilton set a very strong time, just