Max Verstappen takes Australian Grand Prix pole position from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton as Sergio Perez crashes

Max Verstappen took pole position from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton for the Australian Grand Prix in tricky conditions during qualifying in Melbourne. Light rain before qualifying, cool conditions and chaos in the three practice sessions meant there were plenty of unknowns, but Verstappen came out on top with a superb final run in Q3 that was 0.236 seconds faster than Russell, with Hamilton another 0.136 seconds further adrift. Ad Verstappen, who has never won at Albert Park, was the only driver in Q3 to not do a warm-up lap before his flying laps.

Formula 1Horner dismisses notion Red Bull a one-car team: We give both drivers the best opportunity16 HOURS AGO “The last run was very good,” said Verstappen. “The whole weekend has been very tough to get the tyres ready to push straightaway but it worked out in Q3 and I am very happy with the lap and to be on pole position. «I think we always try to fine-tune and we will continue to do that.

I think we will have a good race car but it is tricky to keep the tyres alive so it will be an interesting race for sure. »I have been on the podium once here but I want to be on a different step this time.” Hamilton and Russell were both surprised to be in the top three, with the latter keen to understand where Mercedes’ pace came from, considering their relatively poor start to the season. «We weren't expecting that, that's for sure,” added Russell.

„A lot of hard work going on at the factory, here in Melbourne and wow, what a session for us. “The car felt alive, the lap at the end was right on the limit and to be honest I'm a little bit disappointed that we didn't get pole position. »It's one of those things where your expectations change so quickly in this sport.