The two-time Dutch world champion Max Verstappen, from Red Bull, achieved his second pole position of the season this Saturday in Melbourne, at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, while his Mexican teammate, Sergio Pérez, will start in last position.
For this third round of the Formula 1 World Championship, the Dutchman will start ahead of the British George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, both from Mercedes, satisfied after a successful third qualifying session.
Verstappen only led Russell by 236 thousandths, a smaller difference than expected, perhaps due to the slightly chilly conditions in qualifying.
The Spaniards Fernando Alonso, from Aston Martin, and Carlos Sainz, from Ferrari, achieved fourth and fifth positions.
The Mexican Sergio Pérez went off the track in the first part of qualifying, a symbol of a catastrophic start to the weekend for the man who had achieved pole position and victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks earlier.
During free practice on Saturday, he had already gone off the track several times due to braking problems, which also prevented him from achieving a better position afterwards.
"It’s always the same problem"the Mexican lamented.
"Hopefully we can fix that technical problem for tomorrow’s race (Sunday), otherwise it will be difficult to race like this"indicated.
"We are confident that together, as a team, we will be able to solve it."said.
"I thought the problem was solved. And I was confident in that sense, but it wasn’t and I knew it as soon as I hit the brakes on lap three (of qualifying)."Perez explained.
The 22nd ‘pole’ of his career
Verstappen, who only leads him by one point, could take advantage of the situation to consolidate his leadership in the World Cup in Melbourne.
The Dutchman has never won this race and only managed one podium finish in 2019 (3rd). Last year he dropped out after the engine in his car caught fire.
"I’ve been on the podium once here, hopefully I’ll be on another step tomorrow"said the 25-year-old pilot.
In Melbourne he achieved the 22nd ‘pole’ of his career, equaling the Spanish Fernando Alonso, 16 years older than him. He is now approaching the Brazilian Nelson Piquet and the Austrian Niki Lauda, who have achieved 24.
The Dutchman, winner of the first GP of the season in Bahrain, however said he was not in top form. In Jeddah, he suffered from stomach pains before and during the race, which did not prevent him from finishing second, after a fantastic comeback after starting fifteenth.
If Pérez does not imitate him on Sunday, the third Grand Prix of the season could allow another team to finally break Red Bull’s total dominance since the start of the season.
"So happy"
And it could be a Mercedes driver. Russell and Hamilton showed their hope of victory, after being fourth and fifth in Saudi Arabia.
"we did not expect this"said Russell (front line), almost "disappointed to miss pole position".
"We really show potential and there is still", warned the British. His partner Hamilton, who said he was "very happy" and aim to win the race.
The Spanish Fernando Alonso, 41, who will start from the second row and who has achieved podiums in the two previous races, was happy.
"It seems like we’re getting better every session and the car seems good to drive."stated the two-time Spanish world champion.
"I think it was probably our best qualifying session this season and where we’ve been we’re closest in pole times."added the Asturian.
"We’ll see what we can do tomorrow, because our race pace seems to be one of our strong points."he pointed.
"We know it will be difficult to overtake, but in these cold conditions it will be an interesting race, with many unforeseen events."he concluded.
Melbourne will be followed by a four-week break following the cancellation of the Chinese GP. On Sunday, Verstappen therefore has the opportunity to send a message to the competition from the start of this marathon season.
