Charles Leclerc on pole, 0.286s clear of Max Verstappen; Lando Norris fourth ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell; Fernando Alonso crashes in Q3, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi collide in Q1; Watch Sunday’s race live on Sunday at 6am on Sky Sports F1
By Matt Morlidge
Last Updated: 09/04/22 9:04am
Championship leader Charles Leclerc will start on pole for the Australian Grand Prix after outpacing 2022 rival Max Verstappen with his final lap of an exciting Melbourne qualifying that was disrupted by crashes.
Leclerc left it late but posted a mighty 1:17.868 in the dying embers of Q3 to snatch pole from Verstappen, who finished more than two tenths off the driver he has gone wheel-to-wheel with in both races to start the season.
“It feels great,” said Leclerc, who now has two poles this year. “We were quite surprised by our pace.”
A frustrated Verstappen has complained of a lack of balance all weekend and felt that held him back again in qualifying, calling it a “struggle” and insisting there wasn’t “one lap where I have felt confident.”
The pair will go head-to-head again on the front row for Sunday’s race, live on Sky Sports F1 at 6am.
Verstappen still beat Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, while Lando Norris delivered a superb fourth for McLaren as the team put their early 2022 struggles behind them with both cars in the top seven.
Another team who found much-needed improvement were Mercedes.
While still finishing one second off pole, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed fifth and sixth, lowly positions given Mercedes’ F1 success of old but heady ones considering their form so far this weekend and this season.
Carlos Sainz was surprisingly only ninth in the other Ferrari, caught out by the red flags that were brought out by Fernando Alonso in the the second crash of qualifying.
Alonso, who looked to be in the battle for top positions and was on a stonking opening Q3 lap, agonisingly went off in the final sector in his Alpine to end his chances.
Earlier in qualifying, there was a bizarre coming together as Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll crashed heavily in Q1.
Latifi and Stroll were both on slow laps when they squabbled for position when trying to get out of the way of another car, with Stroll inadvertently turning into the Williams as he tried to pass. Both drivers blamed each other.
That incident could also have repercussions further up the grid, with Perez’s third in doubt as he is under investigation for failing to slow for the double waved yellows.
Australian GP Qualifying, Top 10
1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
4) Lando Norris, McLaren
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6) George Russell, Mercedes
7) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
8) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
9) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
10) Fernando Alonso, Alpine
More to follow.
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