Verstappen takes pole for Albert Park, Piastri fifth and ‘painful’ spot for Ricciardo

Max Verstappen was out of sorts, grumpy, had damaged his car in practice and didn’t top a single practice session heading into qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on Saturday.

And then Red Bull Racing’s reigning world champion did what he’s done for the best part of the past three years – find a gear none of his rivals could match, and take a significant step to equalling his own slice of Formula 1 history.

Verstappen saved his best for last in qualifying on Saturday afternoon in Melbourne, shattering the circuit’s pole record with a lap of 1min 16.387secs in the second phase of the three-part qualifying session before lowering that even further with a 1:15.915 on his final attempt, taking his third pole in a row to start 2024 as he chases a 10th straight victory.

Australian racer Oscar Piastri, driving for McLaren, had qualified for his second home race in sixth place. But he improved his position in the order to fifth after Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was relegated down the grid three spots for impeding Nico Hulkenberg during qualifying.

“It was a bit unexpected today in qualifying, but very happy with Q3 – both of those laps were really nice and enjoyable,” Verstappen said.

“It was a bit of a tricky weekend so far, but we managed to be there at the end. So far this weekend it has been difficult to find a good balance in the car, and in Q1 and Q2 I didn’t really feel like fighting for pole. We made some little tickles on the car and that seemed to help me in Q3 to really push it to the limit.”

Verstappen’s late turn of pace denied Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz a comeback pole after the Spaniard missed the previous race in Saudi Arabia after being rushed into hospital to have his appendix removed. Just 14 days after his operation, the Spaniard – who is being replaced by eight-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at the Italian team for next season and is without a confirmed drive for 2025 – bravely led the opening two parts of qualifying before finishing 0.270secs adrift of Verstappen.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks, a lot of days in bed leading to this moment to see if I could be here today to make it to this weekend,” said Sainz, who was no certainty to even compete in Melbourne.

“To put it on the front row after leading through qualifying, I was almost not believing it, especially after how tough it’s been. It’s impossible to feel 100 per cent after spending 7-10 days in bed, just trying to recover.

“I’m not in my most comfortable state when I’m driving out there, but I can get it done. As far as I can get it done without pain – a lot of discomfort and weird feelings but no pain – I can push flat-out.”

Perez matched his Melbourne best from 2022 with third on the grid before stewards penalised him. That meant McLaren’s Lando Norris jumped from fourth to third, the Briton finishing ahead of pole favourite Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and his Australian teammate Piastri.

While Piastri shone as the autumnal sun shimmered around Albert Park, it was a disastrous session for compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, the RB driver having his best lap time deleted for driving outside of limits of the track at turn five and finishing 18th for his worst qualifying result in Australia in 10 attempts.

The 34-year-old was again beaten comprehensively by Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified in eighth place.

In front of a Saturday crowd of 130,806 at Albert Park, Sainz defied his compromised preparation to lead the first two phases of qualifying as Verstappen fell two-tenths of a second behind after the first two parts of the session, where Hamilton was dumped out in 11th place for his worst qualifying showing in Melbourne since 2010.

Verstappen, who ran off track on Friday and damaged the floor of his RB20 machine, then improved by four-tenths of a second on his final lap to start in the ideal position to extend his winning run to 10 consecutive races; the Dutchman has won from his past 18 pole positions, and only Sainz – in Singapore last year – has beaten the reigning world champion to victory in the past 20 races.

Just 19 drivers took part in qualifying after Williams withdrew Logan Sargeant from the event on Friday night, Thai teammate Alexander Albon taking over the American’s car after destroying his own chassis in a heavy crash in opening practice.

Albon, who scored 27 of Williams’ 28 points last year to almost single-handedly push the team to a seventh-place finish in the constructors’ championship, qualified 12th on his 28th birthday.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Williams’ team principal James Vowles justified the decision to bench Sargeant for Albon while acknowledging his team’s failings in not having enough parts on hand to build a replacement chassis at the circuit.

“Points are only allocated for the top 10 cars, and the difference between P6 [Haas] and P10 [in the championship] is one point,” Vowles said.

“At the end of the season, I think you’ll see a point or two will dictate championship positions in the battle we’re in.

“Across this year, Alex has had the leading edge over Logan at every single event and with just one car [available], you put your best statistical chance to score a point in [the car] because every point could make the difference.”

‘Mixed feelings’ for Piastri, ‘painful’ starting spot for Ricciardo

McLaren’s Piastri admitted to “mixed feelings” after qualifying in fifth for Sunday’s race, while compatriot Ricciardo was left perplexed by his ongoing qualifying struggles extending to his home grand prix after finishing second-last for Sunday’s 58-lap race.

Piastri, who qualified in 16th place and scored his maiden F1 points in eighth one year ago in Melbourne, rued a “messy” final 12-minute stage of qualifying. He slipped behind Lando Norris after having the measure of his British teammate through the first two stages of the hour-long session, the 22-year-old finishing 0.257secs adrift of Norris (fourth) and six-tenths of a second behind runaway pole-sitter Verstappen.

“In terms of position, not too bad, but in terms of a lap it was just a messy Q3,” said Piastri, who finished fourth in the most recent race in Saudi Arabia and was commenting before Perez’s penalty was announced.

“Q1 and Q2, I had good momentum … just a messy first lap in Q3 with the tyre preparation, and then the second lap I made too many mistakes. I feel like there was maybe a little bit more on the table today which is a bit of a shame … not too many more positions, maybe in front of [Ferrari’s] Charles [Leclerc] in fifth, so mixed feelings.

“I messed up turn one both times in Q3 and then you’re always a bit on the back foot. A bit scrappy which was a shame, because until that point it had been a really strong day.

“We’ll see what we can do tomorrow from there … Lando has done a good job to get in front of Charles. We’ll see if we can stay there in the race, but trying to beat the Red Bulls and the Ferraris will be tough.”

Ricciardo, meanwhile, continued his muted start to the season after sitting out his home race 12 months ago after being sacked by McLaren at the end of the 2022 season.

The 34-year-old looked to have ended a run of outs that saw him stranded outside the top 10 in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to start the season with a storming lap late in the first 18-minute phase of qualifying, but the time was later scrubbed for him running outside the painted lines that define the track at turn five, the RB driver left marooned in 18th place for the worst qualifying of his 10 Australian Grands Prix.

To add to his disappointment, Ricciardo was comprehensively beaten by teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the third race in succession, the Japanese driver finishing in eighth place.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in where I start,” a disconsolate Ricciardo said afterwards.

“It’s certainly painful. I’m still a bit … pre-occupied on where the lap time is currently in this car. The lap itself I was happy with, I felt like I got everything out of it. When I saw it still wasn’t good enough, let’s say compared to Yuki … I’m still a bit puzzled.

“I’m don’t know where there was much more time. You obviously take a couple of tenths [of a second] from track [evolution], but six, seven-tenths, that’s not in it. Some corner speeds I see, I’m simply not able to gain enough speed. I feel like I’m at the edge with the car, in terms of like four-wheel sliding.

“I’m very aware of track limits, and I know you’re going to get the time deleted. So it’s not like I’m arguing with the fact. I think deep down, part of me is frustrated that I have to push the car that hard to put me in a position where I’m risking too much.”

Freelance journalist Matthew Clayton has been covering F1 for 25 years for several outlets, including redbull.com.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.