Verstappen took pole in Australia and Mercedes surprised Alonso

The rain did not finally appear in the F1 Australian GP Qualifying despite the longing and last rush for his possible arrival. But a storm called Max Verstappenwho took pole position, the second for him in three rounds this year, his 22nd on his private account equaling the pole positions of Fernando Alonso, with the superior Red Bull in which he prevailed from the start until the end, crushing them all in One last stratospheric attempt.

The great rival of the current champion to achieve the first starting place should be his partner ‘Checo’ Pérez, but the Mexican left him in that battle when he retired in Q1 with a brake problem that will force him to start this Sunday on a very complicated track. That gave Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and the Mercedes a great opportunity to occupy the front row, and those from Brackley took advantage of it.

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They are the ones hidden in the free training and they make a big step in the ‘qualy’, as well George Russell in second place (at 0″236), ahead of Hamilton again, who starts 3rd (at 0″372). The silver arrows surprised everyone, leaving the fourth starting position to a Fernando Alonso who a few seconds earlier crossed the finish line in second position 0″407 off Max’s best time.

Alonso will see them along with Hamilton and Russell

Fernando will start fourth this Sunday. Despite the fact that the race will take place at dawn peninsular time (7.00/DAZN F1), popcorn can replace churros and milk coffee for the exciting battle that the Spaniard will have to fight against his historical enemy Lewis Hamilton and the always tough Russell. He will do so at the wheel of an Aston Martin which in the two previous rounds has shown more racing speed. That should also be his strength in Melbourne, although at the Albert Park Circuit, variables such as the ‘Safety Car’ could be key.

As Alonso said in the preview, in Sunday’s race “anything can happen” and to dream of 33 he needs the help of the Red Bulls. ‘Checo’ will struggle to get out last time. On a track that leaves no room for error, the Spaniard should aim this Sunday to fight for second position. And if he could take advantage of a ‘Salvation’ to make it difficult for Max, he would try. Or perhaps a reliability problem for Verstappen, which cannot be ruled out. Max had already experienced setbacks with the bearing in Jeddah and in qualifying he complained about the change. We repeat: anything can happen.

In this sense, it should be noted that only 2 of the last 9 Australian GPs have been won by polesitters. And Alonso already knows what it takes to win on April 2 in Melbourne. This was in 2006. If this Sunday he achieves his third podium in the first three races, he will do something that he only achieved in 2005 and 2006, years in which he was champion.

Sainz overtakes Leclerc and starts 5th

Alonso will start right in front of Carlos Sainz, who achieved the 5th starting position (at 0″538), confirming the best feeling he had all weekend about his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Madrid rider thus accomplished the first goal of the weekend, qualifying ahead of the Monegasque, who will start 7th. Sainz was able to aim for the Top-3. However, the Spanish driver, by passing several cars on the lap, cooled the tires in his preparation lap and that cost him a few tenths of the gold in the first corner. He regretted it because he had the speed, confidence and a great feel in his car to want more.

This Sunday, the man from Madrid will have to gig his teeth to try to prevent Ferrari from melting in what is his great weakness at the moment, the race pace due to its high wear and tear. The Italians worked all weekend to improve on the long run this Sunday, which changes a lot, and Sainz believes it is possible to take a step forward in the race after all the extra effort.

Between the two Ferraris is Stroll (6th), which should be a tough nut to crack for Carlos given the better pace of the Aston Martin. The Top-10 is completed by a sensational Albon (8th), a wonderful Pierre gaslywho returned to Q3 while his teammate Ocon was 11th, and a huge Nico hulkenbergwho surprised again with his speed at the wheel of his Haas after placing 7 tenths of a second behind his teammate Magnussen in Q2, who was 14th.

Last emotion and Verstappen gave the blow

The end of Q3 was exciting. On a cooler track than normal due to the rain that fell before ‘qualifying’, and with some threatening clouds on the way, everyone opted to warm up the tires well in the preparation laps. Except for Verstappen, who had so much left that he attacked from the start. However, on his first attempt his car gave him a whiplash scare at turn 13, in the final sector. He recharged his batteries and put the same compound to the test to beat a surprising Hamilton by 9 thousandths and a good Alonso by just 41 thousandths, with Sainz 4th at 0″146.

At that moment, the radios were blaring, informing their pilots of the arrival of rain in the last minutes. Everyone rushes out as soon as possible to quickly set the time before the possible arrival of drops. Except for Max, who was quietly waiting in his box. He was the only one who could attack from the first turn without heating the tires and he did. Then he gave a huge blow to the table, ending the illusions of many, because it was the most painful, with a good time in his last turn that brought his rivals back to reality.