Australian GP: Russell storms to pole as Verstappen crashes out in Q1

George Russell secured the first pole position of F1’s new technical era after dominating qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix.

There was drama for Max Verstappen, who crashed out in Q1 when his rear brakes locked, while a hairy moment post-Q2 almost led to a huge crash at the entry to the pit lane.

Max Verstappen crashed out of Q1 after a dramatic spin

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With huge questions set to be answered, the 18-minute Q1 session began as Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon led the field out of the pit lane.

Kimi Antonelli remained in the pits as Mercedes frantically rebuilt his W17 after his FP3 crash, while Williams was also still working on Carlos Sainz’s car following his stoppage in final practice. As for Lance Stroll, he had yet to do a lap at the Albert Park Circuit on Saturday due to an ERS issue.

George Russell set the early pace with a 1:19.840, putting him six-tenths up on Arvid Lindblad with Isack Hadjar third. With the teams in the dark over the cutoff time, drivers continued to circulate with Charles Leclerc up to second and Oscar Piastri third.

Red flag!

Max Verstappen, on his first flying lap, went spinning off at Turn 1, appearing to lock the rear brakes and sending him hurtling off the track and into the barrier.. “The car just f***ing locked on the rear axle. Fantastic,” he said.

Worryingly, Verstappen walked away from the crash shaking his right hand after holding onto the steering wheel as his RB22 hit the barrier.

Back underway with 7:29 on the clock, the red flag was a blessing for Antonelli, who joined the queue for the restart in his repaired W17. There was no sign of Sainz nor Stroll.

Lewis Hamilton went quickest, but lost out to Oscar Piastri, who in turn was beaten by Russell with a 1:19.507. Antonelli was P6.

Eliminated: Franco Colapinto, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Verstappen, Sainz, Stroll

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Post-Q2 drama led to a hairy moment in the pit entry

Heading out for Q2 with the entire field on soft tyres, Russell once again had the measure of the field as he went quickest with a 1:18.934, the first driver into the 1:18s.

That put him six-tenths up on Piastri with Antonelli third in the early running. Hamilton was down in 16th place after a mistake on his first run. He was told to pit for new tyres. His team-mate Leclerc was seventh, with Ferrari seemingly losing pace from Q1 to Q2.

Russell wasn’t able to improve on his second run, while Leclerc moved up to second to break up the Mercedes 1–2, with Antonelli dropping to third.

The Racing Bulls teammates had a hairy moment on their way down the pit entry as a slow-moving Gabriel Bortoleto held up Liam Lawson who was almost collected by Arvid Lindblad, who came flying into the pit entry. Lawson pulled to the left with Lindblad passing him on the right.

Bortoleto, despite making it into Q3, had to park his Audi with his session over. Audi reported: “Gabriel encountered a technical issue during his inlap at the end of Q2. As a result, he will not be able to take part in Q3. The team is investigating the issue.”

Eliminated: Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Franco Colapinto

George Russel storms to pole position in a Mercedes 1-2

Piastri led the remaining nine drivers out for the pole position shoot-out but backed off for a 1:30.057 as the session was red flagged when two pieces fell off Antonelli’s W17. It appeared to be the cooling fans that teams use between sessions.

Lando Norris hit the piece that landed on the track, reporting: “Just check, I hit a lot of debris. Front left.” McLaren had a good look at his MCL40’s front wing before sending him back out after the session resumed.

It did so with 9:47m on the clock but drivers were already queuing three minutes before the restart. Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson waited in the pits.

Russell set the early pace with a 1:19.084, half a second faster than second placed Norris with Isack Hadjar third. Leclerc, Piastri and Hamilton were next in line. Antonelli pitted after an off through the gravel.

The six drivers who had set times returned to the pits for a fresh set of soft tyres before making one final run for pole position.

Antonelli was the first to lay down his marker, a 1:18.811 to go P1, but Russell beat that with a 1:18.518. It was left to rest to fight for third place. Piastri held the position, then Leclerc and final Hadjar in the Red Bull.

Leclerc dropped to fourth ahead of Piastri, Norris, Hamilton, Lindblad and Lawson.

Antonelli is under investigation for a pit lane infringement as well as an unsafe release.

Australian GP Qualifying Times

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:18.518
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:18.811
3 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:19.303
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.327
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:19.380
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:19.475
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:19.478
8 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:19.994
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:21.247
10 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi no time
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:20.303
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:20.311
13 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:20.491
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:20.501
15 Alex Albon Williams 1:20.941
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:21.270
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:21.969
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac 1:22.605
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1:23.244
20 Max Verstappen Red Bull no time
21 Carlos Sainz Williams no time
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin no time

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