Australia – Qualifications: Hamilton right on target!

The first qualifying session of the day opened under beautiful sunshine, continuing from the third free practice. An ideal setting, with an ambient temperature of 25 degrees, reaching just over 40 degrees on the track. This delighted the cars, which were able to keep the tires up to temperature more easily, giving drivers a window of three laps to achieve a good lap time.

Q1: Pierre Gasly already out!

On track from the start, the two Williams cars indeed battled each other for the 19th place. As has been the case since the beginning of the weekend, rookie George Russell outperformed Robert Kubica. Worse, the Pole damaged his right rear tire on his final lap by brushing too close to the wall at the exit of turn eleven. More than nine years after his last qualifying session, the returnee of the day finishes in agony, one second and seven-tenths behind his teammate!

Except for this drifting duo, the fight for passage into Q2 was intense! A small second separates Charles Leclerc, fastest with 1:22.017, from the 18th place taken by Carlos Sainz. Even better, just two-tenths between the 10th, Max Verstappen, and the McLaren driver. The Albert Park track improved at great speed, giving us an epic end to the session marked by multiple position changes. And the big loser was a Frenchman, Pierre Gasly: the Red Bull driver was one of the few not to improve on his last lap. As a result, a surprising 17th place and an early exit. The last to be eliminated was Stroll’s Racing Point, which fell short by 51 thousandths of a second to Kimi Räikkönen, the last qualifier.

Among the lucky ones, two rookies: Lando Norris and Alexander Albon, who set the right time at the right moment, finishing 8th and 9th in the session, right in the thick of the action.

To get started, Valtteri Bottas then Lewis Hamilton set the best time of the session, before being dethroned by Charles Leclerc who took the first place at that moment on the soft tires.

BREAKING: ELIMINATED (Q1)

16 STR
17 GAS
18 SAI
19 RUS
20 KUB 📸

A shock for Gasly – he ended the session in the garage, as the times tumbled.@Charles_Leclerc topped Q1 with a 1:22.017s#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/q8rcaAlJIE

— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 mars /f1/actualite/23174-australie-essais-libres-3-hamilton-garde-la-main-le-duo-vettel-leclerc-se-rapproche.html

Drivers eliminated in Q1: Stroll, Gasly, Sainz, Russell, Kubica

Q2: Hamilton warms up, sensational Norris!

Warned by the Q1 scenario, Max Verstappen was trying to quickly secure a spot in Q3. Taking all the risks, the Red Bull driver’s surviving car clinched the provisional second place with a time of 1:21.712, four-tenths off Valtteri Bottas’ best time at the start of the session. The first batch of laps favored the two Renaults in the top 10 five minutes before the end, or the Racing Point of Sergio Pérez, then ahead of Romain Grosjean’s Haas, accompanied by the two Toro Rossos, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Norris in the danger zone.

But everything changed at the end of the session for the Renault team. Ricciardo and then Hülkenberg were ejected! More surprisingly, the identity of the executioners: Sergio Pérez and… Lando Norris, who secured a Q3 spot on his first attempt. A local of the venue, Ricciardo was eliminated by a minuscule margin. At least he will be able to choose his tires tomorrow for the start of the race. At the top of the standings, Lewis Hamilton recorded the absolute best time of the Albert Park circuit, with a 1:21.014. He was ahead of Bottas and Verstappen. On the French side, Romain Grosjean smoothly clinched his ticket to Q3, like his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, and one of his former garage partners… Kimi Räikkönen.

on board the Alfa Romeo.

Lando makes it through to Q3 on his @F1 debut! 👊 Nice work, @LandoNorris. #AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/bqOSgRv2dF

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 16

Pilots eliminated in Q2: Hülkenberg, Ricciardo, Albon, Giovinazzi, Kvyat

Q3: Hamilton unshakeable!

The increasingly low sun accompanied the last ten drivers. Too aggressive on his first lap, Lewis Hamilton was then behind Valtteri Bottas, who first broke the 1’20” barrier with a time of 1:20.598, setting a new absolute record in under ten minutes. Despite his determination, the reigning world champion was second when he returned to the pits, two-tenths ahead of Vettel and four ahead of Leclerc. With 5 minutes left in the session, Max Verstappen was 5th, in front of Grosjean, Magnussen, and Norris; Räikkönen and Pérez had not yet set a time.

Leading during the three practice sessions and also ahead in Q2, Lewis Hamilton reclaimed his spot on the last lap, with a time of 1:20.486! Bottas had to settle for a solid second place, with a significant margin over Scuderia Ferrari. Third, Vettel finished this Q3… seven-tenths off pole, six-tenths from second place! Worse yet, Charles Leclerc was snatched from fourth place, at the last moment, by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull-Honda.

Behind the top 5, the big winner was French: Romain Grosjean took the honors with a fine sixth place, just four-tenths behind Leclerc’s Ferrari! The other Haas finished the session just behind in the standings, ahead of the revelation of the day: Lando Norris in his McLaren. Kimi Räikkönen and Sergio Pérez will start from the fifth row in the season’s first Grand Prix.

In terms of statistics, Lewis Hamilton continues his stunning streak: eighth pole in Melbourne, his sixth consecutive! Clearly, the Mercedes driver has been invincible since 2014 and the beginning of the hybrid era. However, he hasn’t won the Australian Grand Prix since 2015…

The moment @LewisHamilton…

✅ Took his sixth consecutive #AusGP pole
✅ Equalled the record for most poles (8) at one venue
✅ Blitzed the track record in Melbourne#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/enxH5RMRAt

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 16

Here is the complete ranking of these qualifications:

Q3: Full classification

Big things from @Max33Verstappen taking Red Bull-Honda to the second row 🆙

And @LandoNorris is the fastest Renault-powered car on his first F1 qualifying 👏#AusGP 🇦🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/LXcNo02yAU

— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 mars /f1/actualite/23174-australie-essais-libres-3-hamilton-garde-la-main-le-duo-vettel-leclerc-se-rapproche.html