Despite battling the steadiness of his automotive on Friday, Max Verstappen grabbed his third straight pole place in 2024 whereas Carlos Sainz made a powerful return following his latest surgical procedure with an excellent second place on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix. Here is what groups needed to say after the essential qualifying session in Melbourne.
Red Bull appeared to have just a few steadiness points in Melbourne, however F1’s present dominant crew bounced again when it actually mattered. Max Verstappen was unable to prime the first two qualifying classes, however he turned the solely driver to dip beneath the 1m16m mark to safe his fourth consecutive pole place.
Sergio Perez certified third, however he was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg in the opening qualifying section. As a outcome, the Mexican will begin from sixth place at the thirty seventh Australian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen, 1st, 1:15.915
“Even although it was a harder weekend, reaching pole place right this moment was nice. I didn’t actually anticipate to make it on pole, however we stored on making regular enhancements all through qualifying and I felt capable of push slightly bit higher. Over the weekend, we’ve got been battling the graining and have had quite a lot of issues to determine, however we simply wanted to maintain on advantageous tuning the automotive with the Team.
“The balance of the car got better throughout; as we went through the session it felt easier to manage and I’m very happy with the laps we did in Q3 and surprised myself. We obviously had all the information from Q1 and Q2 and I think we achieved two very good laps. It is a bit of an unknown tomorrow as it is always easy to make a mistake here and it is harder to manage the tyres. Although the weekend has been a bit tough for us and I don’t think tomorrow will be an easy race, to still be on pole with the difficulties that we had is something we can be very proud of.”
Sergio Perez, third, 1:16.274
“It was fairly difficult on the market; I believe that mushy tyre was making issues very tough for us and getting up to the mark on that set is kind of laborious however in the finish it actually labored effectively and we had been capable of extract the most from the tyre. I didn’t get the most from my closing lap and misplaced a tenth at flip one, I believe P2 was achievable, however I’m nonetheless happy with P3, I’m on the clear aspect of the grid and may struggle from there.
“This is a good starting point, I am confident, I want to get a strong start and get Carlos off the line. The degradation is a lot higher than last year here, it will be a challenge with Ferrari and it will come down to strategy and management of the tyres. Hopefully we get the result we want, that would be very nice for the Team.”
Ferrari’s SF-24 was robust in the opening two rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and the high- and medium-speed corners of the Albert Park circuit appears to focus on the strengths of the Scuderia’s 2024 automotive much more. Charles Leclerc topped Free Practice 2 whereas Carlos Sainz set the benchmark in closing apply. However, qualifying didn’t pan out the means the Scuderia hoped for.
Sainz was capable of take second on the grid for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix which is a powerful outcome after his well being points in Jeddah. Leclerc didn’t ship on his final qualifying lap. The Monegasque said {that a} last-minute entrance wing tweak modified the steadiness of the automotive which led to his essential mistake on his final sizzling lap.
Charles Leclerc, fifth, 1:16.435
“I simply didn’t discover the proper feeling right this moment, ranging from FP3. In qualifying, the entrance wasn’t as robust as I wished, so I went aggressive with the entrance wing on my final run and finally, it didn’t work out.
“With a good start, and if I get past Lando (Norris), we can focus on fighting the cars in front together with Carlos. The race is long and there are 4 DRS zones at this track, so overtaking is possible. Let’s see what we can bring home tomorrow.”
Carlos Sainz, 2nd, 1:16.185
“From missing the race in Jeddah to this P2 in two weeks, it’s been an interesting journey to say the least! I’m very happy because coming to Australia I wasn’t even sure I was going to make it. We have managed to progress steadily session after session, knowing that the target was to arrive as prepared as possible for qualifying. I tried everything to get pole in the last lap but it’s impossible to be disappointed with today’s result given the circumstances. Hopefully the body holds on during the entire race. As long as I have no pain and with the extra motivation from today, I will fight to get a good result tomorrow.”
McLaren delivered their finest qualifying efficiency to date this season with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri haven taken 4th and sixth on the grid. Both driver will transfer up a spot on the grid due to the three-place grid drop for Sergio Perez.
Team Principal Andrea Stella said that the improved efficiency was all the way down to the attribute of the Albert Park circuit that options extra high- and medium-speed corners than Bahrain and Jeddah. Moreover, there are fewer low-speed turns and lengthy straights which have been a weak point for McLaren since the begin of final season.
Lando Norris, 4th, 1:16.315
“I’m happy with today. I think we made a good turnaround. I’ve been struggling a little bit all weekend with balance. We changed quite a bit going into today and made some good steps forward, so I’m now feeling much happier. I felt like I got a bit more comfortable with the car, and as soon as that happens, I can roll-out some speed. So, a big thanks to everyone here at track and back in Woking for their help overnight. A good day, a good position and hopefully we can transfer it into good points tomorrow.”
Oscar Piastri, sixth, 1:16.572
“P6 in quali. A decent session, I probably peaked a bit early! Felt like Q2 was very strong and then just didn’t quite replicate it in Q3. So, I’ve got mixed feelings. I think the car had good pace and I think we’ve shown that we’ve got good race pace, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Hear from Oscar after quali. 👊#AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/ZK1qtFrAih
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 23, 2024
Mercedes’ efficiency has been extraordinarily tough to learn to date this season. The Brackley-based outfit appeared to wrestle with excessive steadiness points throughout the three days of pre-season testing to then flip up in the opening spherical and show encouraging pace.
In Jeddah, the W15 confirmed flashes of nice efficiency, however this tempo pale in qualifying and the race. The scenario has been comparable to date in Melbourne with the two vehicles having posted good lap instances in FP1 and FP3, however George Russell and Lewis Hamilton dropped down the order in the essential qualifying session.
Lewis Hamilton, eleventh, 1:16.960
“The automotive felt nice in FP3. It was a lot improved from yesterday and we had been proper there at the entrance. Going into qualifying, the inconsistencies inside the automotive confirmed up although, sadly. The wind sometimes picks up right here in the afternoon and I believe we suffered with that right this moment, equally to how we struggled in FP2. The automotive is on a knife’s edge, and it’s tough as a driver to work round these inconsistencies.
“It’s not a great feeling for anyone in the team at the moment but we will keep working away. George did a good job today to get the car into Q3. I’ll be focused on coming back tomorrow and trying to do a better job.”
George Russell, seventh, 1:16.724
“It wasn’t the qualifying session we had been hoping for right this moment. It was difficult to get the tyres in the proper window, and it’s so tight on the market so just a few tenths can have a serious impression. The automotive felt robust in FP3 however sadly that feeling didn’t fairly translate into the afternoon.
“We know where we need to improve the car and that is in the high-speed corners. Unfortunately, there are a decent amount of those here in Melbourne, so this circuit is definitely not playing to our strengths. I do think we’ll be in a better place tomorrow though when everyone has the fuel in their car. There are also many unknowns heading into the race. Nobody has run the Hard tyre, and that will be the compound that is primarily in use throughout. We may also see some graining. I think we will see a more exciting race here than we usually see. And ultimately, it is the Grand Prix that counts.”
The two garages of the Visa Cash RB crew endured very completely different fortunes in right this moment’s qualifying. Yuki Tsunoda excelled in each section, getting himself into Q3 and taking P8 for the thirty seventh Australian Grand Prix.
On the different aspect of the storage, Daniel Ricciardo didn’t ship in entrance of his dwelling crowd. The Australian posted a time that may have been adequate to earn the development into Q2, however he had his finest lap time deleted for exceeding observe limits.
Daniel Ricciardo, 18th, 1:18.085
“I knew in Turn 4 I used to be sliding and preventing to place the automotive on the restrict, and in that lap, I washed slightly bit wider. I knew I used extra kerb than I wished on the exit, however I wasn’t certain whether or not it will be off observe or not. I had already forgotten about it by Turn 5 and 6 till I got here into the storage and Pierre instructed me the lap was deleted. The crew put in an enormous effort after the weekend in Saudi and we additionally introduced some new components right here which appeared higher.
“When I crossed the line, I felt like I gave all of it I had and bought all I might out of it. I used to be pleased with the lap however I’m slightly skeptical due to the place we’re by way of the stopwatch, as we had been nonetheless sluggish with that lap. I’ve executed sufficient laps in quali over the years to know the place I’m, and I believe we’re nonetheless lacking some issues.
“We’ve been facing some struggles all weekend, but it’s not anything in particular; I feel the car and I’m comfortable with it, with the balance and the braking and that’s why the grid position is really painful. Tomorrow will be a long race, probably it’s a two-stop one, so perhaps this will give us a bit more opportunities. I feel like I’ve got a little bit of my anger out of something, so probably something in my driver room will get broken and then I’ll feel better.”
Yuki Tsunoda, eighth, 1:16.788
“I’m very pleased with the efficiency of the crew and myself. Definitely an enormous credit score to them for giving me a really constant automotive all through the weekend. It’s been simpler to adapt and construct confidence in each session, so I positively really feel like I had a clear lap, was capable of squeeze just a few milliseconds from every nook, and maximised the efficiency.
“I didn’t anticipate P8, and particularly Q3 after seeing Williams and different groups discover extra time in Q1, however I’m very completely satisfied; it’s the highest qualifying place this season and displays the laborious work of the crew. Daniel was additionally trying fast so it’s a little bit of a disgrace what occurred, however let’s see the way it goes tomorrow. It received’t be straightforward, however we goal to have a clear race, do as a lot as we are able to, and rating factors!”
Having excelled in qualifying configuration in Manama and Jeddah, Fernando Alonso has been very inconsistent in Melbourne to date. The Spaniard had an enormous second in Free Practice 1 and likewise on his first sizzling lap in the final qualifying section which is uncommon from him. The two-time world champion conceded that he didn’t have the proper confidence in the automotive with the wind additionally having made issues tough for Aston Martin.
Lance Stroll appeared to have higher pace than in the opening two rounds of the season, however he additionally made a vital mistake on his closing lap which signifies that he’ll kind the fifth row on the grid along with his team-mate.
Fernando Alonso, tenth, 1:17.552
“Getting each vehicles into Q3 was roughly what we anticipated right this moment. My first lap in Q3 wasn’t nice: I went off into the gravel at Turn Six. My mistake. So, on my closing push-lap, I didn’t actually have full confidence in the automotive. It was difficult. I really feel we’re slightly bit much less aggressive than we had been in Jeddah.
“The automotive was sliding; slightly delicate in the wind; missing consistency. But it’s the similar for everyone. Still, we have to discover extra tempo. There can be heaps happening tomorrow. It’s not going to be a straightforward race for the tyres – graining can be a priority for everyone – so let’s see if we are able to handle them higher than the others. We need to get each vehicles dwelling in the factors tomorrow.”
Lance Stroll, ninth, 1:17.072
“We had strong Q1 and Q2 sessions today: the car was performing well and I found a decent rhythm. I then had a bit of a moment at Turn Nine in Q3 and lost three or four tenths. It had been a good lap up until then, so I think we could have been looking at a couple of positions higher up if it hadn’t been for that wobble. Tomorrow is going to be a high-degradation race, so I think it’s all about managing tyres. We have a good race car and it’s a fun track to drive so strong points will be the target tomorrow.”
Williams have had an uncommon and really powerful weekend. Alexander Albon crashed out in Free Practice 1 with the chassis of his automotive struggling important harm. Without a spare chassis, the Grove-based squad has elected to withdraw Logan Sargeant from the Melbourne spherical to be able to maximize their possibilities this weekend.
It meant that Albon has taken over Sargeant’s automotive from the third apply onwards, and the Thai driver didn’t fail to impress, having taken twelfth on the grid.
Alex Albon, twelfth, 1:17.167
“No one wants to go racing like this, I don’t want to go racing like this. It’s one thing to make a mistake in FP1 and then back it up and try and deliver in Qualifying but to be in this situation, I take that responsibility on, and the significance is not lost on me. It’s tough but now the only thing I can do is focus on my job, put it behind me and treat it like a normal weekend. Obviously, I’m a session down, but that’s all I could do and so far, I think we’ve done a good job. The ultimate pay back I can give to the team and Logan is to now go fighting for points.”
An perception into the work that is been happening in the final 24 hours in our storage 🛠️👀 pic.twitter.com/mPDfnHL6gg
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) March 23, 2024
Valtteri Bottas, thirteenth, 1:17.340
“Making it into Q2 for the first time this season is unquestionably a optimistic – particularly in Australia, a circuit the place observe place is essential. Starting nearer to the prime ten tomorrow ought to enable us to be in the battle to hopefully rating a degree or two, as we all know we might be preventing with the vehicles round us. Generally, I really feel like we’ve made a small step ahead as a crew and, on condition that the subject is kind of tight, even slight enhancements could make an enormous distinction.
“The reprofiled entrance wing positively helped with the automotive steadiness and grip and we’ve seen an general higher efficiency in comparison with the earlier two races. I’m trying ahead to racing in entrance of a unbelievable crowd tomorrow – it’s nice to really feel all the love and assist, which provides me fairly a lift. Melbourne is all the time a unbelievable race that may be fairly action-packed; I’ll give it my all to make the followers completely satisfied and put an ideal efficiency collectively.”
Zhou Guanyu, nineteenth, 1:18.188
“Today’s qualifying has been a tough one for me: my final lap was going fairly effectively, however then I felt a robust lack of downforce in the final sector earlier than realising that I misplaced a part of my entrance wing. It’s fairly unlucky, as I really feel I might have comfortably made it into Q2; now I’ll should make up greater than anticipated throughout tomorrow’s race to be up there preventing for factors. While my final qualifying classes haven’t been the luckiest ones, our race tempo has felt fairly good, and also you by no means know what’s going to occur at this observe. I’m trying ahead to racing in entrance of an ideal crowd and hopefully climb up the order.”
Having carried out brilliantly in the opening two qualifying classes in Bahrain and Jeddah, Nico Hulkenberg was knocked out in Q1. The German driver was assist up by Perez on his first sizzling lap whereas he was unable to ship a clear lap on his second recent set of softs.
Kevin Magnussen took 14th with a lap that was 4 tenths of a second shy of what was wanted for Q3. The Dane driver remains to be hopeful that his automotive might carry out higher in the race that may contain cautious tyre administration.
Nico Hulkenberg, sixteenth, 1:17.976
“I got held up on my first run by Perez which wasn’t ideal, and then my second lap wasn’t clean. The lap was looking promising until the exit of Turn 7 when the wind changed and I lost a bunch of time just from that different wind direction. I then lost the front tyres for the rest of the lap and didn’t manage to improve enough. We’re all very close in the midfield so we’ll see, but the graining we’ve seen this weekend maybe offers some interesting options and potential tomorrow, so either way I’m looking forward to it.”
Kevin Magnussen, 14th, 1:17.427
“There were some good laps in qualifying today so I think that’s about where we are with the car, in qualifying at least. P14, it’s still within reach of the top 10 and I think we just have to have a clean race and hope that tyre degradation is on our side tomorrow. Degradation seemed okay, it’s whether our outright race pace is good enough, which is the bigger question. Hopefully we can tune it up for points as that’s what we’re here for.”
Alpine has endured a tough begin to its season, having been the slowest crew to date this season. However, the Albert Park circuit seems to favour the Anglo-French producer’s automotive which Esteban Ocon was capable of capitalize on. The one-time race winner managed to get himself into Q2 to take fifteenth whereas his team-mate Gasly will line up in P17 on the grid.
Esteban Ocon, fifteenth, 1:17.697
“We’re progressing in the proper course, however we can’t be happy with the outcome and the place we’re proper now. The automotive was the finest it’s felt since the begin of the season and we extracted the most we might. I pushed the limits right this moment – and extra – clipping the wall at the closing nook on my first run in Q1. I used to be lucky to not decide up any harm and we might flip the automotive round shortly. We stored pushing to the finish and managed to progress by to the subsequent a part of Qualifying.
“That was actually the most right this moment, however we’re conscious we nonetheless want to search out some efficiency to make that subsequent step. We’ve seen that rather a lot can occur right here in the race, and as we’ve seen in the previous, if you happen to keep out of hassle, you possibly can seize alternatives to maneuver up the subject.”
Pierre Gasly, seventeenth, 1:17.982
“We were having a fairly decent session up until my final run in Qualifying. It felt like we had a small downshift issue on the lap, so there’s certainly some frustration not to be in Q2 today. The laps across Q1 were good up until the lap, which matters most at the end. We are still far from where we want to be – some things are not going our way – and there is lots of analysis ahead of us. Still, we tried to maximise the car in tricky conditions and we just have to keep improving our understanding of what we have in our hands. It won’t be an easy race with tyre degradation. Maybe there will be some opportunities and we’ll give it our best for the best possible result.”
