A bad day for the Spanish.
Charles Leclerc gets pole position for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, in a very difficult qualifying session for Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who this time had the pace to be among the top three.
However, Alonso suffered an accident caused by a hydraulic problem in his Alpine A522 (he will start tenth), and Carlos Sainz was unable to set a competitive time in Q3 due to the red flag caused by Alonso’s accident, and later suffered a mechanical problem. The man from Madrid will start ninth.
Q1: An incomprehensible accident between Stroll and Latifi
Max Verstappen started qualifying in the lead, with a time of 1:18.580, with which he overtook Sergio Pérez and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz; the difference between the four was four tenths. Fernando Alonso also got off to a good start in qualifying and was the alternative to Red Bull and Ferrari, with fifth place.
The first part of qualifying ended with an incomprehensible accident between Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi, with just two minutes left in the session. The Aston Martin rider had just gone out on the track for the first time, after the accident he suffered in the third free practice.
What an accident between Latifi and Stroll! 😱The Williams was completely DESTROYED#AustraliaDAZNF1 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/ykSVVvhoXp
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) April 9, 2022
This gave time for his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, to also go out on the track to play the last two minutes of the session, after also suffering an accident in the third free practice. However, the German also failed to get through Q1.
Eliminated in Q1
- 16th – Alex Albon (Williams) – 1:20.135
- 17th – Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 1:20.254
- 18th – Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) – 1:21.149
- 19th – Nicholas Latifi (Williams) – 1:21.372
- 20th – Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Q2: Red Bull still in the lead
Sergio Pérez was the fastest rider in this part of the classification with a time of 1:18.340, with which he beat Sainz by one tenth and Leclerc by more than two. However, it was not all good news for the Mexican, as he was investigated for not slowing down enough during a yellow flag situation for George Russell going off the track.
Max Verstappen saved his true cards for the third part of qualifying and set the fourth fastest time. Fernando Alonso stopped the clock again just after the Ferrari and Red Bull, and finished fifth.
Eliminated in Q2
- 11th – Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) – 1:19.226
- 12th – Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) – 1:19.410
- 13th – Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) – 1:19.424
- 14th – Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) – 1:20.155
- 15th – Mick Schumacher (Haas) – 1:20.465
Q3: Leclerc Vueltón, Alonso accident
Verstappen was the first to set the benchmark on the track, with a time of 1:18.399, which was quickly surpassed by Sergio Pérez, but by only one thousandth. Leclerc, on his first lap, managed to overtake the Red Bulls with a time of 1:18.239 to take the lead.
Fernando Alonso had a good lap, he had even achieved the record in the second sector, when he crashed after suffering a hydraulic problem that prevented him from going down from fourth gear. The Asturian would have been placed, without great difficulties, among the first three positions.
What a pity! Fernando Alonso came in an incredible lap, he had set a record for the second sector, but the hydraulic system failed and he ended up against the wall 💔 Too bad! @alo_oficial #AustraliaDAZNF1 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/p0B4a9mTL3
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) April 9, 2022
Qualifying resumed with six minutes remaining on the clock. Sainz was the only one of the favorites who had not set a competitive time, since the red flag for Alonso’s accident prevented him from crossing the checkered flag when he had the pace to take first.
Pérez went for it all as soon as the traffic light turned green, but on his only lap he was one thousandth of Leclerc’s time and could not beat the Monegasque. Yes, it was achieved by Max Verstappen, who lowered the time to 1: 18.154, but Leclerc gave everything again to get pole position and he did it, improving his time even more, to 1: 17.868.
Leclerc will start tomorrow from first place, followed by Verstappen and Pérez. Lando Norris will start from fourth on the grid, followed by Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon.
Results Q3 Australian GP
- 1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:17.868
- 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 1:18.154
- 3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 1:18.240
- 4. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1:18.703
- 5 . Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:18.825
- 6. George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:18.933
- 7. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) – 1:19.032
- 8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 1:19.061
- 9. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 1:19.408
- 10. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) – Accident
Sainz was unlucky. After failing to set time on his first red flag attempt, the Madrid driver suffered a mechanical problem that forced him to leave the pits later and then, although he came fast, his last sector was very bad; he will start ninth.
The 2022 F1 Australian Grand Prix will kick off at 07:00 on Sunday.