(Motorsport) Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen finished in pole position at the Australian Grand Prix qualifying, finishing 0.236 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell while Lewis Hamilton was 0.136secs further adrift in third. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was fourth ahead of Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fifth. Lance Stroll followed the Spaniard in sixth place followed by Charles Leclerc, who had a disappointing qualification session. 

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez crashed on his first lap of qualifying and will now start at the back of the grid on Sunday. The Mexican is just one point behind teammate Verstappen in the Drivers Standings and had said earlier this week that he is “certain” of competing for the title against his teammate. Perez insisted there was a problem with the car as he went on to commit a number of errors but said he “trusts totally with my team we will be able to fix the issue”. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 while McLaren continued their poor start with Lando Norris in 13th.

Speaking after the qualification, George Russell said “We weren’t expecting that, for sure. Wow. What a session for us. The car felt alive. The lap was right on the limit. I have to be honest – I was a little disappointed we didn’t get a pole. It’s funny how your expectations change in this business. Yesterday I would have been happy with fifth, but the car came alive. Excited for tomorrow. It’s going to be tough against Max but we will give it the best go.” 

Lewis Hamilton said “I am so happy with this. This is totally unexpected. To be up on the two front rows is honestly a dream for us. We are all working as hard as we can and to be this close to the Red Bull is incredible. I hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money.” Reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen said “The last lap was pretty good. Until then the whole weekend it has been difficult to get the tires in the right window and it was pretty tricky to find the grip and nail it on one lap. But it all came right in qualifying. I’m pretty happy with that.”

Also read: Perez optimistic about competing against Verstappen for Formula 1 title