Verstappen takes pole in Australia and Perez slips

Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen took pole position for Red Bull at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday after teammate Sergio Perez suffered a brake failure that left him at the back of the grid.

Mercedes driver George Russell will join Verstappen on the front row for Sunday’s race at Albert Park, qualifying second ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen struggled with grip during qualifying, but it all came to an end in his last attempt, when he lapped the circuit in 1:16.732, two tenths of a second quicker than Russell.

“Up until then it was very difficult to find grip,” the Dutchman told reporters after celebrating his first pole at Albert Park and the 22nd of his career.

“I only had time on the last lap to go out and try. This time it worked, I’m really happy.”

Red Bull dominated the new season, with Verstappen winning the first race in Bahrain and Perez the second in Saudi Arabia.

Perez, however, was taken out in Saturday’s first qualifying session when he stalled braking into turn three on his first out lap and ended up in the gravel.

This came after a show of horror for the Mexican in the third and final practice session, when he skidded several times after spending much of the session confined to the pits while engineers worked on his car.

Mercedes, who failed to finish on the podium in either of the first two races and were well behind the pace of Red Bull, celebrated qualifying.

“I’m very happy with that,” said seven-times world champion Hamilton. “I’m really proud of the team: being on the first two rows is a dream for us. Being so close to Red Bull is incredible.”

The day was still a bit of a reality check for Aston Martin and totally disappointing for Ferrari.

Hamilton edged his old rival Fernando Alonso, who will start fourth on the grid for Aston Martin, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fifth.

Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc will be seventh behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Source: Terra

Rose

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