Red Bull, Red Flag and Record Lap
Saturday, 1 April 2023
Verstappen Delivers Under Pressure to Take Pole Position
Many of the record number of fans that flocked to the Formula 1® Rolex ® Australian Grand Prix 2023 expected to see Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position but the way he did it must have caused a few hearts to skip along the way.
The defending World Champion faced a far tougher fight than many would have expected. With rain clouds swirling, the Dutchman had his first lap of the third and final Qualifying session bettered by Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, George Russell, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
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Verstappen was forced to do a second lap and it was good for interim pole, but only by 0.009sec before he righted the ship and looked under pressure when the final laps started. He really delivered, taking the 22nd pole of his career with a lap of 1m16.732sec, building a gap of 0.236sec to the opposition.
He had to; he was fighting a lone battle, with teammate Sergio Perez suffering a day of disasters. After multiple offs in Practice the Mexican failed to set a time after locking a front brake and spearing straight on at Turn 4, prompting a Red Flag and putting him last on the grid.
“Very hard to get the tyres to work in Turn 1, I think that has been the story of the whole week,” he said. “It seems very tricky with the new tarmac on the edge, compared to last year.”
The resistance was led by a Mercedes-Benz – but it was not eight-time Albert Park pole man Lewis Hamilton. His teammate George Russell flew late in the session, an effort he described as “Not too shabby! I thought our car was one second off the pace!”
Hamilton was right behind in third ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, whose fine start to the 2023 season continued. Teammate Lance Stroll split the two Ferraris behind him, Carlos Sainz fifth ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and 2022 race winner Charles Leclerc.
The big surprise of the session was the speed of the Williams. With its excellent top speed, Alex Albon was fastest through the speed trap, and the Thai driver edged out the fancied Alpine of Esteban Ocon out of the top 10, then pushed his teammate Pierre Gasly to ninth. The final spot in the top 20 went to Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg.
It was a tough Qualifying session for Oscar Piastri. The local hero missed out on advancing forward from Q1 by7 0.009sec and will start his first Grand Prix on home soil from 16th position.
