The Debrief by Aramco: Australian Grand Prix

On Track

The team is in Melbourne this weekend for the Australian Grand Prix. Get the latest thoughts from Lance and Fernando after Qualifying Down Under.

Both drivers will start the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday from inside the top ten, following Qualifying at Albert Park.

Lance and Fernando made it safely into the final section of Qualifying for a second straight time, as in Saudi Arabia. Lance will start tomorrow's race in P9, with Fernando in P10.

Lance undertook one flying lap during the top ten in Q3 shootout, running when the track was a little clearer. He wrestled a snap of oversteer well between turns Nine and Ten but that compromised his lap.

Fernando's run plan was to complete two flying laps in Q3, but an off on his first run meant he could only complete one quick lap whilst carrying floor damage.

The comparison tests conducted in Free Practice were favourable towards the new front wing flaps brought to Melbourne, and so both cars ran the upgraded model in Qualifying.

#18 | Lance Stroll | Qualifying

"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."

#14 | Fernando Alonso | Qualifying

"Getting both cars into Q3 was more or less what we expected today. My first lap in Q3 wasn't great: I went off into the gravel at Turn Six. My mistake. So, on my final push-lap, I didn't really have full confidence in the car. It was tricky. I feel we are a little bit less competitive than we were in Jeddah. The car was sliding; a little sensitive in the wind; lacking consistency. But it's the same for everybody. Still, we need to find more pace. There will be lots going on tomorrow. It's not going to be an easy race for the tyres – graining will be a concern for everybody – so let's see if we can manage them better than the others. We want to get both cars home in the points tomorrow."

Mike Krack | Team Principal

"We achieved the prime objective of getting both cars into Q3, which sets us up for a strong race tomorrow, but we could have done better than P9 and P10 today. In tricky and windy track conditions, Lance had a moment through Turn Nine on his best flying lap in Q3, while Fernando’s final effort was impacted by floor damage. We will work hard to ensure we convert these positions into points on Sunday."

Race day. The Australian Grand Prix starts at 4:00 GMT on Sunday.

A positive start to the weekend saw Lance and Fernando finish inside the top five during FP2.

The team has brought new front wing flaps to Albert Park, with data gathered over their performance.

A temporary facility, the Albert Park surface can be quite bumpy and fairly slippery at the start of the weekend. A number of drivers left the track during the day as they pushed, including Fernando in FP1 who needed a floor change afterwards.

Pirelli has brought the softest three compounds in its range to Melbourne - a step softer compared to last year. The team therefore sought to understand tyre degradation and ran both Soft and Medium compounds in both Free Practice sessions.

#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice

"The car felt good today. I was happy with the balance, and we had a straightforward day gathering plenty of data.

"We've been pretty strong on one-lap pace this season, so it's positive to see we've kept that up here. But let's keep our feet on the ground because it's Free Practice and we don't know what the others have been doing.

"Nevertheless, a positive start to the weekend and I'm looking forward to getting back into the car for Qualifying tomorrow."

#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice

"It's always tricky here at Albert Park – the track rubbers in quite a lot and the grip changes. That led to me running through the gravel at Turn 10 during FP1, so we had to change the floor during the session.

"Our programme was a little compromised due to that, but FP2 ran smoothly and we completed everything we set out to do.

"It's always satisfying to be towards the top of the timesheet, but we won’t draw any conclusions from today as it's only Free Practice and there are still plenty of variables to consider.

"We have a lot of data to now analyse in order to give us the best chance of getting a positive result in Qualifying."

Saturday sees one final Free Practice session take place at 01:30 GMT before Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix begins at 05:00 GMT.