2024 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying results (Melbourne)
Check out the complete results from the qualifying session at Albert Park in Melbourne for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
A thrilling qualifying session played out at the fast and flowing Albert Park circuit – here are the results from the session as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen responded to the pace shown by Ferrari through practice and qualifying to take pole position.
Qualifying results – 2024 Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne) Q3:Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz went quickest on his first lap in Q3, with a 1:16.331 – albeit two-tenths down on his fastest time from Q2. Despite this, Sainz stayed quicker than Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc by just a tenth of a second, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri slotting into third – to the enjoyment of his home crowd.
But, while Sainz couldn’t improve on his Q2 time, Verstappen could as he set the quickest time of the weekend so far with a 1:16.048 – almost three-tenths of a second ahead of Sainz.
With Red Bull’s Sergio Perez slotting into fourth, it continued the Red Bull vs. Ferrari battle that had been seen through the first two parts of qualifying.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso couldn’t complete his first run, having made an error at Turn 7 and ran wide at high speed through the gravel – he immediately returned to the pits to have his car checked over.
Choosing to do his sole flying lap during the lull between the two runs for the majority of the top 10, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll went eighth quickest – fighting a major snap of oversteer at Turn 9 – as the attention then turned to see what would happen in the final two minutes of the session.
Verstappen was first of the frontrunners to set off on his final flying lap, with Perez behind, and Sainz and Leclerc close behind. Verstappen and Sainz traded fastest sector times, with Verstappen dipping into the 1:15s with a 1:15.915 to take provisional pole.
Sainz couldn’t usurp Verstappen, setting a 1:16.185, to claim second place, while Perez took third with a time 0.359 down on Verstappen.
Leclerc abandoned his final flying lap, having failed to find more time, and returned to the pits as he made a mistake in the final sector. A disappointed Monegasque settled for fifth on the grid as Lando Norris took fourth place for McLaren.
Oscar Piastri represented the highest Australian interest as he claimed sixth place, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, and Fernando Alonso.
1. Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:15.9152. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.270
3. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.359
4. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.400
5. Lando Norris McLaren +0.520
6. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.657
7. George Russell Mercedes +0.809
8. Yuki Tsunoda RB +0.873
9. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.157
10. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.637 Q2:
Verstappen set the pace on the first runs in Q2, set on used tyres, going two-tenths of a second quicker than Piastri, before Sainz took over at the front with his first lap on new tyres.
The pace had ramped up into the low 1:16s, with the Spaniard doing a 1:16.189 on the red-marked Pirellis, with Leclerc slotting into third almost four-tenths behind.
Already outside the top 10, Williams didn’t send Albon out in the final minutes to get in a final run, dooming him to finish in the elimination zone as he could only manage 12th – 0.978 off the pace set by Sainz.
A late improvement from Lewis Hamilton wasn’t enough to get the Mercedes man through into Q3, as Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll both improved into the top 10 with their final runs. Hamilton was visibly struggling with oversteer and understeer on his full-send flying lap, and the seven-time F1 World Champion couldn’t hide his disappointment as he asked whether he had made it through.
Along with Hamilton and Albon, Valtteri Bottas finished in 13th, Kevin Magnussen in 14th, and Esteban Ocon in 15th.
Leclerc climbed up to second in the final minute as he used some fresh tyres to slot in behind Sainz and make it a Ferrari 1-2 ahead of Verstappen and Piastri.
1. Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:16.1892. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.115
3. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.198
4. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.412
5. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.442
6. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.521
7. Lando Norris McLaren +0.561
8. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.591
9. Yuki Tsunoda RB +0.602
10. George Russell Mercedes +0.712
11. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.771
12. Alex Albon Williams +0.978
13. Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.151
14. Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.238 15. Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.508 Q1:
With only four cars needing to be knocked out as a result of the non-participation of Logan Sargeant following Williams’ big decision on Friday, the big question was whether or not there would be any surprises eliminated.
The answer, to a certain extent, was yes as RB’s Daniel Ricciardo found himself down in 18th. The home hero had vaulted up into the top 10 with his final lap in Q1, demoting Magnussen, but Ricciardo’s lap was immediately deleted for exceeding track limits.
Having set a 1:17.466, running very wide out of Turn 5 sent him back down the order, and one of the four drivers to be knocked out – the first time in his career that he has failed to progress out of Q1.
Ricciardo being dropped out allowed Magnussen to stay in as the Dane progressed into Q2, but Nico Hulkenberg in the other Haas joined Ricciardo on the sidelines. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was also knocked out, while Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu was the slowest of all as the Chinese driver struggled with front wing damage.
Gasly also finished the session under investigation due to allegedly crossing the pitlane exit line separating it from the race track.
Sainz set the pace up front with a 1:16.731, ahead of Perez, Verstappen, and Leclerc in a Ferrari vs. Red Bull quartet.
1. Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:16.731 2. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.074 3. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.088 4. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.253 5. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.260 6. George Russell Mercedes +0.331 7. Alex Albon Williams +0.399 8. Yuki Tsunoda RB +0.625 9. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.638 10. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.645 11. Lando Norris McLaren +0.699 12. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.768 13. Valtteri Bottas Sauber +0.812 14. Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.886 15. Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.978 16. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1.245 17. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.251 18. Daniel Ricciardo RB +1.354 19. Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.457Read Next: James Vowles grilled on ‘damaging’ Logan Sargeant call in spiky Ted Kravitz interview
