VERSTAPPEN TAKES DEBUT POLE IN AUSTRALIA, PEREZ IN DAMAGE LIMITATION MODE

Max Verstappen had the fastest time in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, taking his 22nd career and second pole of the season.

The Dutchman did not relax after his teammate's crash and did not allow himself to be surprised by the Mercedes AMG drivers who saved their best for the final fast laps of the Q3 session in the tricky weather conditions, something that made this qualification super interesting.

Sergio Perez made a mistake in his first lap on the circuit and caused a red flag period, without recording a time, so tomorrow he will start from the last position.

From then on, the reigning champion was the clear favorite for pole, although for a moment it looked like he might be challenged by Mercedes AMG drivers or Fernando Alonso.

The fight for the positions from P2 and down was very close. George Russell had a spectacular lap when it was most needed and was second, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who will fight for the podium again tomorrow.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was fifth, and could have placed higher, as his first sector was not optimal on his fastest lap. Lance Stroll finished sixth, ahead of Charles Leclerc with the seventh fastest time.

The surprise of the day was Alex Albon, who managed to get the Williams car into Q3 and then secure the eighth grid position. Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the ranking of the fastest 10 drivers.

Regardless of how the track configuration changes at Albert Park, the key session of the weekend is qualifying.

Here, winning grid positions is much easier than losing them in the race, so in free practice everyone worked on their fast lap performance.

It rained several times, which brought quite a lot of uncertainty and above all the ignorance of the teams about their race pace, which on the other hand is a prerequisite for an uncertain race.