Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
Formula 1 Australian GP

F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying

Saturday's action from the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Over two years on from the cancelled Australian GP due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, F1 returns to a revamped Albert Park.

The key track changes see sections of the circuit widened, the Turn 9-10 chicane taken out to increase speeds in a flowing back section and the entire layout has been resurfaced. All changes have been made in the hope of increasing overtaking opportunities and creating more exciting races.

Sebastian Vettel is back for Aston Martin after missing the opening two races having tested positive for COVID-19 and had an eventful Friday after suffering an engine failure in FP1 which ruled him out of second practice, while he also picked up a €5000 fine for riding a scooter on-track back to the pits after FP1.

F1 world championship leader Charles Leclerc topped Friday practice for Ferrari from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, after Carlos Sainz Jr was fastest in FP1.

Final practice for the Australian GP gets underway at 4am BST (1pm local time), followed by qualifying at 7am BST (4pm local time).

Live Text

Sort by
Verstappen leads the charge out of pitlane ahead of both Mercedes, Perez and Schumacher. Q2 is go, 15 minutes to decide who gets to fight for pole position and who will start 11th-15th. Which is less catchy than just calling it Q2.
Lights green
After a small breather, time to get going for Q2.
Q2 will start at 16:44 local time - that is four minutes away.

Albon has stopped on track just before Turn 13, which means the start of Q2 will be delayed.

Out in Q1: P16 Albon, P17 Magnussen, P18 Vettel, P19 Latifi, P20 Stroll. Albon will drop three places due to a grid penalty picked up from his crash with Stroll at the Saudi Arabian GP.

Checkered flag
Only Gasly can improve on his previous best, moving up to 10th, as Vettel sets his one and only Q1 lap time of 1m21.149s which puts him 18th ahead of the clashing Canadians.
Hamilton and Russell both miss out on a final Q1 timed lap but it looks like they weren't pushing for it at the back of the pack by some distance. Everyone else on track (P8 and below) is on a final lap all or nothing.
Magnussen now leads the train getting ahead of Ricciardo. Some of these cars might still miss out.
It is a race out of pitlane, as Magnussen overtakes Albon after Turn 1. This is going to be tense.
Lights green
Vettel is out on track for Q1! He's at the back of the queue of about 10 cars - here we go!
The Aston Martin mechanics are busy at work with Vettel's car trying to get it ready for a late run. Is there enough time?
Q1 will restart at 16:31 local time - five minutes away. Is it enough time to get Vettel into qualifying?
A lengthy clean up job is underway by the Albert Park track marshals with 2m01s left on the clock in Q1. That is enough time for some final lap efforts, which the vast majority will need to do in order to fight for a Q2 spot.
To no surprise the clash will be investigated by the FIA stewards after qualifying.
The result of Stroll vs Latifi is huge damage to the Williams car, the whole left-rear corner and rear wing is destroyed along with the front wing when Latifi hit the barrier in a spin.
Crash
That was messy. So Latifi moved out of the way to let cars through at Turn 4 while on a slow lap, allowing Stroll to overtake him, and then gets on the power down to Turn 5 to re-pass Stroll and they make side-on contact.
Red flag
Latifi has a huge crash - it looks like he made contact with Stroll!
The FIA stewards have noted an unsafe release for Gasly during Q1. Elsewhere Zhou improves to move up to 14th place and put Albon into the drop zone.
The bottom five is currently Magnussen, Zhou, Latifi, Stroll and Vettel.
Stroll is out on track with four minutes to go in Q1. But still no sign of Aston Martin team-mate Vettel.
Stopwatch
All of a sudden it is a Red Bull 1-2. Verstappen puts in a 1m18.580s to go fastest ahead of Perez by 0.254s.
Hamilton has a pretty messy final sector which puts him 11th, with Russell three-tenths faster in 10th place. Both are around one second off the frontrunners.
Still no lap times from both Mercedes and both Aston Martins. Hamilton and Russell are both going for a double warm-up preparation on the C5 soft tyres.
Stopwatch
Verstappen moves up to second on his second timed lap, 0.044s off Leclerc, as Bottas goes fifth and Alonso takes sixth.
Stopwatch
Tsunoda has been off at Turn 10 but is able to carry on. At the top Leclerc reclaims the fastest time with a 1m18.881s.
Latifi locks up at Turn 11 and dips a couple of wheels on to the gravel which pushes him into a half-spin. The Williams driver gets his car stopped to avoid drifting into the inside wall and gets going again.
Stopwatch
Sainz is now fastest of anyone with a 1m19.179s, ahead of Perez, Leclerc and Verstappen.
Stopwatch
Leclerc goes top with a 1m19.391s, 0.373s up on Norris, as both Red Bull drivers take to the track for the first time.
Stopwatch
Magnussen provides the first lap time of Q1, a 1m21.243s for the rest to chase.
Still no sign of either Aston Martin, but Stroll is at the back of the garage with his race gear on.
Plenty of early runners in this session including the Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Williams, AlphaTauris, Haas and Alfa Romeo's Zhou.
Lights green
Here we go, time for Q1.
For now, focus is on Q1 and specifically the Aston Martin garage who are racing to get both cars ready for qualifying.

The chances of a Mercedes domination repeat is slim given the team's current fortunes with its porpoising and car issues. The Ferrari pair looked strong in practice, as did Red Bull's Verstappen, while a surprise could come from the likes of Norris or Alonso.

Back to the matter at hand, qualifying for the Australian GP. The last time this happened was back in 2019 when Hamilton led a Mercedes front row lockout.
There has also been a series of changes covering a variety of topics. The most pressing is a DRS zone has been removed on safety grounds from the Albert Park layout. Elsewhere the FIA is clamping down on drivers' underwear (yes, really) plus safety car restart rules. Not for the same reason, you'll be pleased to hear.

Here's a quick recap on today's action so far if you missed final practice:

Lando Norris topped FP3 for McLaren as both Aston Martin drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll crashed in the session. Here's the full report:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-australian-gp-norris-leads-fp3-as-both-aston-martins-crash-out/9737138/

Hello once more! It is almost time for qualifying for the Australian GP.

By: autosport.com

Published: