F1 Australian GP qualifying results: Leclerc beats Verstappen to pole

Leclerc secured his second pole of the season courtesy of a final lap improvement that surpassed Verstappen's previous best. 

The one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3, was twice red-flagged and meant the decisive final laps took place amid a low sun that proved distracting for the drivers.

But Leclerc made no such mistake to claim the tenth pole of his F1 career and draw level with 1970 world champion Jochen Rindt's tally. 

Australian Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Verstappen

Cla	Driver		Time	Gap	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc		1'17.868		245.168
2	Max Verstappen		1'18.154	0.286	244.271
3	Sergio Perez		1'18.240	0.372	244.003
4	Lando Norris		1'18.703	0.835	242.567
5	Lewis Hamilton		1'18.825	0.957	242.192
6	George Russell		1'18.933	1.065	241.860
7	Daniel Ricciardo		1'19.032	1.164	241.557
8	Esteban Ocon		1'19.061	1.193	241.469
9	Carlos Sainz Jr		1'19.408	1.540	240.414
10	Fernando Alonso
11	Pierre Gasly		1'19.226	1.358	240.966
12	Valtteri Bottas		1'19.410	1.542	240.408
13	Yuki Tsunoda		1'19.424	1.556	240.365
14	Zhou Guanyu		1'20.155	2.287	238.173
15	Mick Schumacher		1'20.465	2.597	237.255
16	Kevin Magnussen		1'20.254	2.386	237.879
17	Sebastian Vettel		1'21.149	3.281	235.256
18	Nicholas Latifi		1'21.372	3.504	234.611
19	Alex Albon		1'20.135	2.267	238.232
20	Lance Stroll
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What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q1?

Leclerc set the early pace at 1m19.391s, which was quickly beaten by his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr on 1m19.179s. But Leclerc took top spot back on his second push lap of 1m18.881s, with Verstappen rising to second, just 0.044s in arrears.

Verstappen then grabbed P1 at 1m18.580s on his third attempt, a quarter of a second ahead of Perez and the Ferraris.

Williams’ Nicholas Latifi brought out a red flag for the second Q1 in a row with two minutes to go, as he collided with fellow Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) in a bizarre incident that sent him spinning into the wall.

Falling at the first hurdle were Williams driver Alex Albon, who has a three-place grid penalty carried over from contact with Stroll in Jeddah and stopped on track on his in-lap, Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Sebastian Vettel (whose Aston Martin was repaired after a big shunt in FP3), Latifi and Stroll.

Australian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	7	1'18.580			242.947
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	7	1'18.834	0.254	0.254	242.164
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	5	1'18.881	0.301	0.047	242.020
4	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	7	1'18.983	0.403	0.102	241.707
5	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	6	1'19.192	0.612	0.209	241.069
6	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	5	1'19.251	0.671	0.059	240.890
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	6	1'19.280	0.700	0.029	240.802
8	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	8	1'19.401	0.821	0.121	240.435
9	George Russell	Mercedes	8	1'19.405	0.825	0.004	240.423
10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	11	1'19.580	1.000	0.175	239.894
11	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	9	1'19.605	1.025	0.025	239.819
12	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	10	1'19.665	1.085	0.060	239.638
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	10	1'19.742	1.162	0.077	239.407
14	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	11	1'19.910	1.330	0.168	238.903
15	Mick Schumacher	Haas	11	1'20.104	1.524	0.194	238.325
16	Alex Albon	Williams	11	1'20.135	1.555	0.031	238.232
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	11	1'20.254	1.674	0.119	237.879
18	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	3	1'21.149	2.569	0.895	235.256
19	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	8	1'21.372	2.792	0.223	234.611
20	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	2
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What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q2?

Verstappen set the bar at 1m18.611s, which was beaten by Perez on 1m18.340s. On his in-lap, Verstappen appeared to impede Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, which he hadn’t been told was on a fast lap, while stewards will investigate whether Perez slowed enough for yellow flags.

In the closing moments, Sainz took second, ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen.

Knocked out at this point were Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri, who suffered a gravelly off), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and Mick Schumacher (Haas).

Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix Q2 results: Perez fastest from Sainz

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	5	1'18.340			243.691
2	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	9	1'18.469	0.129	0.129	243.290
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	8	1'18.606	0.266	0.137	242.866
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	8	1'18.611	0.271	0.005	242.851
5	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	7	1'18.815	0.475	0.204	242.222
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	8	1'19.066	0.726	0.251	241.453
7	George Russell	Mercedes	9	1'19.076	0.736	0.010	241.423
8	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	10	1'19.106	0.766	0.030	241.331
9	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	6	1'19.130	0.790	0.024	241.258
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	8	1'19.136	0.796	0.006	241.240
11	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	8	1'19.226	0.886	0.090	240.966
12	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	8	1'19.410	1.070	0.184	240.408
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	7	1'19.424	1.084	0.014	240.365
14	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	5	1'20.155	1.815	0.731	238.173
15	Mick Schumacher	Haas	8	1'20.465	2.125	0.310	237.255
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What happened in Australian Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen lapped in 1m18.399s before Perez circulated 0.001s faster. Leclerc then snatched the top spot with 1m18.239s, just as Fernando Alonso shunted his Alpine at Turn 11, smashing his front-left corner against the wall and blaming his hydraulics for not being able to downshift. The lights turned red just before Sainz crossed the line to complete his first flyer.

On the final runs once Alonso's car had been craned away, Verstappen grabbed pole with 1m18.154s but Leclerc snatched it back on 1m17.868s. Sainz, meanwhile, suffered a moment at Turn 6 and didn’t complete a clear lap – meaning he starts down in ninth.

Perez will start third, ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and the Mercedes of Hamilton and George Russell. Home hero Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) was seventh from Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Sainz and Alonso.

Australian Grand Prix Q3 results: Leclerc takes pole

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	8	1'17.868			245.168
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	6	1'18.154	0.286	0.286	244.271
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	9	1'18.240	0.372	0.086	244.003
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	6	1'18.703	0.835	0.463	242.567
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	10	1'18.825	0.957	0.122	242.192
6	George Russell	Mercedes	9	1'18.933	1.065	0.108	241.860
7	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	6	1'19.032	1.164	0.099	241.557
8	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	6	1'19.061	1.193	0.029	241.469
9	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	6	1'19.408	1.540	0.347	240.414
10	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	2
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