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Max Verstappen has wings: the reigning double world champion of Red Bull offered himself his second leading position of the season at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, while his teammate Sergio Perez will start in last place.
For this third round of the Formula 1 world championship, the Dutchman will start ahead of the two Mercedes of the British George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, delighted after a successful third part of qualifying.
Lance Stroll was solid on the track and will be sixth on the starting grid. His teammate Fernando Alonso performed again, setting the fourth fastest time of the day.
Verstappen only edged Russell by 236/1000, a smaller gap than expected, perhaps due to the fairly cool conditions in qualifying.
No smile, however, for the other Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, relegated to last position.
The Mexican left the track in the first part of qualifying, symbolic of a catastrophic start to the weekend for the one who had won pole and the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia two weeks earlier.
Already during free practice on Saturday, he had experienced several exits due to braking problems, which once again proved fatal to him on Saturday.
“It’s always the same problem,” he cursed shortly after his mistake.
22nd top position
Verstappen, who is ahead of him by a small point, could therefore take the opportunity to fly away in the driver standings on Sunday at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne (5.278 km).
The Dutchman has never won there and has only won one podium in 2019 (3rd). Last year he had to retire after his car engine caught fire.
“I was on the podium once here, I hope to be on another step tomorrow,” warned the 25-year-old runner.
In Melbourne, he has already won the 22nd leading position of his career, thus equaling the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, 16 years his senior. He is now approaching the Brazilian Nelson Piquet and the Austrian Niki Lauda who have 24.
The double world champion, winner of the first GP of the season in Bahrain, did not say he was yet in top form. In Jeddah, he had suffered from stomach aches before and during the race, which did not prevent him from finishing 2nd after a fantastic comeback after starting 15th.
If Pérez does not imitate him on Sunday, this third GP of the season can therefore allow another team to finally break the total domination of Red Bull since the start of the season.
” So happy “
And so it could well be Mercedes. Russell and Hamilton confirmed the hopes left by the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix where they finished 4th and 5th respectively.
“We did not expect this! “, rejoiced Russell (first row), almost “disappointed not to have the leading position”.
“We really showed potential and there is still more to come” warned the Briton while his teammate Hamilton, “so happy”, said he was aiming for “first place” with a smile.
On Sunday, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), will start from the second row, while the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will start respectively in 5th and 7th position.
Disappointment on the other hand for Esteban Ocon (Alpine). After a good last practice session on Saturday, the Frenchman will start in 11th position after having failed in Q2 for only seven thousandths of a second, while his compatriot and teammate Pierre Gasly will be in 9th place on the grid, as in Jeddah. The local of the stage, the Australian Oscar Piastri, will start 16th.
Melbourne will then give way to a four-week cutoff after the cancellation of the Chinese GP. Sunday, Verstappen therefore has the opportunity to send a message to the competition from the start of a marathon season.