Qualifying Report: 2019 Australian Grand Prix
- Farhan Khurram
- Mar 16, 2019
- 3 min read
5 times world champion, Lewis Hamilton secured a record 84th pole position, as he began his 2019 F1 campaign in style. The defending constructors' champions, Mercedes easily locked the front row, with Valtteri Bottas qualifying 2nd.
Mercedes delivered a major punch to rivals at Maranello, as the 3rd placed Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, could only qualify 7 tenths shy of pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton. Vettel's new teammate, and Ferrari debutant, Charles Leclerc could only manage to go 5th fastest, with a lap time of 1:21.422s, almost a second slower than pole sitter.
The Ferrari duo was splitted by the Honda powered Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Although, his teammate, Pierre Gasly got knocked out in Q1 under mysterious circumstances, It was Max, who steered his team towards a remarkable 4th spot. That's the best qualifying result that Honda has had since their return to F1 in 2015. Max went as quick as 1:21.320s in Q3.
Both Haas drivers didn't hold their horses either. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen qualified 6th and 7th respectively, with the Frenchman lapping Albert Park in 1:21.826s. His Danish teammate was 0.273 secs slower. The American outfit made it clear that they were simply the leaders of the midfield for the 2019 season.
But Haas wasn't the sole team with such a fiery pace out of the top 3. McLaren went all guns blazing and made sure, that they reach Q3 at least. It was undoubtedly a debut to remember for Lando Norris, who right in his very first qualifying session of an F1 race, secured 8th position for tomorrow. The 2018 Formula 2 runner-up announced his arrival in an impressive way with a lap time of 1:22.304s.
All was not well on the other side of the garage however, as Carlos Sainz couldn't produce a lap good enough to qualify for Q2. The Spaniard, who replaced Fernando Alonso at McLaren, was 3rd from the bottom of the timesheets. Sainz's attack lap was hindered by Robert Kubica, as his tire went off at turn-12.
Alfa Romeo managed to closely match the pace of both McLaren and Haas. The ace Finn, Kimi Raikkonen recorded a lap time of 1:22.314s, which proved to be the 9th fastest of the day. Antonio Giovinazzi on the other hand, couldn't pull out of Q2, as he was knocked out in 14th position.
Sergio Perez sealed the top 10 for tomorrow's race with a lap time of 1:22.781s. Although, hid best lap time of the day was in Q2, which was a little over than 2 tenths quicker than his time in Q3. Lance Stroll couldn't really get his Racing Point going, and failed to qualify for the 2nd Qualifying session. The Canadian could only produce the 16th quickest lap time of the day.
Both the Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo were just a single spot outside of the top 10, as the duo marked themselves 11th and 12th respectively. It was a disappointing afternoon for Renault, given that the team was expected to be at least the 4th fastest of all. There were some tall claims of improvements regarding the engine, but they were all put to rest today afternoon.
Alexander Albon followed next, the Thai driver showing some true pace right on his Formula 1 debut with Toro Rosso, with the 13th best lap time of 1:22.636s. His teammate, Daniil Kvyat went 15th quickest overall on his F1 return. The Toro Rosso lineup was divided by Antonio Giovinazzi.
At the dead end of the timesheets sat the two Williams drivers. Both George Russell and Robert Kubica were knocked out right in Q1, as the FW42 proved to be extremely slow and way off the standard pace set by the rest of the teams. The 2018 Formula 2 Champion failed to clock an impressive lap time by any means. His best lap was a 1:24.360s.
Robert Kubica's afternoon was completely ruined and his any potential runs were hampered, when the Polish driver brushed the wall at turn 12, and as a result, his tire went off. He could only clock a lap time of 1:26.067s, a whopping 5.587 seconds slower than the pole lap.
While Mercedes W10 proved to be the fastest car out there, it was a worrisome day for Ferrari, who were 7 tenths slower, struggling to match the pace of Honda powered Red Bull. Newly appointed Team Principal, Mattia Binotto had an unsatisfying look on his face, as he and his team knows, that they have a job to do.
Final Classifications:
The Race will begin on 10:10 AM (March 17th) of Pakistan Standard Time and 12:10 AM EST (March 17th).
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