Verstappen takes pole position at Australian Grand Prix April 1, 2023 Verstappen takes pole position at the Australian Grand Prix<br /> 01 April 2023 Creation time: 10:16 AM Last updated: 10:16 AM Views: 15 Melbourne, April 1 (BNA): Max Verstappen will have his best chance of winning a maiden Australian Grand Prix title after taking pole in his Red Bull for Sunday’s race at Albert Park. The two-time world champion was not pleased with the performance of his RB19 despite setting a track record on Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) reports. After setting a lap record during practice earlier on Saturday, the Drivers’ Championship leader set a benchmark of 1 minute, 16:732 seconds in the final session of qualifying. “I’ve been on the podium once, but I want to be on a different step this time,” said Verstappen after taking his first pole in Australia. Mercedes driver George Russell will share the front row of the starting grid after recording a time of 0.236 seconds slower than Verstappen. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will start third on an encouraging day for Mercedes, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualifying fourth. “It’s completely unexpected. To be on the front lines is a dream,” said Hamilton. “Being this close to Red Bull is unbelievable.” Verstappen, who won the season-opening race in Bahrain, was progressively faster on Saturday but raised concerns about his car on the lap before setting a new mark. “The downshifts also get worse,” said Verstappen. After qualifying, Verstappen said he had faith in Red Bull’s reliability. “I think the last round was very good. The whole weekend was really tough…but it all worked out in the third quarter.” “I think we are always trying to improve and we will continue to do so. I think tomorrow we will have a good race car, but it is very hard on the tyres.” Red Bull’s hopes of continuing their dominance early in the season took a hit with Sergio Perez’s failure to record a qualifying time. Perez arrived in Melbourne after winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks ago. But the Mexican driver suffered a terrible Saturday as he struggled to retain control of his RB19. After struggling in the third and final practice session earlier on Saturday, the 33-year-old’s wheels locked up in turn three early, and Perez ended up in the gravel. In a heated exchange with his team over the radio, Perez complained that the mechanical issue was the same one that plagued him during P3 earlier in the day. “It was the same (expletive) issue again,” he said. Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri will start from 16th on the grid when he drives in his home Grand Prix for the first time after his McLaren team failed to advance past the preliminary qualifying stage. McLaren’s struggles continue with Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, who will start 13th. M Source link Related READ MORE Tsitsipas downs Zverev to reach another Monte Carlo final
01 April 2023 Creation time: 10:16 AM Last updated: 10:16 AM Views: 15 Melbourne, April 1 (BNA): Max Verstappen will have his best chance of winning a maiden Australian Grand Prix title after taking pole in his Red Bull for Sunday’s race at Albert Park. The two-time world champion was not pleased with the performance of his RB19 despite setting a track record on Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) reports. After setting a lap record during practice earlier on Saturday, the Drivers’ Championship leader set a benchmark of 1 minute, 16:732 seconds in the final session of qualifying. “I’ve been on the podium once, but I want to be on a different step this time,” said Verstappen after taking his first pole in Australia. Mercedes driver George Russell will share the front row of the starting grid after recording a time of 0.236 seconds slower than Verstappen. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will start third on an encouraging day for Mercedes, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualifying fourth. “It’s completely unexpected. To be on the front lines is a dream,” said Hamilton. “Being this close to Red Bull is unbelievable.” Verstappen, who won the season-opening race in Bahrain, was progressively faster on Saturday but raised concerns about his car on the lap before setting a new mark. “The downshifts also get worse,” said Verstappen. After qualifying, Verstappen said he had faith in Red Bull’s reliability. “I think the last round was very good. The whole weekend was really tough…but it all worked out in the third quarter.” “I think we are always trying to improve and we will continue to do so. I think tomorrow we will have a good race car, but it is very hard on the tyres.” Red Bull’s hopes of continuing their dominance early in the season took a hit with Sergio Perez’s failure to record a qualifying time. Perez arrived in Melbourne after winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks ago. But the Mexican driver suffered a terrible Saturday as he struggled to retain control of his RB19. After struggling in the third and final practice session earlier on Saturday, the 33-year-old’s wheels locked up in turn three early, and Perez ended up in the gravel. In a heated exchange with his team over the radio, Perez complained that the mechanical issue was the same one that plagued him during P3 earlier in the day. “It was the same (expletive) issue again,” he said. Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri will start from 16th on the grid when he drives in his home Grand Prix for the first time after his McLaren team failed to advance past the preliminary qualifying stage. McLaren’s struggles continue with Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, who will start 13th. M
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