By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE, March 7 (Reuters) – George Russell took pole position and teammate Kimi Antonelli locked up the front row as Mercedes confirmed their off-season promise by dominating qualifying at Formula One’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Briton Russell lapped Albert Park’s street circuit in one minute, 18.518 seconds, a mark that was 0.293 seconds ahead of Italian Antonelli, who came back from a huge crash in the final free practice earlier in the day.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was third quickest but nearly eight-tenths of a second slower than Russell’s pole position, the Silver Arrows’ first since Lewis Hamilton in 2019.
“It was a great day, we knew there was a lot of potential in the car,” said Russell.
“It really came alive this afternoon.
“Also really happy that Kimi’s here… All in all a pretty good day.”
Antonelli faces a nervous wait for his position to be confirmed, however, after his patched-up car dropped cooling-fan parts at the start of Q3 and McLaren’s defending champion Norris ran over one, sending debris flying and triggering a red flag.
Stewards are investigating Mercedes for releasing the car in an unsafe condition.
“It’s been a very, very stressful day,” said Antonelli of his crash which triggered a red flag in practice.
“But the mechanics today were the heroes. We couldn’t even set up the car, we just went out.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will line up fourth in Sunday’s race ahead of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and sixth-placed Norris.
Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen crashed out of the first qualifying session (Q1) without recording a lap time, allowing his new teammate Hadjar to shine.
“It was a very smooth qualifying,” said the 21-year-old Frenchman.
“We kind of built up to it, and it was a very good last lap. I want to keep my position, as a second podium would be good.”
VERSTAPPEN UNSTUCK
The new chassis and power unit changes have meant a steep learning curve for drivers, putting a greater onus on managing power deployment and regeneration.
Verstappen came unstuck when he locked up on turn one of his first flying lap, skidded over gravel and smashed into the barrier. The Dutchman swore over the team radio before exiting the car unscathed.
“The car just locked on the rear axles. Fantastic,” said Verstappen, last year’s runner-up.
Seven-times world champion Hamilton was seventh for Ferrari, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad were eighth and ninth.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto sneaked into Q3 but was unable to take part due to a technical issue, the team said. He was 10th quickest in Q2 but rolled to a halt on his in-lap at the end of the session.
Struggling Aston Martin’s twice world champion Fernando Alonso was eliminated in Q1, along with both the new Cadillac team’s drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.
Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll was unable to take part in Q1, with the team running out of time to rebuild his car following morning repairs.
Williams driver Carlos Sainz also missed qualifying but teammate Alexander Albon qualified 15th.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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