All Series

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Registration Sign in

Edition

Global Global
Live text
Formula 1 Australian GP

F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying

Saturday's action from the third round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

By: Sam Hall, Stephen Lickorish

Stopped
Summary
  • Verstappen takes pole for Australian GP comfortably from Sainz and Perez
  • Hamilton knocked out in Q2, along with Albon, Bottas, Magnussen and Ocon
  • Eliminated in Q1: Hulkenberg, Gasly, Ricciardo and Zhou
  • Sargeant will sit out the rest of the weekend after Williams gave Albon his chassis following a heavy crash in FP1
Leaderboard
  1. Verstappen, Red Bull
  2. Sainz, Ferrari
  3. Perez, Red Bull
  4. Norris, McLaren
  5. Leclerc, Ferrari
  6. Piastri, McLaren
  7. Russell, Mercedes
  8. Tsunoda, RB
  9. Stroll, Aston Martin
  10. Alonso, Aston Martin
Thanks very much to everyone who had to brave an early start to join us for qualifying. We'll be back at just before 4am GMT tomorrow for the race. Given Albert Park's ability to produce weird and wonderful grands prix, a straightforward Verstappen steamroller may not be guaranteed. Bye for now!
Breaking news
Here's a round-up of all the key points from that session: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-australian-gp-qualifying-report/10590438/
Ultimately, that was a qualifying session that promised much but had a familiar feel to it when the final segment came around. But Leclerc will be bitterly disappointed to only be fifth at a venue where Ferrari had looked so strong all weekend in practice.
Just in case you were wondering, that glut of drivers under investigation by the stewards for not following the minimum delta time have escaped sanction.
And we've got that rare sight of Stroll outqualifying Alonso! But they will be disappointed to both be behind Tsunoda's RB.
So, for all of the apparent Red Bull struggles, Verstappen does it again! The champion delivers when it matters, while Sainz comprehensively outperforms his team-mate on his return to the Ferrari.
Leclerc, meanwhile, aborts his lap and Norris therefore bumps the second Ferrari down to fifth.
And sure enough it's too good for his rivals. Sainz ends up two tenths adrift in second, while Perez is another tenth back in third.
Stopwatch
Verstappen dips into the 1m15s! It's a 1m15.915s that will be tough to beat!
All of the top six are improving on their latest laps - but that ominously includes Verstappen!
There was a big slide at Turn 9 for Stroll on that lap, though - so it was far from ideal for the Canadian.
Stroll goes eighth with his first effort having opted for a single run here.
The fastest sectors are split between Verstappen, Perez and Sainz - so this does still remain an open battle. Remember how tricky these soft tyres are to preserve around a full tour of the Albert Park track.
So, everyone is back in the pits now. One more chance for someone to dethrone Verstappen. But three tenths is quite a chunk of time to find...
Perez goes fourth with his first effort, while Norris heads the McLarens in fifth and sixth.
Alonso has aborted his lap after going off at Turn 6 - he had a major slide mid-corner and skated through the gravel. Not what the Aston driver wanted to start his Q3.
Stopwatch
But here comes Verstappen! Bang! 1m16.048s and suddenly he's three tenths clear of the rest.
And Sainz continues to have the measure of Leclerc as the latter is a tenth shy off the Spaniard's time.
Stopwatch
So, Sainz is the first to set a benchmark and it's a 1m16.331s for the Ferrari driver. Russell is half a second back.
Everyone else bar Stroll has now joined them out on track as we prepare for the opening fliers.
Sainz, Alonso and Russell are the first three to head out.
Green flag
Right, here we go then! Can Ferrari continue its impressive times or has Verstappen and Red Bull got a rabbit to pull out of the hat? Time to find out as Q3 begins.
Six hundredths is all that separated Hamilton from Russell, but it might as well be six hundred seconds as it doesn't change the fact Russell is progressing and Hamilton is not.
Replays show Hamilton had a bit of a slide through the penultimate corner and that cost him the fractions of time that he desperately needed there.
So, eliminated in Q3 are Hamilton, Albon, Bottas, Magnussen and Ocon. Tsunoda is the interloper outside of the big five teams joining the Q3 ranks.
Leclerc goes second right at the end, but the big story is Hamilton failing to make his way through.
Hamilton is out, he's pitted and so Tsunoda has really rubbed salt into Ricciardo's wounds here.
Oh, and Hamilton could be out here! Tsunoda has jumped to ninth as Stroll also improves!
Checkered flag
Alonso improves fractionally to go sixth as the chequered flag is now out.
Albon is in the pits, so we can safely say Williams won't feature in Q3. Hamilton improves his time slightly, meanwhile, but stays ninth.
So, with just over a minute to go, it's Albon, Tsunoda, Magnussen, Bottas and Ocon that are in danger of being eliminated here.
Alonso improves to seventh with his latest lap, six tenths off Sainz's benchmark.
That's some lap from Sainz as Leclerc can get nowhere near it - he only improves to third, four tenths adrift, with his next effort.