Formula 1 is back with a new season. Well and truly. There was plenty of drama in Australian Grand Prix qualifying today as Mercedes’ George Russell took pole position for the season opener at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit. The Briton topped the timesheets with a lap of 1 minute 18.518 seconds, 0.293 seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli in an impressive front-row lockout for the team.The season proved chaotic as teams adopted Formula 1’s biggest regulation change in years. Isak Hadjar placed his Red Bull Racing car third fastest, 0.785 seconds behind. He will start alongside Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who qualified fourth.The McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris would finish fifth and sixth respectively, while Lewis Hamilton would finish seventh for Ferrari. Liam Lawson finished eighth for Racing Bulls, followed by newcomer Arvid Lindblad in ninth and Gabriel Bortoletto tenth for Audi F1 Team.However, the biggest shock came when four-time world champion Max Verstappen crashed out early in qualifying. The Dutch driver, who took pole in Melbourne in both 2023 and 2024, collided with the barriers at Turn 1 during his first flying lap in Q1, ending his session prematurely.The qualifying session also saw several incidents and retirements. Bortoletto’s car stalled at the pit entrance after Q2, preventing him from participating in the final shootout. Meanwhile, Antonelli’s car had a cooling fan attached to it, which later fell off and left debris on the track. Mercedes escaped a grid penalty but was fined 7,500 euros for an unsafe release.
(TagstoTranslate)Formula 1(T)Australian Grand Prix(T)George Russell(T)Max Verstappen crash(T)Mercedes F1 Team(T)Qualifying results(T)Kimi Antonelli(T)Isaac Hadjar(T)Charles Leclerc(T)F1 regulation changes
