QUALIFYING REPORT | Leclerc rockets to second pole of the year in Australia

Qualifying for the 2022 Australian GP saw Charles Leclerc on pole after a fierce battle between Red Bull and Ferrari saw the scarlet team come out on top of session filled with incidents and drama.

Mercedes struggle, Mclaren return

While the struggles of the reigning constructors' champions continue, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell qualifying P5 and P6 respectively, the most suurprising Mercedes-powered team was Mclaren, who managed to get both cars into Q3. Ricciardo and Norris qualified P7 and P4, a massively improved showing compared to Bahrain. The team from Woking seem to be at the form they showed in the pre-season Barcelona tests.

Mercedes tension

One of the talking points from Q3 was the tension between Lewis Hamilton and young teammate George Russell. On a push-lap, cool-lap, push-lap strategy, Russell was heard over the radio telling the team that Lewis needed to speed up. Hamilton eventually ended up outpacing the fellow Brit, could this be the beginning of a new inter-team rivalry?

Q1

The first qualifying session was highlighted by a blunderous collision between Stroll and Latifi that caused a red flag with two minutes to go.

The following moments saw a flurry of activity that saw the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel able to join the session for a last-grasp attempt to set a time, which saw him grab 18th, ahead of teammate Stroll and Latifi. It was a valliant effort from the Silverstone-based team who managed to repair Vettel's car after a hefty shunt in FP3 only two hours earlier.

ELIMINATED IN Q1:

16th - Albon

17th- Magnussen

18th - Vettel

19th - Stroll

20th - Latifi

Q2

Qualifying 2 saw Perez on top with the two Ferraris trailing closely behind. It was a poor showing from Haas with neither car making it to Q3 - the first time this season.

ELIMINATED IN Q2:

11th - Gasly

12th - Bottas

13th - Tsunoda

14th - Zhou

15th - Schumacher

Q3

The final session of the afternoon was interrupted by a red flag courtesy of Fernando Alonso, who had looked rapid all throughout qualifying. A hydraulics failure saw the Spaniard get thrown into the wall after he had just set the fastest middle sector on his flying lap.

This caused multiple drivers' laps to be invalidated before they could even finish them - causing a high-pressure one-lap attempt final minutes to the session. In this environment it was Leclerc who excelled, claiming pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. However, Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz massively struggled in Q3, not being able to set a representative time. The Spaniard will start 9th.

Q3 RESULTS:

1st - Leclerc

2nd - Verstappen

3rd - Perez

4th - Norris

5th - Hamilton

6th - Russell

7th - Ricciardo

8th - Ocon

9th - Sainz

10th - Alonso