Sydney, Australia — Unsurprisingly, Max Verstappen won the pole position for the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. What was even more unexpected was Lewis Hamilton, the eight-time Australian pole winning record holder, missing out on Saturday’s final qualifying round.
Verstappen will start from the front row for Sunday’s 58-lap race on the makeshift Albert Park street circuit. Verstappen has won both of the races he has entered so far this season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finishing second both times.
In his Formula One career, Verstappen had 35 poles.
Perez finished third, and Carlos Sainz, who had just recovered from appendix surgery before the most recent race in Saudi Arabia, finished second.
Verstappen remarked, “I’m very happy, but it was a bit unexpected.” “This weekend has been a little challenging so far. As (Ferrari) seems to be moving quickly, tomorrow is a little uncertain.
Even in the first and second qualifying rounds, I didn’t really feel like I was battling for pole position. After that, we tweaked a few little areas of the car, which seemed to help me push it to its absolute maximum in the third lap; I was satisfied with it both times.
