Verstappen ekes out first Oz pole ahead of fierce competition but teammate Perez crashes out in Q1; Russell qualifies P2, Hamilton P3 for improved Silver Arrows

Red Bull’s peerless ace, Max Verstappen, excellent during crunch time to earn his first career Australian Grand Prix pole during Saturday qualifying at the Albert Park street circuit but it was anything but his usual dominant romp to the top spot. With teammate Sergio Perez unceremoniously crashing out by beaching himself in the gravel early in Q1, the Dutchman had to fend off some very competitive efforts by other cars to emerge in P1. Most notable among them and somewhat surprisingly were the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. After relentlessly tuning on their cars in the three practice sessions leading up to quali, the Silver Arrows suddenly found nearly Red Bull-like pace at this tricky track. While it looked for a while as though Hamilton might be able to ride a mid-Q3 fast lap to grab pole for himself, in the end it was Russell who slotted in behind Verstappen on the final time sheets by just .236-seconds, earning the right to line up alongside him for tomorrow’s race. Hamilton had to settle for P3 and the second row but that still resulted in both Mercs not only besting the Ferraris for fast lap honors on the day but also their newest rival, Aston Martin. While it remains to be seen if that excellent result will translate into true race pace come Sunday, it was still a potential harbinger of better days ahead for Mercedes, especially with major upgrades to their chassis in the pipeline and arriving soon.

With Perez out of the mix and relegated to the rear tomorrow and the top three spots allotted to one Red bull and two Mercedes, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the best of the rest with another solid effort good enough for P4. The veteran Spaniard’s renewal continues and he is seemingly in the mix for podiums every week with this massively improved Aston Martin machine. Lance Stroll, still healing from a pre-season bicycle crash, closed the performance gap to his veteran teammate somewhat by slotting in at P6. Stroll will find himself sandwiched by the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz in P5 and in Charles Leclerc P7. But the Scuderia pit wall and their famously rabid fan base have got to be concerned about those starting positions, as the best part of the Prancing Horses in the first two rounds has been their qualifying speed and the worst has been their lackluster race pace. If that disappointing form holds true tomorrow, it’s hard to see how either Leclerc or Sainz can compete for a podium in this particular contest, although the Melbourne race does have a history of Safety Cars and unpredictable weather to scramble the expected narrative..

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers, Alexander Albon drove superbly to will his Williams up to P8, while the Alpine of Pierre Gasly was able to set the ninth fastest time and Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg continued his run of good quali form by slotting in at P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 1AM Eastern here in the States. So, put on a late night pot of coffee or set your DVR because it looks like this year’s Aussie GP could be a wild ride indeed. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!