Motor racing-Russell takes pole as Mercedes dominate Australian Grand Prix qualifying

By Ian Ransom

MELBOURNE, March 7 (Reuters) – George Russell took pole position and teammate Kimi Antonelli locked up the front row as Mercedes confirmed their off-season promise by dominating qualifying at Formula One’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Briton Russell lapped Albert Park’s street circuit in one minute, 18.518 seconds, a mark that was 0.293 seconds ahead of Italian Antonelli, who came back from a huge crash in the final free practice earlier in the day.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was third quickest but nearly eight-tenths of a second slower than Russell’s best lap, the Silver Arrows’ first pole since Lewis Hamilton in 2019.

“It was a great day, we knew there was a lot of potential in the car,” said Russell.

“It really came alive this afternoon.

“Also really happy that Kimi’s here… All in all a pretty good day.”

Antonelli had a nervous wait for his position to be confirmed after his patched-up car dropped cooling fans onto the track early in the final session of qualifying.

McLaren’s defending champion Lando Norris, who qualified sixth, ran over one, sending debris flying and triggering a red flag.

Stewards fined Mercedes 7,500 euros ($8,713) for releasing Antonelli’s car from the garage in an unsafe condition.

“It’s been a very, very stressful day,” said Antonelli of his crash which also caused a red flag in practice.

“But the mechanics today were the heroes. We couldn’t even set up the car, we just went out.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will line up fourth in Sunday’s race, one ahead of McLaren’s fifth-placed Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen crashed out of the first qualifying session (Q1) without recording a lap time, allowing his new teammate Hadjar to shine.

“It was a very smooth qualifying,” said the 21-year-old Frenchman.

“We kind of built up to it, and it was a very good last lap. I want to keep my position, as a second podium would be good.”

VERSTAPPEN UNSTUCK

The new chassis and power unit changes have meant a steep learning curve for drivers, putting a greater onus on managing power deployment and regeneration.

Verstappen came unstuck when he locked up on turn one of his first flying lap, skidded over gravel and smashed into the barrier. The Dutchman swore over the team radio before exiting the car unscathed.

“The car just locked on the rear axles. Fantastic,” said Verstappen, last year’s runner-up.

Norris slammed F1’s engine overhaul, saying the cars had gone from the “best to the worst” in a season.

Seven-times world champion Hamilton will be seventh on the grid for Ferrari, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad will line up eighth and ninth.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto sneaked into Q3 but was unable to take part due to an unconfirmed technical issue, the team said.

He was 10th quickest in Q2 but rolled to a halt on his in-lap at the end of the session after losing his gears.

Struggling Aston Martin’s two-times world champion Fernando Alonso was eliminated in Q1, along with both the new Cadillac team’s drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll was unable to take part in Q1, with the team running out of time to rebuild his car following morning repairs.

Williams driver Carlos Sainz also missed qualifying.

Stewards confirmed Stroll, Sainz and Verstappen were allowed to race on Sunday despite failing to post qualifying lap times.

($1 = 0.8607 euros)

(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)