In what could be one of the most sensation turnarounds in Formula 1 history after their dominant start to the 2023 season, all nine rival teams successfully out-qualified a Red Bull for the Australian Grand Prix.
Naturally, this was a result achieved through circumstances rather than speed. Whether it was a genuine car problem or plain driver error, the result was the same – Sergio Perez’s Red Bull was left stranded in the gravel and, as a result, stranded at the back of Sunday’s grid.
Formula 1’s fastest car therefore tops and tails the field heading at round three. Max Verstappen secured pole position to give himself an excellent chance of making it two wins from three to begin his title defence, but now has an open goal opportunity to establish himself as the clear leader in the championship over his team mate.
With no Perez on the front row of the grid for the first time in 2023, Verstappen will head into the race free of the biggest threat to his chances of victory. Red Bull dominated the opening two rounds, winning by a combined total margin of 58 seconds over their closest rivals in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (and the latter was interrupted by a Safety Car). Although his team’s rivals appeared to be closer in qualifying than ever before in 2023, Verstappen knows he has every reason to feel confident of claiming his first victory in Australia.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” said the pole winner. “It’s going to be an interesting race that’s for sure.
“We need a clean start, and after that, hopefully we can do a good job. I’ve been on the podium here before, but this time I want to be on a different step.”
Unsurprisingly, Red Bull look like the strongest package at Albert Park. The high average lap speed suits the low-drag properties of their RB19, while the car also gets good traction out of the slow corners of turns three, 11 and 13.
The cooler temperatures this weekend have given Verstappen headaches with trying to bring his tyres into the right operating window, but that is more a concern for single-lap performance and likely to be of lesser concern during the race – unless there’s a Safety Car restart or two to prepare for.
Verstappen will have two Mercedes in his mirrors when he leaves his (now 20 centimetre wider) pole position grid slot at the start. George Russell sits alongside the world champion with Lewis Hamilton directly behind. Although, on paper,…
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