In the round-up: Max Verstappen admitted he was “a little bit surprised” to see Mercedes qualify second and third behind him on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix.
In brief
Verstappen “surprised” to be joined by Mercedes on grid
George Russell secured Mercedes’ first front row start of the season in Melbourne with team mate Lewis Hamilton taking third.
After a disappointing start to 2023 for Mercedes, pole winner Verstappen said he had not expected to find them starting directly next to him on today’s grid.
“I’m a little bit surprised,” Verstappen said. “Maybe they are also a little bit surprised! But I guess it’s a good thing.”
He believes the changes in the competitive order in Melbourne is largely down to the performance of Pirelli’s rubber. “It’s all about just having the tyres in the right window and I guess they did a good job with that as well,” he said.
Tsunoda explains weighbridge frustration
AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda admitted he was frustrated that he was called to the weighbridge during qualifying due to time pressures.
All drivers can be randomly summoned to the weighbridge during qualifying when entering the pitlane to check their car meets minimum weight. Tsunoda was called to the weighbridge with just over five minutes remaining in Q2 while sitting in 11th place and appeared to gesticulate in frustration when an FIA official directed him to reposition his car.
“It’s really tight,” Tsunoda explained. “It was, without the weighbridge, already a really tight schedule. So it just really frustrated me. Try to at least a little bit show that we [need to] hurry! To be honest they don’t care much about that. But in the end I got a good lap, so I’m okay.”
Tsunoda eventually returned to the track with under four minutes left and completed a final flying lap, improving his time but being eliminated in 12th.
Cohen penalised for Barter clash
Ido Cohen has been given a five-place grid penalty for the Formula 3 feature race in Melbourne after colliding with Hugh Barter.
Cohen gave the Campos Racing driver a puncture after hitting his rear-right tyre while attempting to overtake into turn nine in Saturday’s sprint race. The Carlin driver then lost control and hit the barrier before skidding into the gravel.
Stewards deemed Cohen “wholly responsible for the incident” and because he retired from proceedings, the standard 10-second in-race time penalty was converted to a grid drop. Two penalty points have…
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