Verstappen equals Alonso’s tally of poles, Alonso equals his team’s best-ever Melbourne qualifying result and Norris loses his 100% Q3 appearance rate at Albert Park. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
VERSTAPPEN ON POLE FOR THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. It was the 22nd pole position of the Dutchman’s career, equalling Fernando Alonso for 13th in the all-time list of most poles.
This marked the first time Red Bull took pole position at the Australian Grand Prix in the V6 hybrid era. Sebastian Vettel was the last Red Bull driver to take pole in Australia, in 2013.
Albert Park is the 15th different circuit at which Verstappen has taken pole position.
Taking pole position with a 1:16.732, Max Verstappen now holds the record for the fastest ever lap at the Albert Park circuit.
NO FERRARIS IN THE TOP FOUR
For the first time since 2012, no Ferrari drivers qualified on the front two rows of the grid at Albert Park.
With fifth place, Carlos Sainz recorded his best Australian Grand Prix qualifying result to date. His previous best was sixth place, recorded with Toro Rosso in 2016.
Setting the seventh fastest time, Charles Leclerc qualified outside of the top six for only the second time in the last 16 races.
ASTON MARTIN’S BEST AUSTRALIAN QUALIFYING RESULT
With Fernando Alonso fourth and Lance Stroll sixth, the duo recorded the Silverstone team’s best-ever qualifying result at the Australian Grand Prix. The only other time that both of the team’s drivers have qualified in the top six at Albert Park was in 2000, when Heinz-Harald Frentzen qualified fifth and Jarno Trulli qualified sixth for Jordan.
This was the Silverstone team’s first ever double Q3 appearance at the Australian Grand Prix.
Prior to his sixth place in qualifying for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Lance Stroll had never previously reached Q3 at Albert Park.
Fernando Alonso equalled his team’s best ever qualifying result at Albert Park. Heinz-Harald Frentzen also qualified fourth at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.
Fourth place marks Alonso’s best qualifying result at the Australian Grand Prix since he qualified third with Ferrari at the 2010 event.
IN THE TOP TEN
Both Mercedes drivers qualified in the top three for the first time since the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix. It was the first time both Mercedes drivers secured top three starts since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix – when they did so as a result of the Sprint format.
Pierre Gasly reached Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix for the first time in his career.
This was Alex Albon’s first ever Q3 appearance at the Australian Grand Prix, having previously recorded a Q1 exit and a Q2 elimination.
Albon recorded Williams’ first Q3 appearance at the Australian Grand Prix since 2017.
OUT IN Q2
This was the third consecutive Australian Grand Prix weekend in which both of the Red Bull junior team’s drivers were eliminated in Q2.
Neither AlphaTauri driver reached Q3 at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix for the 8th race in a row. This is now the team’s longest streak without a Q3 appearance since the 18 races between 2012 Spanish Grand Prix and the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon was eliminated in Q2 for the third time in his four Albert Park appearances.
For the first time in his career, Lando Norris failed to reach Q3 for a third consecutive race. Norris loses his 100% Q3 appearance rate at the Australian Grand Prix as a result.
Norris maintains his record of out-qualifying his team-mate on every appearance at the Australian Grand Prix.
PEREZ OUT IN Q1
Sergio Perez was out in Q1 following an off-track excursion into the gravel trap. Failing to set a lap time, qualifying only 20th, he recorded his first non-Q3 appearance since the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix and his first Q1 elimination since the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix – which was also Red Bull’s last Q1 exit.
Perez recorded Red Bull’s worst-ever Australian Grand Prix qualifying result. The team’s previous worst result was 19th place for David Coulthard in 2007.
This is the first time Red Bull have failed to reach Q3 with at least one car at consecutive races since the 2020 Hungarian and British Grands Prix.
Perez failed to reach Q3 for the ninth time in his 11 Australian Grand Prix appearances. This was his first Q1 elimination at Albert Park.
THE OTHER DRIVERS OUT IN Q1
Both Alfa Romeo drivers were out in Q1, with Zhou Guanyu qualifying 17th and Valtteri Bottas qualifying 19th. This was the team’s first double Q1 exit since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix – which was their only double Q1 elimination of the 2022 season.
With 17th and 19th, this was the former Sauber team’s worst-ever qualifying result at the Australian Grand Prix during its tenure at Albert Park. Their previous worst was 17th and 18th, recorded in 2018.
Oscar Piastri was eliminated in Q1 on his first home race appearance. With Lando Norris out in Q2, this was the first time since 2018 that neither McLaren driver qualified in the top ten at the Australian Grand Prix.
This was the first time since the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix that Bottas qualified on the back row of the grid as well as the Finn’s first ever Q1 elimination at Albert Park.
Logan Sargeant was out in Q1 for the third time, maintaining his 100% Q1 exit rate in F1.
With Alex Albon reaching Q3 and Logan Sargeant qualifying 18th, this was the first time since 2016 that neither Williams driver qualified on the back row of the grid at the Australian Grand Prix.