Verstappen secures pole with the fastest ever Albert Park lap, McLaren record their best Melbourne qualifying result since 2012 and Ricciardo records his first Q1 exit at home. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
VERSTAPPEN ON POLE FOR THE 2024 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix with the fastest lap in Albert Park’s history. This was the 35th pole position of Verstappen’s career.
Having also taken pole in Australia last year, Verstappen became the seventh driver to record multiple pole positions at Albert Park and the sixth driver to record successive pole positions at the track.
Verstappen recorded pole position for a fourth consecutive race. It’s the third time in his career that he has recorded a streak of four successive pole positions.
This was Red Bull’s fifth pole position at the Australian Grand Prix.
With pole for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen secured the 61st front row start of his Formula 1 career. He therefore overtakes Nico Rosberg for sixth in the list of most front row starts in F1.
IN THE TOP 10
On his return after sitting out the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz qualified on the front row for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. This is the first time Sainz has qualified on the front row since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix and the first time he will start from the front row since the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.
This is the first time Sainz has qualified in the top four at the Australian Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez qualified third for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, qualifying in the top three for a second consecutive race. It’s the first time he’s qualified in the top three at two races in a row since the 2023 Azerbaijan and Miami Grands Prix, almost a year ago.
Perez equalled his best Australian Grand Prix qualifying result to date, having also qualified third in 2022.
With fourth place, Lando Norris recorded his best qualifying result since last year’s United States Grand Prix. Norris maintained his record of always out-qualifying his team-mate at the Australian Grand Prix.
Norris equalled his best qualifying result to date at Albert Park, having last qualified fourth for the race in 2022.
Oscar Piastri qualified sixth for his home Grand Prix – ten positions higher than where he qualified in 16th.
This was the first time both McLaren drivers qualified in the top six at the Australian Grand Prix since the team locked-out the front row of the grid at Albert Park in 2012.
George Russell qualified seventh for a second consecutive race. This was the first time since 2011 that neither Mercedes driver qualified in the top six for the Australian Grand Prix – last time they did so, their drivers qualified seventh and eleventh, just as they did in 2024.
Setting the fifth fastest time in Q3 at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc ended a seven-race run of front row qualifications.
Yuki Tsunoda recorded Q3 appearances at consecutive races for the first time since the end of the 2021 season. This was Tusnoda’s first top ten qualification at Albert Park and the first time that a driver for the Red Bull junior team reached Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix since 2017.
Lance Stroll reached Q3 for the second race in a row. It’s the first time he’s reached Q3 at successive races since last year’s Australian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix. This was Stroll’s second Q3 appearance in Melbourne, having also reached Q3 last year.
Stroll out-qualified Fernando Alonso for the fourth time during their time as Aston Martin team-mates. This is the second time that Stroll has out-qualified a team-mate in Melbourne, having last done so in 2018.
OUT IN Q2
For the first time since 2010, Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 at the Australian Grand Prix. This was Hamilton’s third Q2 exit in the last five races.
Hamilton became the first Mercedes driver to fail to reach Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix since Michael Schumacher, who also qualified 11th in 2011.
Qualifying 12th, Alex Albon exited in Q2 for a fourth successive race weekend at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon became the first Alpine driver to reach Q2 in 2024. Ocon was eliminated in Q2, recording his fourth Q2 exit from his five appearances at the Australian Grand Prix.
This was the first time since 2014 that neither of the Enstone team’s drivers qualified in the top 14 for the Australian Grand Prix.
Qualifying 13th, Valtteri Bottas made this the first time in 2024 that a Sauber driver progressed past Q1.
OUT IN Q1
For the first time in his career, Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in Q1 in qualifying for his home Grand Prix. He had put in a lap time good enough to reach Q2, before it was deleted as a result of him exceeding track limits.
Recording his team’s first Q1 exit of the year, Ricciardo recorded the Red Bull junior team’s first Q1 exit at Albert Park since 2018.
Like Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg also recorded his first Q1 exit at Albert Park in qualifying for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. 16th is his worst qualifying result in his 11 appearances at the Melbourne track. This was Haas’ first Q1 exit of the 2024 season.
Pierre Gasly qualified 17th for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, recording the Enstone team’s first Q1 exit at the Australian Grand Prix since 2017, under the team’s Renault guise.
This is the first time Gasly recorded a streak of three consecutive Q1 exits since recording four in a row at the 2017 Mexican, Brazilian, Abu Dhabi and 2018 Australian Grands Prix.
With Williams having only one chassis and Alex Albon crashing out in Free Practice 1, Logan Sargeant did not compete in qualifying for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. This was the first race weekend in his career at which Sargeant did not qualify.
