The sniper fired the only shot he had: Max Verstappen gave a demonstration of his exceptional talent by shattering the Albert Park track record with a time of 1.15.915, the only one to break the 1.16 barrier. The Dutchman complained for two days about the setup of his Red Bull, but eventually, after the last adjustments made in Q2, he found the perfect lap that allowed the world champion to secure the second pole in the Australian Grand Prix, which is also the third of the season and the 57th in his career.
Unfortunately nothing new under the sun of the antipodes, but this time the result of the qualifying may not be decisive for the race: Max Verstappen has hinted that starting from pole will not shield him from the attacks of the Ferrari cars, which have shown a better adaptation to the Melbourne track in terms of race pace. The illusion of the Prancing Horse to celebrate the 250th pole was shattered with the second place of an amazing Carlos Sainz: the Spaniard, despite not being in perfect shape after the emergency operation in Jeddah for appendicitis he suffered in Saudi Arabia, knew how to react and make a strong comeback.
The Spaniard’s Ferrari is second with a gap of 270 milliseconds: Carlos Sainz wedged himself between the two Red Bulls, since Sergio Perez is third with the other RB20, and the Mexican also followed Max Verstappen’s setup script to overcome understeer. The Spaniard will have to prove in the race that he can keep up with the Dutchman, counting on the fact that the red car could be as competitive as the one from Milton Keynes. Charles Leclerc will be disappointed with only finishing fifth, after he was in strong contention for pole position: the Monegasque was eventually outpaced even by Lando Norris with the McLaren, who preceded him by over a tenth.
In the qualifying session for the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, the pole position was within reach for Scuderia Ferrari. On paper, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was more vulnerable than what was seen in past weekends at the Bahrain International Circuit located in Sakhir and then in Jeddah.
Several mistakes by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, which we will analyze together, prevented the Scuderia from securing their first pole of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Telemetry Analysis Carlos Sainz vs Max Verstappen
As clearly shown in this graph, the Red Bull RB20 single-seater is able to generate higher speeds on any straight, which are highlighted by the white circles.
Sainz (red line) vs Verstappen (blue line) comparison on their best lap in Q3. Credits: www.f1-tempo.com
The main difference, however, is seen in the section of the high-speed chicane of turns 9 and 10: in that area, Carlos Sainz makes a mistake, costing him dearly throughout the following straight. For the rest of the lap, in essentially all the corners, the Ferrari perfectly holds its own against the car that has dominated the early races of the Formula 1 championship.
The Spaniard’s error, therefore, cost him the chance of achieving pole position, as demonstrated by the second graph. In the yellow circles placed over the telemetry data, we can indeed see how the delta between the two drivers grows exponentially right in that section. The second telemetry data graph, instead, confirms that it was an imperfection by Carlos Sainz, likely driven by the eagerness to secure that pole position for the Australian Grand Prix.
Sainz (red line) vs Verstappen (blue line) comparison on their best lap in Q3. Credits: www.f1-tempo.com
Observing the throttle input, we notice that it is not linear throughout the corner. It goes, in fact, from 100% to 15%, then back up to 98% and down dramatically to 43%, probably to make a correction. This caused him to lose about four-tenths between the chicane and the following straight, where his top speed was affected by the earlier mistake.
Charles Leclerc Makes a Mistake Too
On the other hand, Charles Leclerc made a significant correction in the third sector, which even led him not to complete the final flying lap, having to settle for fifth place on the starting grid for the race which takes place at the Albert Park circuit on Sunday. Given the fact that the Monegasque driver did not complete his final fast run, unfortunately, the data from that lap is not available in the telemetry, but up to the second sector, he was on par with the lap times of Carlos Sainz, hence neck and neck with Max Verstappen. Yet, we will never be certain whether one of the Ferrari drivers would have secured pole position had they not made a mistake. What we can assert confidently, however, is that the SF-24 car has adapted well to the characteristics of the Melbourne circuit; and that – if it proves to be competitive in the race again – it could be a thorn in Red Bull’s side.
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