Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes inconsistency is ‘messing with my mind’
Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes’ inconsistent pace was beginning to “mess with his mind” as he could only qualify 11th for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, his worst qualifying performance in Melbourne for 14 years.
Hamilton, who described the W15 as being “on a knife edge” in terms of its sweet spot, will start four places behind his team-mate George Russell, who just managed to sneak into Q3.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, predictably, made it a hat-trick of poles in Melbourne, seeing off the challenge of Ferrari’s fit-again Carlos Sainz.
But much of the talk afterwards revolved around Mercedes’ fluctuating form.
Hamilton: ‘There is a long list of things to fix’
At certain times this season, the W15 has looked at or near the pace of Ferrari, who have consistently been second quickest behind Red Bull. But at others it has been way off the pace. Hamilton was 18th in practice on Friday.
“The inconsistency in the car really messes with the mind,” admitted the seven-time world champion who has finished seventh and ninth in the first two races of this season. “George did a good job today and I have to try and do a better job tomorrow.
“There is a long list of things to fix. Our car is on a knife edge. In the afternoon the wind picks up and the car becomes unstable. But the others can pick their pace up in qualifying and I am not sure why. It didn’t feel the same in qualifying even though we had lighter fuel. It is not a great feeling for everyone in the team but we will keep working away.”
Hamilton’s Q2 lap was only fractionally slower than Russell managed – just 0.059sec. But while Russell snuck through, and will start Sunday’s race from seventh after beating the Aston Martins and the RB of Yuki Tsunoda in Q3, Hamilton found himself dumped out.
Not the way Lewis Hamilton would have wanted his qualifying to end in Melbourne 📻 pic.twitter.com/t5n68xUNvT
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 23, 2024
“It is three years in a row where I have had a similar feeling,” the 39-year-old, who is heading to Ferrari next year, added. “There are spikes like this morning [in final practice] where I think it can be good, and then it disappears.
“If we can make the car more consistent maybe we can be more competitive but there is a lot of work to do and everyone is pushing as hard as they can.”
Wolff: ‘There is no excuse’
Mercedes’ form is particularly concerning as they changed their entire car concept over the winter in a bid to establish a more stable platform from which to develop.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff agreed with Hamilton that it was troubling.
“It’s especially underwhelming because we were within a tenth in FP3,” the Austrian noted, referring to their improved form in final practice earlier in the day. “The conditions were a little bit different but there is no excuse.
“We have a car that is difficult and you can be narrowly in and out of the window, and as much as I am annoyed at myself for saying this for a long time, we just need to continue working on it and trying to get better. It is not because of a lack of trying that we are where we are, but it’s not good enough.”
Red Bull and Verstappen had not been at their imperious best leading up to qualifying. But the three-time world champion, who is hunting a record-equalling 10th consecutive win at Albert Park, got the job done when it mattered, as he usually does.
Verstappen produced a 1min15.915sec in the final top 10 shootout, the only driver to dip under the 1min16sec mark.
That was 0.270 seconds quicker than Sainz managed. The Spaniard was delighted simply to have made the front row given he missed the last race in Jeddah two weekends ago due to having his appendix removed.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Sainz admitted. “A lot of days spent waiting to see if I could be here. So to put it on the front row, I was almost not believing it. I’m very happy to be here and very happy to be challenging the Red Bulls. I’m not going to lie, I’m not in my most comfortable state – a lot of discomfort – but I can get it done.”
The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fourth and sixth quickest respectively, either side of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Earlier, the 131,000 fans packed into Albert Park – a record for a Saturday here – were left disappointed when local favourite Daniel Ricciardo was dumped out in Q1.
The Australian, who is under some pressure following a difficult first two races of the season, thought he had done enough to go through to Q2, only for his lap time to be deleted due to exceeding track limits.
Ricciardo will start Sunday’s race from 19th, with only Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu behind him on the grid.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez will start from sixth despite being third fastest. He was deemed to have blocked Nico Hulkenberg in Q1 and receives a three-place grid penalty.
Australian Grand Prix qualifying, as it happened
06:43 AM GMT
Let’s not get too dispirited about that
Of course, Verstappen is again the heavy favourite here. However, Albert Park can throw up some strange situations with safety cars and red flags. Ferrari’s aim should be just to stay in touch. In fairness, any improvement on the first two races and nobody can complain too much.
The race begins tomorrow at the ungodly hour of 4am GMT and we will be here for all of the build-up and updates for that from about an hour before.
06:25 AM GMT
Toto Wolff speaks
I think it’s an illusion to go go closer to Red Bull in the short term but I have to believe there is more in this car. It’s so tricky to be in and out of the performance window but we just have to continue to work on it.
06:24 AM GMT
Lewis Hamilton on his Q2 elimination
It felt great in P3 and it was strange because we were right there with these guys and we didn’t really understand why. The inconsistency in the car really messes with the mind. George did a good job today, it is what it is... I just have to do a good job tomorrow. I mean there’s a long list [of things to fix].
I think our car is on a but of a knife-edge. On the afternoon here the wind picks up and then the car becomes a lot more unstable. The others seem to be able to pick their pace up in qualifying the car didn’t feel good in qualifying, even though we had lighter fuel. It’s not a great feeling for anyone in the team but we will just keep working away.
06:21 AM GMT
That is a decent effort from McLaren
Fourth and sixth. I think their aim should probably be to be the third quickest team tomorrow. Which would mean fifth and sixth in the race. Can Norris disrupt enough to get a podium? Not sure. But it’s an outside bet.
We can fight from there! Lando will start P4 and Oscar P6 in Melbourne in front of plenty of papaya in the stands! 🧡 pic.twitter.com/XM4PrAdhQu
— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) March 23, 2024
06:19 AM GMT
Charles Leclerc on a disappointing fifth place
I just didn’t find the right feeling today for some reason. There was something already from FP3 that I could feel but I told myself I could find confidence in qualifying again which, most of the time it works, but this time it didn’t. A bit of a shame but it’s like this.
I just have to do a good start but then the race is long and there are four DRS zones here so I think overtaking is possible. I believe that Red Bull have more margin than we initially thought so tomorrow we think they will be stronger. If I get past Lando really quickly then we can focus on getting the guys in front and hopefully put them under more pressure.
06:16 AM GMT
Watch: Verstappen’s pole lap
The lap that secured Max's third pole position of the season 🔍 pic.twitter.com/TpYMCpyR03
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 23, 2024
06:15 AM GMT
A lot of chat about how good the Ferrari’s race pace looked in practice
And that it will give Red Bull something to think about. I mean, maybe and probably more so than the previous two races. But if Verstappen takes the lead at turn one tomorrow I don’t think that he will have that much to think about. And Leclerc is down in fifth rather than third, where he could have been, which gives Red Bull the upper hand strategically, if the order does not drastically change.
Of course we will wait and see but Red Bull looked like they could be challenged for pole - and they were - but race pace is where Red Bull’s advantage has been biggest so we shouldn’t expect any real difference.
06:08 AM GMT
Carlos Sainz on a very good front row
It’s been a tough couple of weeks, a lot of days in bed waiting to this moment to see if I could be here today... to put it on the front-row after leading throughout qualifying I was almost not believing it after what I have been through.
I was a bit rusty through the beginning and then I finally found the pace and feeling good in the car. I am not going to lie, I am not in my most comfortable state when I am driving out there but and I can get it done. And as long as I can get it done without the pain... a lot of discomfort and weird feelings but no pain so it allows me to push.
06:06 AM GMT
Verstappen speaks
It was a bit unexpected I think today in qualifying but very happy with Q3. Both of those laps felt very very nice. A bot of a tricky weekend so far but we managed to be there at the end so happy to be with that. They [Ferrari] seem very quick, also in the long-runs. A bit of a question mark for tomorrow but I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
06:04 AM GMT
Q3 - Classification
VER 1:15.915
SAI +0.270
PER +0.359
NOR +0.400
LEC +0.520
PIA +0.657
RUS +0.809
TSU +0.873
STR +1.157
ALO +1.637
06:03 AM GMT
Well, I guess that extinguishes any hope of a non-Verstappen win tomorrow?
Well, not quite. But... yeah. Not promising.
06:03 AM GMT
Max Verstappen takes pole for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
A fine lap. Not really sure what happened with Ferrari. Nothing really I do not think, it is just that Red Bull and Verstappen managed to unlock the pace at the right time. Or it was always in there and they were just building up to it.
Leclerc made a mistake in T12 and then bailed out...
“The car was really difficult to drive. It was going from oversteer to understeer and I don’t know why”.
06:01 AM GMT
Q3 - Verstappen improves by 0.133sec
A lot of time for Ferrari to find here...
Sainz is 0.270sec off Verstappen and in second... Piastri into fifth for now. Norris into fourth! Russell stays seventh.
Leclerc abandons his lap and peels off into the pits so that all but confirms the Verstappen pole...
Ahhhhh. That is a shame.
Alonso stays 10th.
06:00 AM GMT
Q3 - Verstappen improves in sector one
Not by a great deal... but still. Sainz improves by even more. Is it on? Verstappen 0.062sec up on his previous time after two sectors. Let’s see... Perez doing well. Sainz has lost a bit of time in the middle sector though...
05:59 AM GMT
Q3 - Stroll on a run out on his own
He goes eighth fastest which is only ahead of Tsunoda and team-mate Alonso, who is yet to set a time. He nearly lost it through the fast chicane at nine and 10. Not a great lap and probably lost him at least 0.4sec.
Anyway, two minutes remain. Can anyone dislodge Verstappen from pole?
05:56 AM GMT
Q3 - That Verstappen lap came from nowhere
But the pace was obviously always there...
05:55 AM GMT
Q3 - Order after the first runs
VER 1:16.048
SAI +0.283
LEC +0.387
PER +0.410
NOR +0.549
PIA +0.819
RUS +0.827
TSU +1.342
ALO (NO TIME)
STR (NO TIME)
05:54 AM GMT
Q3 - Piastri into third, ahead of Russell
Verstappen hooks it all up to fastest by 0.283sec and Sergio Perez slots into fourth, ahead of Norris. Hmmm. That is a fair margin for the Ferraris to make up there. Not impossible but hmmm, Verstappen has finally shown his hand here. Alonso ran off into the gravel in turn six but keeps it out of the wall and gets it back to the pits.
05:53 AM GMT
Q3 - Sainz with good pace early on
Alonso has had an off somewhere. Sainz crosses the line with a 1:16.331... decent. Russell is 0.544sec adrift of that. Leclerc crosses the line in second 0.104sec off Sainz... Verstappen is on a rapid lap though. He will go fastest surely.
05:50 AM GMT
Q3 begins!
One of Sainz, Zlonso, Russell, Leclerc, Verstappen, Piastri, Perez, Norris, Stroll or Tsunoda will be on pole. Ferrari looking good...
05:47 AM GMT
So Tsunoda into Q3 and Ricciardo out in Q1
More worrying for the Australian.
05:45 AM GMT
A perplexed look moved across Toto Wolff’s face
Starting to look like Hamilton has made a decent decision in moving to Ferrari. Plenty of time to go before that happens and things may well change but Mercedes appear to be stuck in a rut.
05:44 AM GMT
Q2 - Classification
SAI 1:16.189
LEC +0.115
VER +0.198
PIA +0.412
PER +0.442
ALO +0.521
NOR +0.561
STR +0.591
TSU +0.602
RUS +0.712
ELIMINATED:HAM +0.771
ALB +0.978
BOT +1.151
MAG +1.238
OCO +1.508
05:42 AM GMT
Q2 ends - Sainz fastest
Leclerc in second, but Hamilton out. Out-qualified by Russell again... slower than Tsunoda. He has a bag of pole positions here.
05:41 AM GMT
Q2 - Final laps under way
Magnussen is out, he stays 12th. Bottas in the Sauber improves to 12th but will also be eliminated. Ocon in 15th which is about as much as he could hope for. Tsunoda goes eighth and knocks out Stroll momentarily who then improves. However, that has moved Hamilton out and eliminated him!
05:40 AM GMT
Q2 - Hamilton begins his final flying lap
His first sector is his best but he is still 0.4sec off what Sainz did. In one sector...
Albon has not left the pits which means he will not dislodge Stroll. Hamilton improves with a good middle sector, clawing back some time. Can he sneak into the top five or six here? A bit loose in the penultimate turn and that costs him time and means he stays in ninth, marginally improving his lap time... ouch.
05:38 AM GMT
Q2 - Alonso on a flying lap
How flying is it? Not massively. A decent middle sector but is likely to end up fifth at best here, I believe. Let’s see...
He crosses the line with a 1:16.780 and moves up into seventh, 0.791sec off Sainz. Stroll, his team-mate, stays in 10th. Does anyone else have the pace to dislodge him? Maybe Albon... maybe?
05:36 AM GMT
Q2 - Sainz moves fastest!
0.198sec ahead of Verstappen! What can Perez do? It doesn’t look like a rapid lap so far. He’s currently sixth and then moves up to fourth, however 0.442sec off Sainz’s time. Leclerc doesn’t have the time to challenge Sainz, nearly four-tenths off. Hmmm. A genuine struggle or holding something back? I can’t think that he’d be that far off...
05:33 AM GMT
Q2 - Russell improves to go seventh
That moves Hamilton down to eighth with Norris now in the top five.
Here’s the top 10 after the first runs:
VER
PIA
SAI
LEC
NIR
PER
RUS
HAM
STR
ALO
Albon, Tsunoda, Magnussen, Bottas and Ocon the men who are currently in the elimination zone. Ferraris now on new soft tyres and on track.
05:32 AM GMT
Q2 - Hamilton “only” sixth
Piastri second on fresh tyres, 0.214sec off Verstappen. Good effort. Russell has not yet done a representative lap. Hamilton is 0.6sec off Verstappen despite also being on fresh tyres. That Mercedes really is a mystery.
05:29 AM GMT
Q2 - Sainz on a good lap
In good form it seems here after his appendix surgery and missing the last race. He is without a seat for 2025. He posts a 1:16.671 on used tyres. What does Verstappen do on fresh ones? He finishes 0.284sec ahead. OK. Moderately encouraging for Ferrari. Leclerc on used tyres is just under a tenth off his team-mate.
05:27 AM GMT
Q2 begins!
15 cars, 10 to go through to Q3. Esteban Ocon, after hitting the wall, has done a good job to make it into this mini-session. Well done him.
05:26 AM GMT
More frustration for Ricciardo
If he continues on his current path not only will he not get that Red Bull seat that is his ultimate aim but he will do lucky to retain his place at RB. As I said, not even three races in but the signs are not very good being second best to his team-mate.
05:22 AM GMT
Q1 - Classification
SAI 1:16.731
PER +0.074
VER +0.088
LEC +0.253
ALO +0.260
RUS +0.331
ALB +0.399
TSU +0.625
PIA +0.638
STR +0.645
NOR +0.699
HAM +0.768
BOT +0.812
OCO +0.886
MAG +0.978
ELIMINATED:HUL
GAS
RIC
ZHO
05:20 AM GMT
Q1 ends - Sainz fastest
0.088sec between the top three. But Daniel Ricciardo gets his lap time deleted and is eliminated! Oh dear...
That means Magnussen’s Haas makes it through to Q2.
05:20 AM GMT
Q1 - Ricciardo into 10th
That should do it. A big roar from the crowd. Hamilton stays 11th... but he should be fine to get through. Zhou doesn’t improve from 18th so he is out. Tsunoda in danger here, can he improve? Yes, into seventh. He will be through.
Ocon into 15th! Will that be enough? I think so. The Haas cars are not on flying laps.
Russell into sixth.
05:18 AM GMT
Q1 - Two minutes remain
Ocon had a brush with the wall earlier.
Esteban Ocon brushes the wall in Q1 😲 pic.twitter.com/pOSTsnYBBV
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 23, 2024
Ricciardo giving it a go to get him out of Q1. Not the best season so far but we are only two races in. It’s a decent first sector, 0.183sec up on where he needs to be to get into Q2.
Verstappen also complains of understeer, like his team-mate.
05:16 AM GMT
Q1 - A fine lap from Albon
He goes fifth soon after Perez slots into second. Could Sargeant have done that lap? I doubt it...
Verstappen into third, 0.088sec off Sainz. I think we have a battle on for pole here. Whether Red Bull have something in their pocket I do not know. I suspect so.
05:15 AM GMT
Q1 - Russell into ninth now
0.8sec nearly off Sainz, though. That’s not exactly a massive improvement. Gasly improves to 14th in the Alpine but I cannot see him getting through. Ocon in 19th... stays in 19th. That car is a dog. A heavy, heavy dog.
05:13 AM GMT
Q1 - Current top 10
SAI
LEC +0.253
ALO +0.260
VER +0.498
PER +0.544
PIA +0.638
NOR +0.699
STR +0.719
HAM +1.022
TSU +1.093
Those gaps aren’t exactly representative as some drivers were doing multiple push laps on a run. Russell goes again, trying to improve from a lowly 17th.
“Front brakes don’t really feel like they are working,” he says. This is a better lap, but by how much?
05:12 AM GMT
Q1 - Alonso now fastest
That’s a good lap, though he is then knocked down to third as the two Ferraris improve and beat him by about a quarter of a second. Sainz the lead man now by two-tenths.
05:10 AM GMT
Q1 - It’s not a good first attempt from Russell
Only down in 13th, which becomes 14th when Hamilton slots into fifth, half a second off Leclerc. Hmmm. Ferrari the class of the field at this very early stage. Norris into the top three with his second flying lap though he is then displaced from that slot by his team-mate, home hero Oscar Piastri.
05:07 AM GMT
Q1 - Sainz goes fastest
0.189sec faster than Verstappen. Perez complains of understeer on his first lap. The track probably could do with rubbering in a bit more. Norris into fifth, Piastri sixth though a fair margin (0.5sec) off what the Ferraris have done. Leclerc now the faster man ahead of his team-mate by less than a tenth.
05:06 AM GMT
Q1 - What is Verstappen’s first lap?
A 1:17.478 which isn’t lightning, only 0.4sec faster than the Haas of Magnussen. Perez crosses the line just under two tenths behind. An incident between Perez and Hulkenberg noted.
05:04 AM GMT
Q1 - Oof, Albon runs wide
But he keeps it going forwards. He crosses the line with a 1:18.709 which is unlikely to be good enough to get him through. He got a big snap mid-way through the fast chicane and subsequently loses his time for a track limits infringement there.
05:02 AM GMT
Q1 - Albon on the radio
“There are a lot of leaves on the track,” he says.
05:01 AM GMT
GREEN LIGHT: Q1 BEGINS!
Albon does get going. Does he have something to prove this weekend because of what happened this weekend? Not so much but it would be a bad look were he to finish 18th or something.
05:00 AM GMT
Alex Albon very keen to get out there
He’s at the end of the pit lane waiting for the light to go green...
04:53 AM GMT
Some work going on on the Mercedes cars
We are only six or seven minutes away from Q1 beginning...
They seemed to find some pace in FP3 let’s hope they can keep it into Q1, Q2 and Q3.
04:47 AM GMT
Is there a chance of rain during qualifying?
Yes, perhaps a little.
LATEST RADAR — A few showers are located 20km west of the circuit (Albert Park is near St Kilda) and are generally moving northwest. A few spots of rain were reported in the @supercars sessions this morning.
Radar image: @BOM_au #F1 #F2 #F3 #RepcoSC #Supercars | #AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/lJcUidPscI— MeteoMotorsport (@MeteoMotorsport) March 22, 2024
04:44 AM GMT
How have teams fare so far in qualifying in 2024?
As you can see a fairly big chunk between Red Bull and the next best, Ferrari. It’s then fairly steady gaps until you get back outside of the top five. Alpine the only team to average two per cent slower than the fastest lap in qualifying over the two weekends so far.
04:40 AM GMT
Frederic Vasseur speaks to Sky Sports F1
It’s tighter than usual, you have six or seven cars within one tenth. So far the car is well balanced and it is much easier to work on the car when the balance is like this and we are doing a good step forward. Yesterday we did good long stints but we need to pay attention... with the tyres. It will be tricky for the tyres tomorrow. To run in free air or not is important for the tyres and it is important to have a good quali.
I think if they are to have any chance they need to get at least one car ahead of Verstappen on the grid.
04:36 AM GMT
Current constructor standings
04:29 AM GMT
Current driver standings
Those drivers outside of the top five teams are really going to be fighting for scraps this year, it seems. The top five have a big performance gap to the rest of the field currently. That may change through time.
04:25 AM GMT
Reminder of what is going on at Williams
Williams’ Logan Sargeant will miss the Australian Grand Prix because his team have chosen to give his car to team-mate Alexander Albon.
Albon crashed heavily in the first session of Friday practice, with the chassis unable to be repaired. As Williams only have two chassis in Melbourne this weekend it means that only one of their drivers will race and they took the unusual decision that Albon would race and not his America team-mate.
“Due to the fact that a third chassis is unavailable, the team can confirm it has taken the decision for Alex to compete for the remainder of the weekend in the chassis that Logan Sargeant drove in FP1 and FP2,” Williams said.
Sargeant, who was a clear second to Albon throughout 2023 and in 2024 so far said it was a tough moment.
“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy,” the 23-year-old American said in the statement.
“I am however completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximise what we can do,” he added.
James Vowles said that having no spare chassis was “unacceptable”. “But it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future,” he said.
“As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon. While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend,” he added.
Albon scored 27 points to Sargeant’s one in 2023 and has never been out-qualified by the American in their time together at Williams.
“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat. I would never want anything like this to happen,” Albon said.
“Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take.”
Is this the right decision? There is an enormous gulf in quality between the two drivers and I am tempted to say that Sargeant is quite lucky to still be driving for Williams after his debut season. However, why did Williams pick him if they have, apparently, such little faith in him?
04:16 AM GMT
That is a fairly close pack after final practice
Just 0.283sec separating the top six and under a second between the top 11. I don’t think it will stay like that when qualifying rolls around but it is promising. Verstappen managed 28 laps, more than anyone apart from his team-mate who did the same number. Would suggest whatever disadvantage, however slight, they had after missing 25 minutes of FP3 has disappeared.
04:13 AM GMT
Lap times after FP3
LEC 1:16.714
VER 1:16.734
SAI 1:16.791
HAM 1:16.806
RUS 1:16.886
ALO 1:16.997
PER 1:17.014
PIA 1:17.087
STR 1:17.341
NOR 1:17.490
TSU 1:17.673
BOT 1:17.752
ALB 1:17.759
ZHO 1:17.876
OCO 1:17.920
HUL 1:17.941
MAG 1:17.961
RIC 1:17.963
GAS 1:18.390
04:05 AM GMT
Good morning F1 fans
Welcome to our coverage for qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne. This is a race that for many years kicked off the season (and that will be the case in 2025) so it always feels slightly strange when it comes a few races into the season. It was also the case that the track here did not tend to produce great racing though that has been improved with a remodelling of certain parts of the track and a now record four DRS zones.
Will this all mean Max Verstappen might be stopped this weekend? Well, probably not. Going on Friday’s practice, though, there was some promise that Ferrari might be able to challenge him over one lap. Charles Leclerc topped FP2 and was 0.4sec nearly ahead of the defending champion. The caveat here is that Verstappen had a disrupted session, missing the first 20 minutes as the floor on his RB20 was changed. In third practice earlier this morning, Verstappen found a bit of pace to finish second again, this time well within a tenth of a second behind Leclerc. Carlos Sainz was third for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton fourth for Mercedes – both within a tenth of a second of the fastest time of the session.
In fairness Ferrari has been almost the equal to Verstappen’s Red Bull since the mid-point of last season. Since Belgium 2023 Ferrari has taken six poles and Red Bull seven. The greater weakness of Red Bulls’ rivals has been when it comes to race pace. And that has continued this year with the winning margin from the lead Red Bull to the best non-Red Bull car has been 25 and 18 seconds respectively. Should Ferrari be able to challenge over Saturday and Sunday that would be a surprise, but that does not mean we can rule it out.
Challenging might well be the most we can hope for. Verstappen has had so little to think about on race day so far this year. Two races, two poles and both times he has led at the first corner, at the end of the first lap and chequered flag. Strategically every other team was an irrelevance. It would be nice to have the smallest smidgen of doubt or jeopardy at the front.
Qualifying begins at 5am GMT so we do not have to wait too long to find out.
