Hamilton on pole, Max qualifies P12

Published on 14 March 2015 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen qualified in twelfth for his first Formula Grand Prix, in Australia. The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver managed to progress comfortably to Q2 but missed out on Q3 by a mere tenth of a second. His team mate Carlos Sainz put in an excellent performance by qualifying in eighth. Mercedes secured a front row lockout with Lewis Hamilton claiming pole.

In Q1, dominated by Mercedes, both Toro Rosso drivers posted decent lap times with Max setting the fourth quickest lap and Sainz the sixth, resulting in the duo progressing to Q2. Perhaps unsurprisingly, both McLarens and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson failed to make through.

During the second part of qualifying, which determines the top ten drivers fighting for pole in the final part of qualifying, it looked initially that both Toro Rossos where in the mix. Their first run put Sainz in P7 and Max in P10. “My first run in Q1 was a good one, but during my first Q2 run, something was stuck in against my shoulder which hurt. I also just didnt make the most of the car because my front tyres weren’t up to temperature”, explained Max to Verstappen.nl.

Both drivers head out for a second run and Max is of to a good start with a good first sector. “During the second push-lap, I did a good first sector but made a mistake out of turn four, where I went a bit too wide and lost the rear, losing quite a lot of time. It’s a shame but I can’t change any of this now.”

In the end, Max has to settle for P12 (1:28.868) whilst his team mate progresses through to the final part of qualifying. Both Force India's, RBR's Daniil Kvyat and Sauber's Felipe Nasr join Max in the list of drivers that fail to make the cut.

In Q3 it is once again Mercedes that sets the pace, or rather Lewis Hamilton. The Britt takes a sovereign pole position with a margin of over six tenths to his team mate Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa beats both Ferraris and his team mate Bottas, who finishes sixth after a ragged lap. Carlos Sainz secures P8 in his first ever qualifying, one spot behind Red Bull Racing's quickest driver, Daniel Ricciardo.

On Sunday, Max Verstappen will become the youngest ever Grand Prix driver, a special moment for the young Dutchman. “I look forward to tomorrow, my first ever Formula 1 race. The car is working well and hopefully we will be able to score some points as we have a good race pace.”

Australian Grand Prix – Albert Park – Saturday 14 March

QUALIFYING
	Name	           Team	        Q1	        Q2	        Q3	        Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes	1:28.586	1:26.894	1:26.327	16
2	Nico Rosberg	   Mercedes	1:28.906	1:27.097	1:26.921	14
3	Felipe Massa	   Williams	1:29.246	1:27.895	1:27.718	21
4	Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari	1:29.307	1:27.742	1:27.757	12
5	Kimi Raikkonen	   Ferrari	1:29.754	1:27.807	1:27.790	17
6	Valtteri Bottas	   Williams	1:29.641	1:27.796	1:28.087	16
7	Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull	1:29.788	1:28.679	1:28.329	22
8	Carlos Sainz	   Toro Rosso	1:29.597	1:28.601	1:28.510	22
9	Romain Grosjean	   Lotus	1:29.537	1:28.589	1:28.560	20
10	Pastor Maldonado   Lotus	1:29.847	1:28.726	1:29.480	20
11	Felipe Nasr	   Sauber	1:30.430	1:28.800	 	        17
12	Max Verstappen	   Toro Rosso	1:29.248	1:28.868	 	        15
13	Daniil Kvyat	   Red Bull	1:30.402	1:29.070	 	        9
14	Nico Hulkenberg	   Force India	1:29.651	1:29.208	 	        14
15	Sergio Perez	   Force India	1:29.990	1:29.209	 	        13
16	Marcus Ericsson	   Sauber	1:31.376	 	 	                10
17	Jenson Button	   McLaren	1:31.422	 	 	                7
18	Kevin Magnussen	   McLaren	1:32.037	 	 	                8
DNS	Will Stevens	   Manor GP	No time	 	 	 
DNS	Roberto Merhi	   Manor GP	No time	 	 	 
 	Q1 107% Time	 	1:34.787			

Via Twitter and Facebook we'll keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action. You can find the schedule for the Australian Grand Prix here. Don't forget to check out the weekend’s photo album.