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Max qualifies fifth for season opener: "Better than expected"

Published on 25 March 2017 by Stefan Meens

After several frustrating free practice sessions, Max Verstappen qualified in fifth for the opening round of the 2017 Formula 1 season. Lewis Hamilton took pole for the Australian Grand Prix beating Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and his new Mercedes team Valtteri Bottas to the top spot.

“It was better than expected”, said Max post-qualifying. “The car is very sensitive to set-up changes. Sometimes you suffer oversteer and someties understeer and it’s been a variable weekend so far. We weren’t able to do a lot of laps so qualifying in fifth with a reasonable balance is pretty good.”

Asked what he expects of the race, Max said: “Overtaking will be really difficult. It was tough last year but even more so this year with the wider cars. Hopefully we’ll have a good start. It will probably be a lonely race with not much threat from behind and being off the pace compared to the front.”

At the start of qualifying, Williams are working hard to ensure Lance Stroll can contest his first quali. The Canadian crashed the car in FP3, but the British team are able to get the car ready on time. Nevertheless, the rookie was not able to make it into Q1 as well as receiving a five-place grid penalty.

Other casualties of the first qualifying session were Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Jolyon Palmer (Renault), Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber). The latter nearly caused a shock by almost out-qualifying his more experienced team mate Marcus Ericsson in only the Italian’s first Grand Prix weekend.

For both Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) Q2 is the final qualifying session. The top three teams comfortably progressed to Q3 but Max opted for an extra flying lap to cement his place in the final part of quali.

At the start of Q3, spots of rain hit Albert Park but not enough to hinder qualifying with the drivers heading out on the ultra-soft Pirelli slicks. The Ferraris and Mercedes set the pace in the early part of the session before Daniel Ricciardo causes a red flag. The Red Bull Racer lost the rear of his car going into turn 14. The result is a RB13 parked, rear-first, into the tire wall.

With eight minutes remaining, Max heads out for his single flying lap. In the end, it is P5 for the Dutchman behind Lewis Hamilton (pole), Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen. Daniel Ricciardo will start the race in tenth.

Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park - Saturday 25 March 2017

QUALIFYING RESULTS

01 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:24.191 1:23.251 1:22.188 14
02 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:25.210 1:23.401 1:22.456 17
03 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:24.514 1:23.215 1:22.481 13
04 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:24.352 1:23.376 1:23.033 19
05 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:24.482 1:24.092 1:23.485 18
06 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:25.419 1:24.718 1:24.074 17
07 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:25.099 1:24.597 1:24.443 16
08 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:25.542 1:24.997 1:24.487 16
09 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                  1:25.970 1:24.864 1:24.512 16
10 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:25.383 1:23.989 10
11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:25.064 1:25.081 13
12 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:24.975 1:25.091 12
13 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:25.872 1:25.425 15
14 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:26.009 1:25.568 16
15 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:26.236 1:26.465 15
16 Antonio Giovinazzi  Sauber Ferrari              1:26.419 8
17 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:26.847 7
18 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:26.858 6
19 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:27.143 7
20 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:28.244 7 


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