Lando Norris and Max Verstappen tied for the most pole positions during 2024. They continued their rivalry as the McLaren driver claimed the honours for the opening race of 2024.
But for F1’s six new full-time drivers the first qualifying session of the season marked a significant moment. And only one of them – the reigning Formula 2 champion – put one over their more experienced team mate.
Teams’ improvement from practice to qualifying
As noted yesterday, Red Bull were far from their 2024 pace on the first day of practice in Melbourne. It was therefore no surprise Verstappen quickly got closer to his car’s true pace in final practice and was in the hunt for pole position.
McLaren looked difficult to beat, however. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reckoned there was only another tenth of a second in their car.
Besides Red Bull, another team which made a significant step forwards from Friday to Saturday was Mercedes. They had difficulty getting the best from the soft tyres yesterday, but clearly found answers overnight, and George Russell was also in the hunt for pole position.
The biggest surprise of Saturday, however, was surely Ferrari, who made the smallest step from day to day. They seemed to particularly struggle as the temperatures rose during qualifying.
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Gaps between team mates
Only one of the six newcomers to the grid managed to out-qualify their more experienced team mate. Take a bow, Gabriel Bortoleto, who beat Nico Hulkenberg, a veteran of 227 grands prix, by six-hundredths of a second in Q1. It was enough to earn him a place in Q2.
Bortoleto said the first part of qualifying “went smoothly” for him. “We put everything together and made the cut. I think making it into Q2 in my first-ever qualifying is definitely not bad.”
However he had a lurid moment in Q2 when the car nearly got away from him in turn four. “I wanted to give it a shot at Q3 and pushed a little too hard on my lap,” he admitted. “I still managed to keep the car on track, but it didn’t really make sense to try again. Still, I think we can be quite satisfied with the job done today.”
Several of the new drivers had substantial deficits to their team mates, but there were mitigating factors associated with the largest of those. Liam Lawson was on course to improve when he went off, Jack Doohan was disadvantaged by being unable to use his DRS because Lewis Hamilton had spun off in front of him, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli damaged his floor.
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NB. Oliver Bearman did not set at time
Team mate battles
Fernando Alonso also had floor damage, but F1’s most experienced driver still managed to out-qualify his team mate. He extended his streak of races in which he’s beaten Lance Stroll, which is the longest such run of anyone on the grid.
Last year, Lewis Hamilton was beaten by team mate George Russell at Mercedes, and he wasn’t surprised to find himself behind Charles Leclerc after their first qualifying session together. However Ferrari’s new driver said he was “pleased” to be as close as he was.
| Driver | Consecutive qualifying wins | | Fernando Alonso | 13 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 9 |
| Lando Norris | 8 |
| Max Verstappen | 8 |
| George Russell | 7 |
| Driver | Consecutive qualifying losses | | Lance Stroll | 13 |
| Liam Lawson | 9 |
| Oscar Piastri | 8 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 7 |
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Q3 appearances
George Russell has the longest run of consecutive Q3 appearances at present. He last failed to reach Q3 at the Hungarian Grand Prix when he dropped out in Q1.
| Driver | Consecutive Q3 appearances | | George Russell | 12 |
| Lando Norris | 8 |
| Oscar Piastri | 5 |
| Max Verstappen | 4 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 4 |
| Pierre Gasly | 2 |
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