Second practice for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a damp squib as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time on a weather-affected session.
Local favourite Yuki Tsunoda and his RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo were the only drivers to set lap times early on in changeable conditions, but set their times on the intermediate tyre.
The hour-long session began in rain and, although it later stopped, the track was not deemed sufficiently dry enough for most teams to send out their cars.
Piastri was one of them and his time of one minute 34.725 seconds proved fast enough to top the timesheets, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari the only others to set representative times.
Earlier, Max Verstappen set the pace in first practice as Willams endured another Friday to forget.
Reigning champion Verstappen retired in Melbourne a fortnight ago but was back at it here, his time of one minute 20.056 seconds was enough to see him go quickest at Suzuka, with team-mate Sergio Perez his closest challenger 0.181 seconds back.
A red flag halfway through the session stopped running for 11 minutes as Logan Sargeant crashed off at turn two – further adding to the Williams woes.
Sargeant sat out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago as team-mate Alex Albon took his car after destroying his own in a practice crash and the team currently have no spare chassis.
Williams team principal James Vowles confirmed the car had suffered “extensive” damage and Sargeant was forced to sit out of second practice – although the lack of running meant there was little that would have been gained from taking part.
“It is pretty significant (damage). So the chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t – so the suspension around, the gearbox is cracked, big damage.
“At the top of the brow of the hill there, he struggled to see where his positioning was on track. So it fundamentally looks like he didn’t quite realise where he was with where the grass was on the outside and put a wheel on the grass.”
Albon went 12th fastest after the action restarted, while Verstappen assumed his usual position as the car to beat.
Carlos Sainz, who won in Australia last time out, was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Hamilton, while the second Ferrari of Leclerc was sixth.
Max Verstappen set the pace in first practice for the Japanese Grand Prix as Willams endured another Friday session to forget.
Reigning champion Verstappen retired in Melbourne a fortnight ago but still leads the way in the drivers’ standings and the Red Bull driver was once again topping the timesheets.
Verstappen’s time of one minute 20.056 seconds was enough to see him go quickest at Suzuka, with team-mate Sergio Perez his closest challenger 0.181 seconds back.
A red flag half way through the session stopped running for 11 minutes as Logan Sargeant crashed off at turn two – further adding to the Williams woes.
Sargeant sat out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago as team-mate Alex Albon took his car after destroying his own in a practice crash and the team currently have no spare chassis.
Williams team principal James Vowles confirmed the car had suffered “extensive” damage and that it would be a race against time for the mechanics to prepare it for Friday’s second practice.
“It’s going to be difficult,” he said of Sargeant’s chance of making FP2.
“Obviously we will do our utmost to try and get the car back out there again, but the damage is extensive. So it will take a while.
“It is pretty significant (damage). So the chassis is okay, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t – so the suspension around, the gearbox is cracked, big damage.”
Albon went 12th fastest after the action restarted, while Verstappen assumed his usual position as the car to beat.
Carlos Sainz, who won in Australia last time out, was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, while the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was sixth.
Local favourite Yuki Tsunoda was ninth for RB behind both the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri – whose team-mate Lando Norris rounded out the top 10.
Max Verstappen set the pace in first practice for the Japanese Grand Prix as Willams endured another Friday session to forget.
Reigning champion Verstappen retired in Melbourne a fortnight ago but still leads the way in the drivers’ standings and the Red Bull driver was once again topping the timesheets.
Verstappen’s time of one minute 20.056 seconds was enough to see him go quickest at Suzuka, with team-mate Sergio Perez his closest challenger 0.181 seconds back.
A red flag half way through the session stopped running for 11 minutes as Logan Sargeant crashed off at turn two – further adding to the Williams woes.
Sargeant sat out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago as team-mate Alex Albon took his car after destroying his own in a practice crash and the team currently have no spare chassis.
Albon went 12th fastest after the action restarted, while Verstappen assumed his usual position as the car to beat.
Carlos Sainz, who won in Australia last time out, was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, while the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was sixth.
Local favourite Yuki Tsunoda was ninth for RB behind both the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri – whose team-mate Lando Norris rounded out the top 10.
Lewis Hamilton has tipped Sebastian Vettel as an “amazing option” to replace him at Mercedes.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton is moving to Ferrari from next season, leaving big shoes to fill at a team where he has lifted all-but one of his drivers’ titles.
Vettel, meanwhile, has hinted at a return to the Formula One grid next year having left in 2022.
The German won four titles back to back between 2010 and 2013 with Red Bull and has recently had a test with Porsche that could see him race at Le Mans later this year.
Since 2000, three of the six world champions to leave the sport later returned to the grid, with Vettel potentially set to add to that list.
Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen all had time away from F1 before being enticed back and Vettel admitted in a Sky Sports interview on Wednesday that “it does cross my mind” when it comes to securing a new drive and has spoken to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
The departing Hamilton said it was never a consideration of his to take time away from the sport, before hailing Vettel as an ideal replacement at a team that has struggled for pace in the past two years.
“No, I’ve never thought about taking a year or two off and then coming back – When I’m gone, hopefully I’m gone for good,” he said.
“You’re always going to miss it. It’s the greatest sport in the world and it’s the greatest experience in the world and the most amazing feeling to be working with the people towards winning something.
“Probably there’s nothing that’s ever going to feel the same. I’ve not asked any of the drivers what they’re missing but I would love for Seb to come back and I think it would be an amazing option for the team.
“A German driver, multi-world championship winning driver, and someone who has amazing values who would continue to take the team forward. I’d love it if he came back.”
Pushed further on who he would like to take his seat – whether it be Vettel, reigning champion Max Verstappen or an F1 rookie, Hamilton replied: “The only thing I really care about is that the team takes on someone that with integrity.
“That are aligned with the team and where the team’s going. Someone compassionate that’s able to work with great people and continues to lift them up. There’s so many great people in this team.”
Hamilton’s current team-mate George Russell is confirmed for Mercedes in 2025 and was enthused when it was pitched to him that he could be joined by a returning Vettel.
“Sebastian’s a great person,” he said.
“He’s a four-time world champion and for sure his personality is missed on the grid.
“I think it is important that we have the best 20 drivers in the world all competing for race wins and championships.
“I’m really happy and open to have anybody as my team-mate, you know, whether it’s world champion, whether it’s a rookie, it doesn’t change how I go about my business.”
George Russell believes it would have “opened a can of worms” if Fernando Alonso had not been hit with a hefty penalty following the Mercedes driver’s dramatic late crash at the Australian Grand Prix.
Alonso was handed a 20-second time penalty after Russell’s car ended up on its side having rebounded off the wall in his pursuit of the double world champion in the closing stages in Melbourne two weeks ago.
Following a post-race investigation, Alonso was found to have breached Article 33.4 of the sport’s regulations – effectively finding the Aston Martin racer guilty of driving erratically and in a manner that could be deemed as dangerous.
Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, Russell revealed the pair had bumped into one another in a coffee shop recently but did not discuss the issue – Alonso jokingly said: “I didn’t get my coffee, that was the least that could have happened.”
Russell, though, did double down on his criticism of Alonso’s driving in Australia, and felt the Spaniard overstepped the mark of fair racing.
“I think it was a bit of a strange situation that happened – I said at the time, I was totally caught by surprise,” he said.
“If it were not to have been penalised it would have opened a can of worms for the rest of the season and in junior categories saying you are allowed to brake in a straight.
“Every driver is open to change a line, break earlier, power through the corner, do whatever. But when we start breaking in the middle of a straight, down-shift and accelerating, up-shifting again, then breaking again for a corner. I think that goes beyond the realms of adjusting your line.
“We’ve got so many duties to take care of when we’re driving… if you add into the mix that you’re allowed to break in the middle of a straight to get a tactical advantage. I think that is maybe one step too far.”
Alonso, meanwhile, continued to defend his actions and said there would have not even been a topic of debate on his driving style had Russell not ended up in the wall.
Asked if the incident would have been been forgotten had there not been an accident, he replied: “Oh 100 per cent.
“I was a bit surprised by the penalty in Melbourne but there’s nothing we can do, we have to accept it and move on and concentrate on here, but I think it will not change much on how we drive, how we approach racing.
“There is no obligation to drive 57 laps in the same way. Sometimes we go at a slower pace, to save fuel, to save tyres, to save battery.
“So all those things are completely normal and it was, it is and it will be forever in motorsport. So we had one penalty, probably a one-off that will never be applied ever again.”
Where the pair – as well as a host of other drivers – did agree was on the need to address what has become a dangerous corner on the Albert Park track.
“We lost two points or whatever it was for the team but I think the big thing is turn six in Australia is not the safest corner at the moment on that track. That’s probably for me a more important point to change for next year,” said Alonso.
Russell was in agreement, adding: “The corner is amazing, probably one of the best corners on that circuit. So I wouldn’t want to see that corner change. But it is true. If you hit that wall, you just bounce back into the track. I think everything is correct, just the position of that wall.”
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has hinted he could be tempted to make a Formula One comeback after revealing he has been talking to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mercedes are searching for a new driver for 2025 and beyond after Lewis Hamilton announced in February he was quitting for Ferrari after 11 years with the Silver Arrows.
Vettel, who won his four drivers’ titles with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, left F1 at the end of the 2022 campaign after six years at Ferrari and two with Aston Martin.
Now, though, the 36-year-old has suggested he could return to the sport after speaking to a number of team bosses up and down the paddock.
“I am speaking to Toto. I don’t know if that qualifies as Mercedes, but about other things,” the German told Sky Sports News.
“I’m talking to a lot of people because I know them, but not very specific. I mean obviously it does cross my mind, I do think about it, but it’s not the main thought.
“I have three kids at home, it’s busy every day, so there’s a lot of other thoughts I have. There’s ideas that I have.
“Events that I’m planning going forwards, so I did speak to a lot of other team principals as well, and not only about racing. There’s thoughts, but nothing concrete at the minute.”
A seat at a top team could help Vettel make a decision to return to the grid and he admits he was caught out by Hamilton’s decision to swap Mercedes for Ferrari after winning six world championships with the team.
“I was surprised, like I guess most of us were,” he said.
“But it is exciting. Obviously he’s looking for a new challenge and it will be different to see him in red, in a different colour.”
Meanwhile, Vettel has been testing a different kind of race car having spent time in the Porsche contender for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
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“Maybe, I don’t know yet,” he replied when asked if he could make his first appearance in the famous endurance race this year.
“I’ve been testing. I was curious, so I wanted to see how it feels. It’s obviously a different discipline. It’s still racing, but it’s a different car, different discipline.
“I am (tempted) and I’m not. I am obviously also looking for lots of other things and there’s lots of other things that do interest me outside of racing.”
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has hinted he could be tempted to make a Formula One comeback after revealing he has been talking to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mercedes are searching for a new driver for 2025 and beyond after Lewis Hamilton announced in February he was quitting for Ferrari after 11 years with the Silver Arrows.
Vettel, who won his four drivers’ titles with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, left F1 at the end of the 2022 campaign after six years at Ferrari and two with Aston Martin.
Now, though, the 36-year-old has suggested he could return to the sport after speaking to a number of team bosses up and down the paddock.
“I am speaking to Toto. I don’t know if that qualifies as Mercedes, but about other things,” the German told Sky Sports News.
“I’m talking to a lot of people because I know them, but not very specific. I mean obviously it does cross my mind, I do think about it, but it’s not the main thought.
“I have three kids at home, it’s busy every day, so there’s a lot of other thoughts I have. There’s ideas that I have.
“Events that I’m planning going forwards, so I did speak to a lot of other team principals as well, and not only about racing. There’s thoughts, but nothing concrete at the minute.”
A seat at a top team could help Vettel make a decision to return to the grid and he admits he was caught out by Hamilton’s decision to swap Mercedes for Ferrari after winning six world championships with the team.
“I was surprised, like I guess most of us were,” he said.
“But it is exciting. Obviously he’s looking for a new challenge and it will be different to see him in red, in a different colour.”
Meanwhile, Vettel has been testing a different kind of race car having spent time in the Porsche contender for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
View this post on Instagram
“Maybe, I don’t know yet,” he replied when asked if he could make his first appearance in the famous endurance race this year.
“I’ve been testing. I was curious, so I wanted to see how it feels. It’s obviously a different discipline. It’s still racing, but it’s a different car, different discipline.
“I am (tempted) and I’m not. I am obviously also looking for lots of other things and there’s lots of other things that do interest me outside of racing.”
Guenther Steiner has warned Red Bull their dominance of Formula One will end just as Mercedes’ did.
Red Bull have won the last three constructors’ championships with Max Verstappen completing a hat-trick of drivers’ titles, in the process breaking the strangleholds imposed by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in previous years.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has endured a miserable start to the new season with his car lasting just 17 laps of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix as team-mate George Russell crashed out to leave the Brackley and Brixworth-based team 71 points adrift of Red Bull after just three races and pile the pressure on boss Toto Wolff.
But asked about their difficulties, former Haas team principal Steiner said: “Obviously they are struggling a little bit at the moment. For me, they are a good team, I think they’re a good team. It’s just like it’s competition.
“Mercedes was dominating for a long time and you cannot always be dominating, you shouldn’t expect that. Now we say Red Bull is dominating – it will come to an end, like Mercedes came to an end.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘Mercedes is not doing well’ – Mercedes is still in the top four at the moment or top five, they just need to do a little bit better. But it’s how competitive this sport is and you cannot take anything for granted.
“Obviously Toto would love to dominate the sport forever, but nothing is forever. I think it’s good for the sport and shows also how quickly it goes up and down.
“Mercedes is still doing OK, they’re still scoring points. Sometimes you forget there are 10 teams and not only three which are allowed to win. I think all 10 should be allowed to win and those are the things you learn when you are outside of the sport like I am now.”
Hamilton, who is in the midst of his worst start to a campaign, will join Ferrari ahead of the 2025 campaign, leaving a huge gap to plug.
Steiner, speaking after being announced as an ambassador for May’s Miami Grand Prix, was asked if Carlos Sainz – winner in Australia just 16 days after undergoing surgery for appendicitis – would be at the top of his list if he was in charge at Red Bull or Mercedes.
He replied: “Toto has no urgency to sign anybody because everybody is waiting until that seat is filled, but I’m sure a lot of people are speaking to Carlos at the moment.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will be absent from the next Formula One race in Japan, the PA news agency has learned.
It is understood that Wolff’s decision to miss the race in Suzuka on April 7 was taken before the start of the new season and is not connected to the team’s performance in Australia.
Wolff admitted after Sunday’s race at Melbourne’s Albert Park that it is “fair” to question his future as team principal following Mercedes’ troubling weekend.
Lewis Hamilton qualified only 11th and the worst start to his 18-season career was confirmed when his engine expired on lap 17, while team-mate George Russell was seventh when he crashed out.
Wolff, who lives in Monaco, will be on the intercom remotely throughout the race weekend in Japan – with his duties at the circuit to be divided between senior members of the Brackley team.
The Austrian also missed last year’s Japanese GP and the ensuing round in Qatar, following knee surgery. On those occasions the team’s driver development director Jerome d’Ambrosio was handed the effective on-site team principal baton.
But it emerged earlier this month that D’Ambrosio is set to end his association with the team when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Wolff admitted in an interview with the PA news agency last year that he intends to scale back his on-track presence in the coming years.
The 52-year-old, who has been in charge of Mercedes since 2013, recently signed a new three-year deal to remain as chief executive and team principal of the F1 operation he co-owns with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ola Kallenius.
Mercedes won an unprecedented eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021 but they have tasted just one victory from their last 48 outings.
Fresh from his harrowing accident in Melbourne, Russell is expected to be at the team’s HQ in Northamptonshire later this week as Mercedes search for solutions to their underwhelming start to the season.
Russell failed to make it to the end of Sunday’s race after hitting the wall on the penultimate lap in his pursuit of Fernando Alonso.
The double world champion was adjudged to have driven dangerously by the stewards and was demoted from sixth to eighth following a post-race 20-second penalty.
However, the 42-year-old protested his innocence in a message posted on social media.
Alonso wrote: “A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds.
“I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world we will never be even investigated.
“In F1, with over 20 years of experience, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits from corners is part of the art of motorsport.
“We never drive at 100 per cent every race lap and every corner, we save fuel, tyres, brakes, so being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising. We have to accept it and think about Japan, to have more pace and fight for positions further up the field.”
Toto Wolff admitted it was a “fair question” whether he remained the right person to lead Mercedes – after Lewis Hamilton’s worst ever start to a season was confirmed at the Australian Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz delivered the best drive of his career, just 16 days after surgery for appendicitis, to take advantage of Max Verstappen’s shock first retirement in two years to lead home a Ferrari one-two finish from Charles Leclerc.
But over at Mercedes, Hamilton’s afternoon ended on the 17th lap when his engine expired as team-mate George Russell crashed out.
Hamilton, who qualified 11th, has taken just eight points from the opening three rounds. His previous worst start to a season had been in 2009 when he was disqualified at the first round before finishing sixth and seventh.
Before Sunday’s retirement, Hamilton had begun the year by crossing the line only seventh and ninth in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively.
Mercedes carried Hamilton – who is heading to Ferrari next year – to six of his seven world championships, but the British driver has not won a race since the penultimate round of the 2021 campaign, 58 rounds ago.
Last year, Hamilton finished second in Melbourne, but Russell, who was the fastest Mercedes driver in Melbourne this weekend, was only seventh when he crashed.
Wolff, who has been team principal at Mercedes since 2013, was asked if he should remain in his role.
“As a corner of this business, I need to make sure my contribution is positive and creative so I would be the first one to say if somebody has a better idea, tell me because I am invested to turn this team around as quickly as possible,” the 52-year-old replied.
“We have not swallowed a dumb pill since 2021. We don’t understand some of the behaviours of the car and in the past we would.
“I look at myself in the mirror every single day about everything I do and it is a fair question. But it (leaving) is not what I feel that I should do at the moment.
“But if you have any ideas as to who could turn this round, I would happily listen to that.
“The big difference is, this is my job and if you ask the manager question, I cannot go to Chelsea or Liverpool or over to Ferrari.
“I have not got that choice (as a co-owner of Mercedes) which is also unfortunate. I am not a contractor or an employee, who has said I have had enough of this. My hamster wheel keeps spinning and I cannot jump out.
“We always need to look at ourselves. I need to look at myself. And we are all humans. Data doesn’t take decisions; humans do.
“I would be lying if I said I feel positive and optimistic about the situation. You need to overcome the negative thoughts and say ‘we will turn it around’, but today it feels very, very, very brutal.”
Mercedes arrived for the new season armed with a car that they thought would enable them to return to the front. But the Silver Arrows are now behind not just Red Bull, but Ferrari and McLaren in the pecking order, too.
An honest Wolff continued: “We started this season in the belief that this car was better than last year.
“Everything I have done before, in finance and investment, you know which screws to turn and you know sometimes it takes time.
“Here, I don’t think we are missing things. It is just a complication that is happening with the car that we cannot see, and it is like an on-off switch.
“You see the progress that McLaren and Ferrari have made, so on one side, I want to punch myself on the nose. We have got to really dig deep because it is brutally painful.”
Despite his poor weekend in Melbourne, Hamilton was upbeat. His pain perhaps soothed by Ferrari’s impressive display at Albert Park.
“Surprisingly I feel pretty good,” said Hamilton, with Wolff also admitting his soon-to-be-departing driver “is looking over the fence” at Ferrari’s impressive performances.
“I’m trying to keep things in perspective because things could be so much worse.
“I’m still enjoying working with the team. Of course I’d like to be (competing for wins) but we will bounce back. We will eventually get there.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and be focused on this one thing. But the bigger picture is definitely the focus. And also, just realising that you can’t control everything.
“It’s not great. I’m not happy. But I’m going to have a great day tomorrow.”
Despite the brake failure on lap four which ended his bid for a record-equalling 10 straight wins, Verstappen still remains in charge of the championship with a four-point lead over Leclerc, ahead of the next round in Japan on April 7.
Max Verstappen’s bid to win a record-equalling 10 consecutive races went up in smoke as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz returned from surgery just 16 days ago to win in Australia.
Verstappen suffered a brake failure after just four laps of Sunday’s 58-lap race at Melbourne’s sun-cooked Albert Park to end his winning streak which stretched back to September’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Sainz took advantage of Verstappen’s first retirement in 43 races to claim just the third win of his career a fortnight after he was ruled out of the previous round in Saudi Arabia with appendicitis.
Charles Leclerc finished second to complete a Ferrari one-two with Lando Norris next up as the British driver landed his first podium of the year.
Lewis Hamilton’s miserable start to his final season with Mercedes continued after he retired on lap 17 with an engine failure.
Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari at the end of the season, has taken just eight points from the opening three rounds – the worst start of his 18-season career.
Both Mercedes cars failed to make it to the end in Melbourne after George Russell crashed out on the penultimate lap. Russell’s Mercedes ended up on his side but the Englishman was able to walk away from the accident.
More than 132,000 spectators were crammed into Albert Park anticipating another Verstappen victory after the Dutch driver took pole position here on Saturday.
And when the 26-year-old held off Sainz at the start, and ended the opening lap one second clear of the Spaniard, Verstappen looked on course to take his third victory from the opening three rounds.
But to the amazement of the record crowd in Australia, Sainz sailed past Verstappen on lap two before smoke began pouring out the back of his Red Bull machine.
“I have smoke,” he said over the radio “Fire, fire, brake, my brake.”
Verstappen was falling back through the pack and the crowd cheered his demise. He managed to get his wounded machine back to the pits before his right-rear brake temporarily caught fire.
Verstappen remonstrated with performance director, Tom Hart at the back of the garage – appearing to say “that is f***** stupid” – before heading to his changing room and putting on his Red Bull civvies and taking the long walk through the paddock to the media pen.
“The brake stuck on from when the lights went off,” said Verstappen. “The temperatures kept on increasing until the point where it caught on fire.
“Having one brake caliper on was like driving with the handbrake on. I didn’t know at the time but I could feel the balance in the car was off.”
Asked about his exchange with Hart, he replied: “That was related to us doing a pit stop while the car was on fire!”
It was a bad day for the winners of the past seven world championships after Hamilton’s miserable weekend here ended with him stopping on track as his engine expired.
Hamilton started 11th and was running in ninth before his Mercedes gave up the ghost.
Hamilton’s previous worst start to a season had been back in 2009 when he was disqualified at the first round before finishing sixth and seventh. Before today’s retirement, Hamilton had started the season with a seventh and ninth in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
But for Sainz, the man making way for Hamilton at Ferrari next year, he had an afternoon to remember by leading home a Ferrari one-two from Charles Leclerc with Lando Norris completing the podium.
Sainz took his win under the virtual safety car after Russell’s Mercedes dramatically ended up 90 degrees to the floor after he thudded into the wall in his pursuit of Fernando Alonso.
Russell reported over the radio that he was “OK” and was able to walk away from the crash. Oscar Piastri took fourth for McLaren ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull with Alonso sixth.
Lewis Hamilton said the inconsistency of his Mercedes “messes with the mind” following his worst qualifying performance in Australia for 14 years.
Hamilton, who boasts a record eight pole positions at Melbourne’s Albert Park, will start Sunday’s 58-lap race from a disappointing 11th after he was eliminated in Q2.
Max Verstappen took pole – his third in as many races – as he bids to complete a record-equalling 10 victories, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz joining him on the front row.
Hamilton qualified eighth in Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago, and ninth the week before in Bahrain.
He trails team-mate George Russell, who will line up in seventh on Sunday, 3-0 over one lap this season, and after finishing only seventh and ninth at the opening two rounds, he has scored just eight points to Russell’s 18 so far.
“The inconsistency in the car really messes with the mind,” said Hamilton, who had finished fourth in final practice, less than a tenth off the pace.
“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 from practice even though we had lighter fuel. It is not a great feeling for everyone in the team but we will keep working away.”
Hamilton has not won a race since the penultimate fixture of the 2021 campaign in Saudi Arabia, 57 rounds ago.
Mercedes have adopted a different design philosophy this season, but Hamilton is low on confidence in the last Silver Arrows he will drive before he heads to Ferrari in 2025.
“It is three years in a row where I have had a similar feeling,” continued the seven-time world champion.
“There are spikes like this morning in 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.”
Hamilton’s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff pulled no punches with his assessment of his team’s performance.
“It’s especially underwhelming because we were within a tenth in final practice,” he said. “The conditions were a little bit different but there is no excuse.
“We have a car that is difficult, 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.”
At the sharp end of the grid, Verstappen’s third pole in as many races appeared under threat with Ferrari threatening to knock the all-conquering Dutchman off his perch.
But Verstappen upped the ante in front of a record Saturday crowd at a sun-cooked Albert Park of just shy of 131,000, to see off Sainz by 0.270 seconds.
After winning the last nine rounds, stretching back to his victory at September’s race in Japan, Verstappen heads into Sunday’s main event as the overwhelming favourite to take another triumph and match his own record.
“It was a bit unexpected today, but I am very happy with Q3,” said Verstappen. “Both of my laps felt nice and enjoyable. It has been a tricky weekend so far but we managed to be there at the end.”
Sainz, who had emergency surgery in Jeddah to remove his appendix just 15 days ago, added: “It has been a tough couple of weeks, a lot of days in bed, waiting to see if I would be here today, and to make it to this weekend and then to put it on the front row, I almost didn’t believe it.
“I was rusty yesterday but I got up to speed and found the pace and I feel good with the car. I am not going to lie, I am not in my most comfortable state when I am driving out there but I can get it done.”
Max Verstappen is on course to take a record-equalling 10 consecutive victories after putting his Red Bull on pole position for the Australian Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s third pole in as many races appeared under threat with Ferrari threatening to knock the all-conquering Dutchman off his perch.
But Verstappen upped the ante in front of a record Saturday crowd at Melbourne’s Albert Park of just shy of 131,000, to see off Carlos Sainz, who missed the last round in Saudi Arabia with appendicitis, by 0.270 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton holds a record eight pole positions here, but the British driver was eliminated in Q2, leaving him a disappointing 11th on the grid – his lowest starting position in Melbourne for 14 years.
Hamilton failed to progress to Q3 after he finished 0.059 seconds behind George Russell in the other Mercedes.
Russell, who will start seventh, holds a 3-0 qualifying lead over Hamilton who will leave the Silver Arrows at the end of the season to join Ferrari.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez qualified third, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who aborted his last lap after he made a mistake.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc saw off Max Verstappen in practice for the Australian Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton claimed “something was wrong” with his Mercedes after he finished only 18th.
Verstappen is bidding to match his record of 10 consecutive wins at this weekend’s race in Melbourne.
But Leclerc could pose a threat to the all-conquering Dutchman, following an impressive practice lap that put him nearly four-tenths clear.
Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz – back in his cockpit following British teenager Ollie Bearman’s stand-in drive in Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago – ended the running in third, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso fourth and fifth, respectively, for Aston Martin.
George Russell took sixth for Mercedes, 0.674 seconds behind Leclerc, but team-mate Hamilton finished ahead of only Haas’ Kevin Magnussen on a troubling day for the seven-time world champion.
Hamilton, 39, ran off the road in the first running at a sun-cooked Albert Park, and his struggles continued into the day’s concluding session, with a best lap that put him 1.5 sec off the pace and nearly a second behind Russell.
“What times are people doing?” Hamilton asked over the radio. After he was informed of leader Leclerc’s pace, he replied, “Yeah, something is wrong.”
Only 19 drivers took part in the second session following Alex Albon’s high-speed crash in the opening session.
The London-born Thai driver lost control of his Williams on the exit of Turn 6 before smashing into the wall on the inside of the track and rebounding across the circuit.
Albon’s right-front wheel tore off his machine under impact, with debris from his Williams littering the track.
Albon came to a standstill and was able to get out of his cockpit. “Sorry,” he said over the radio before he was taken away in the medical car.
“Muchos debris,” said Lando Norris. “Is he alright? It looked pretty large.”
Albon, 27, was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks as the session was red-flagged to clear his destroyed machine.
Williams said he would not participate in the second practice due to the damage to his car, and it is uncertain if he will be able to take part in the remainder of the weekend with spare parts limited to the British team.
Elsewhere, home favourite Oscar Piastri finished seventh, two positions ahead of Norris in the other McLaren who had topped the time charts earlier in the day in front of a record 124,000-strong crowd.
Alex Albon walked away from a high-speed crash in opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
The London-born Thai driver lost control of his Williams on the exit of Turn 6 before smashing into the wall on the inside of the track and rebounding across the circuit.
Albon’s right-front wheel tore off his machine under impact, with debris from his Williams littering the track.
Albon came to a standstill and was able to get out of his cockpit. “Sorry,” he said over the radio before he was taken away in the medical car.
“Muchos debris,” said Lando Norris. “Is he alright? It looked pretty large.”
The one-hour running was suspended for 10 minutes, with McLaren’s Norris topping the time charts.
The British driver finished just 0.018 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with George Russell third for Mercedes and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth. The top four were separated by less than half-a-tenth.
Russell hauled his Mercedes towards the front of the order in the closing moments, but team-mate Lewis Hamilton struggled with the handling of his Silver Arrows.
The seven-time world champion ran off the road at the opening bend on his first lap on the speediest soft tyres and ended the session only ninth.
Carlos Sainz, back in his Ferrari after missing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with appendicitis, was eighth.
The second practice session at Melbourne’s Albert Park will begin at 4pm local time (5am GMT).
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