Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position in a thrilling qualifying session at the start of Formula 1’s new era. The duo were separated by less than half a second.
After a disappointing race, Leclerc put it all together to claim a superb podium finish, with just one point separating him from the title fight. Carlos Sainz had earlier been the faster Ferrari driver but slipped down to third, just 0.129secs off pole.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Hamilton was 0.680secs off pole as Mercedes’ pre-event predictions that they were not yet on the pace proved correct. His new team-mate George Russell was ninth after making an error at Turn One on his only lap in the final session of qualifying.
Full Results:
1 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:30.558
2 Max Verstappen RED BULL 1:30.681
3 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:30.687
4 Sergio Perez RED BULL 1:30.921
5 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:31.238
6 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO 1:31.560
7 Kevin Magnussen HAAS 1:31.808
8 Fernando Alonso ALPINE 1:32.195
9 George Russell MERCEDES 1:32.216
10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI 1:32.338
11 Esteban Ocon ALPINE 1:31.782*
12 Mick Schumacher HAAS 1:31.998*
13 Lando Norris MCLAREN 1:32.008*
14 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS 1:32.664*
15 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO 1:33.543*
16 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI 1:32.750**
17 Nico Hulkenberg ASTON MARTIN 1:32.777**
18 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN 1:32.945**
19 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN 1:33.032**
20 Nicholas Latifi WILLIAMS 1:33.634**
*Eliminated in Q2
**Eliminated in Q3
