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The 2024 F1 Australian GP qualifying was a thrilling affair with multiple drivers in contention for pole position. In the end, it was still the familiar face of Max Verstappen coming out on top, but the entire affair was enthralling to watch.
Verstappen battled the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz throughout the session for pole position. In the end, was able to put together a time that was good enough to fend off both of them.
With the grid for the F1 Australian GP already set, who would be happy with how the qualifying went, and who would be disappointed? Let's take a look.
2024 F1 Australian GP Qualifying
Winner
Carlos Sainz
Coming back from injury and outqualifying the master of qualifying is no small feat. Yet this is what Carlos achieved. Getting into the car and getting out of the car is still something that causes discomfort for the driver and hence is a concern.
Inside the car, however, everything works like clockwork. An impressive reminder to all prospective buyers of F1's Spanish driver.
Loser
Daniel Ricciardo
That's three out of three for Daniel Ricciardo. The driver has not had the pace of his teammate throughout the F1 Australian GP race weekend. He is under pressure and needs results fast. He would be hoping to get back to extract the resume from the car if he had to be successful.
Winner
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen waiting until Q3 to show what he's truly got in terms of pace was brilliant and gave the competition no real chance to respond. This was a hard-earned pole position, one that might not get credit when we look back at Max's career.
Timing everything to perfection and just being the best on the grid helped Max secure another pole.
Loser
Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc should be furious at the missed opportunity at the F1 Australian GP because he should have been fighting for the pole or, at worst, starting the race on the front row. The Ferrari driver did neither, as a mysterious issue with car balance plagued him to the point that he didn't even complete his final lap in qualifying. An opportunity was lost, both for Ferrari and the driver.
Winner
Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon
Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon would not ideally get the flowers they deserve. Most of the attention tends to be on the podium contenders or some other drivers. But these two have driven brilliantly this season. They're both 3-0 against their teammates in qualifying, and today they placed their cars on grid slots that it didn't deserve.
Loser
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is going through a very rough patch at Mercedes, and it has gotten worse with his teammate continuing to string together better results in the same car. The driver needs to find a way out of this hole, or else the longest season in F1 is going to look even longer.
