Charles Leclerc is back in the pole position! The Ferrari secured his second pole position in three races in the 2022 season. The Monegasque driver put on a blistering lap that no other driver could beat. He will start alongside Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, who finished right behind him.
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The Red Bull driver had been struggling all throughout the weekend and did not have a perfect hold of his car. He was almost three-tenths behind Leclerc in qualifying. But he will take some comfort that his teammate Sergio Perez is alongside him on the grid in P3.
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The Mexican driver was looking good to challenge Charles for the pole position until the dying moments of the session. Although, he is under investigation for not slowing down under the yellow flags in qualifying.
But he could be the driver with nothing to lose tomorrow and might be more aggressive than the front two. He looks like the better Red Bull this weekend and can challenge Leclerc.
Can Charles Leclerc hold off the charging Red Bulls?
The Ferrari driver will go into the race as the favorite to win the Australian Grand Prix. But he would be wary of the charging Red Bulls of Verstappen and Perez behind him.
The other disadvantage that the Monegasque driver has for tomorrow’s race is that he won’t be able to get any help from his teammate Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver had a dismal qualifying as he finished P9 behind all the Q3 cars. Hopefully, he can make a good start to the race and find himself in the battle for a podium.
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It would be a Part 3 of the Leclerc–Verstappen battle for the championship this season. The first 2 races of the season have seen both drivers racing at close quarters and trading wins.
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It would be hard to look past them to choose a winner for tomorrow’s race. But there might be other factors that might come into play, such as strategies and reliability that could be pivotal.
Red Bull would hope that Max would get a really good start to pass Leclerc on the way to turn 1. It would certainly be fascinating to witness yet another enthralling battle between the two teams.