Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took his second pole position for 2022 and the team’s first in 15 years at Albert Park on Saturday. PHOTO: Ferrari

BRENDAN LINES APRIL 9, 2022

FERRARI ended a 15-year drought of pole positions at Albert Park when Charles Leclerc thwarted a challenge from Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the dying seconds of qualifying on Saturday.

After the restart of a red-flagged Q3, Leclerc kept everyone guessing staying in the garage right until the final moments, the Monegasque stitched together a brilliant lap with a blistering first sector on his final run securing pole over Verstappen.

Q1

Earlier in Q1, Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz laid down the early challenge in Q1, the Ferrari drivers first runs setting a hot pace into the low one-minute 19s.

Both Red Bulls were around the mark with both the cars of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez firing in a pair of sub-one minute 19 laps.

McLaren carried over its FP3 pace, while Valterri Bottas was in the conversation with his first run enough for P5, just .772s off the Ferrari’s pace.

Lewis Hamilton needed two out-laps to generate enough heat in the troublesome Mercedes’ tyres in the cooler conditions, the Brit managed to snatch P6 in the dying minutes of Q1.

Aston Martin rushed to get Lance Stroll’s AMR22 repaired in time only to have its miserable weekend compounded when Nicholas Latifi collected the Canadian on his way through Turn 8 — leaving Stroll unable to set a time.

The subsequent red flag with two minutes left in the session, rescued Sebastian Vettel’s session, affording Aston Martin to at least give one car a chance to get out of the elimination zone of Q1.

After a five-minute delay, the session restarted with cars at the ready for a dash to the line to make the two-minute cut-off time to post one more flying lap.

Sadly, Vettel was unable to escape the bottom five, while Alex Albon’s P15 was soured — already  attracting a three-place grid penalty from the previous race in Saudi Arabia —  when his Williams came to a halt on his in-lap.

Q2

Fernando Alonso hustled, splitting the Red Bulls edging ahead of Perez with his opening lap of Q2 and just +.204s off Verstappen’s fastest time.

George Russell’s unruly W13 went straight on at turn 11, the Brit struggling to hold on under brakes with a car bereft of any meaningful grip.

Sergio Perez’s opening lap in Q2 jumped Verstappen by -0.271s, pushing Alonso back to P3.

Ferrari fell short chasing down Perez’s time in the closing minutes, Sainz’s best time was just +.129s off the Red Bull.

The low afternoon sun played havoc, when drivers called for darker visors, Max Verstappen calling a ‘mayday’ over the radio.

Q3

Verstappen’s overshooting of Turn 13 left valuable lap time on the table, allowing Perez to get the upper hand after the first runs of Q3.

Alonso’s dream purple-sector Q3 run came to a nightmarish end losing his Alpine’s brake hydraulics on the entry to Turn 11.

The Spainiard’s misfortune spelt an end to fellow countryman Sainz’s first run when the session was red-flagged with just under seven minutes to go, however Leclerc slipped through just before the stoppage into provisional pole.

It is Leclerc’s second pole position for the season and his first in Australia.

The last time a Ferrari driver won at Albert Park was Sebastian Vettel in 2018.