Mixed fortunes for Red Bull Racing in Australian Grand Prix

It was a bittersweet qualifying session for Red Bull Racing in Melbourne after Max Verstappen split the Ferraris, while Pierre Gasly failed to make it out of Q1.
By Toby Lock
Published 16th Mar 2019, 06:15 BST
Updated 16th Mar 2019, 07:36 BST
Max VerstappenMax Verstappen
Max Verstappen

Driving with Honda power for the first time, Verstappen will start fourth in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix behind Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) , Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), nipping in ahead of Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari.

It was bad news for Gasly in the other Red Bull though. Putting in just one run, the Frenchman was budged out during the first part of the session, and will start a lowly 17th for the first race.

Gasly admitted Red Bull underestimated the pace they would need in Q1, having missed the cut in his first race with the team.

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"We were optimistic, but we did not expect that level of track evolution," he said. "We clearly aren’t where we would like to be but we’re going in the right direction. Mercedes and Ferrari are still the fastest but let’s see what we can do.

"It will be tough, I think there were only four over takes last year so it will difficult starting where we are. We need to stay positive and tomorrow will be about learning about the car and hopefully gaining some positions."