{"id":41075,"date":"2024-03-23T15:02:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T15:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/?p=41075"},"modified":"2024-03-23T15:02:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T15:02:42","slug":"max-verstappen-blitzes-2024-australian-gp-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/max-verstappen-blitzes-2024-australian-gp-qualifying\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen blitzes 2024 Australian GP qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite not being the quickest in the first qualifying run for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen wasted no time whatsoever in bouncing back right on top in Q3, the quali that mattered.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In clinching his 35th career pole, setting a second here in Australia and his third straight pole position of the year, the first two being Sakhir and Saudi Arabia, Max Verstappen has truly set the ball rolling at Melbourne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And given his menacing pace, the Dutchman setting a belter of a lap at 1:15:915, the 2024 Australian Grand Prix will surely be Max Verstappen\u2019s race to lose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some sense, one might argue, that Red Bull completely denying Ferrari the pole was a touch surprising- was it not? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lest it is forgotten, Leclerc had been the fastest man on track on Friday with Sainz setting early pace in qualifying in setting a flashing 1:16:731 in Q1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what may not be surprising a bit would be seeing the mercurial force in RB 20 dominating the 58-lap battle playing the enforcer on the grid; something he does best and so often.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest battle, however, would be the one playing out in the front. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(Source- F1 Chronicle<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Carlos Sainz jr. placing his Ferrari in second and with it, bisecting the two Red Bulls, the most critical question for Sunday\u2019s race day would be whether a closely fought battle between the Ferrari of Sainz and the Red Bull of Verstappen can put up a dogfight for a capacity crowd at Melbourne? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, what role can Checo Perez, already two podiums in as many races, play in perhaps upsetting the rhythm of the Scuderia Ferrari SF 24.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can the Mexican driver create a mayhem for Carlos Sainz jr., who\u2019s marking a return to the sport after having successfully undergone a surgery at Jeddah that saw him sit out of the excruciatingly tough street battle? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perez begins his Australia charge from third, nearly a second behind his teammate and only a thousandth of a second shy of the Spaniard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know Checo is considered the king of streets. With Melbourne being the second of the three races to have been held this year on a street course, it is perhaps time for Perez to channelise his \u201cinner street fighter\u201d if he\u2019s to give it a real go at the Albert Park.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However exciting it may feel for Sainz\u2019s Ferrari at the moment, the feeling of the driver in the other machine might not be so rosy after all; as all that Charles Leclerc could salvage was a low key fifth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Ferrari understeering in the final moments of the qualifying didn\u2019t help the Monegasque one bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Norris, always fast and always competitive, stacked in fourth, could give Leclerc a strong fight.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that told, the twenty eighth installation of the Australian Grand Prix could well see another Mad Max run by Verstappen who\u2019ll be keen to have much fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A win here tomorrow would mean Red Bull bagging all the three races to have been held in the year so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019ll be fast, furious and a race that could well be Verstappen-ed by Max after all!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite not being the quickest in the first qualifying run for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen wasted no time whatsoever in bouncing back right on top in Q3, the quali that mattered.   In clinching his 35th career pole, setting a second here in Australia and his third straight pole position of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":41076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[6744,6747,6745,6746],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41075"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41075"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41077,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41075\/revisions\/41077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}