2024 F1 Australian GP: Full starting lineup

Max Verstappen secured his third consecutive pole position of the 2024 season and his second successive one in the Australian GP at the Albert Park Circuit.

The Red Bull driver was not touted as the favorite to take the top honors as the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had topped the free practice sessions and the first two phases of the qualifying session.

However, the three-time world champion finally found the sweet spot with his RB20 and turned his performance up a notch. At the end of the qualifying session, the Dutchman was the only driver to break the 1:15 barrier, and claimed pole ahead Sainz by 0.270s.

Below is the full starting lineup for the Australian GP on Sunday:

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

3. Lando Norris, McLaren

4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

6. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

7. George Russell, Mercedes

8. Yuki Tsunoda, RB

9. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

10. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

11. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

12. Alex Albon, Williams

13. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber

14. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

15. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

16. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

17. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

18. Daniel Ricciardo, RB

19. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber

Williams F1 driver Logan Sargeant had to withdraw from the Australian GP after the Grove-based team decided to give his chassis to teammate Alex Albon, due to massive repairs on the latter's FW45.

Charles Leclerc chimes in on the ominous threat of Red Bull for the Australian GP

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc stated that it would be difficult for him and Carlos Sainz to challenge Max Verstappen for the race win on Sunday.

Speaking with Motorsport.com, Leclerc pointed out that he would try to challenge Sergio Perez in the race and take the fight to him instead. He said:

"I felt like the pole position would have been difficult. But then in Q1 we were very strong, so I was, 'Okay, maybe.' At the end, it wasn't. I think realistically, it's going to be difficult to target the win because Max [Verstappen] is going to be too strong. Checo [Perez] might be a target."

He added:

"But they seem strong once again because they have more margin than what we initially thought they had yesterday. But all-in-all my target is obviously to try and come back and be on the podium. And if that's beating Checo, then we'll try and do that."

Perez finished the session in P3 but was demoted to P6 after he got a three-place grid drop owing to unnecessarily impeding Nico Hulkenberg during the Australian GP qualifying session.