Here's why Red Bull's lead over the F1 field shrunk in Australia

Red Bull driver and double world champion Max Verstappen took the pole at the F1 Australian GP qualifying session ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Despite being their third pole position in a row, it was a tricky session for the world champions as they saw a tough challenge from the likes of Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Mercedes on Saturday (April 1).

Compared to the first two races where they had a clear advantage over the field, it looked like their lead shrunk at the Albert Park Circuit.

As per The Race, F1 pundit Mark Hughes pointed out that the cooler conditions in Melbourne made it tricky for Red Bull to switch on the tires. Verstappen echoed this sentiment, saying:

“It was just very tough to get the tires to work in Turn 1 and get that comfortable feeling into that corner. That has been a bit of the story behind the whole weekend and I think also it wouldn’t have mattered if we had full running in FP1 and FP2. It is just on a performance lap it seems very tricky with this new tarmac around here since last year.”

Pirelli's Simone Berra stated that the C4 tire for the 2023 season is a bit 'peaky' compared to others, adding:

“The C4 is quite a peaky tire and sometimes it’s better to have less peak but a more consistent behavior through the lap. This is what the preparation lap gave you."

"But it was possible to do a fast lap first lap so long as you pushed hard on the first lap out of the pits. That way you get greater peak grip but it is more difficult to keep control of the temperatures in order to get a net benefit over the lap.”

“I’m a little bit surprised, maybe they are also a little bit surprised!" - Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver accepted that he was a bit surprised to see Mercedes as the closest challenger in the qualifying session.

Speaking to F1.com, he said:

“I’m a little bit surprised, maybe they are also a little bit surprised! I guess it’s a good thing. Again, it’s all about just having the tyres in the right window, and I guess they did a good job with that as well.”

It will be fascinating to see if the two Mercedes drivers can take the challenge to Verstappen and Red Bull on Sunday (April 2).