Qualifying for the 37th running of the Australian Grand Prix took place on Saturday, March 23, on the temporary circuit of Melbourne, with 2022 Australian GP winner Max Verstappen taking the pole, the 35th career pole for the three time World Champion.

"I didn't really expect to make it on pole, but we kept on making steady improvements throughout qualifying and I felt able to push a little bit better," said Verstappen. "Over the weekend, we have been struggling with the graining and have had a lot of things to figure out, but we just needed to keep on fine tuning the car with the Team."

Returning from an appendectomy which caused him to miss the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz will start outside pole position.

"From missing the race in Jeddah to this P2 in two weeks, it's been an interesting journey to say the least. I'm very happy because coming to Australia I wasn't even sure I was going to make it," said Sainz.

Sainz had an outstanding Saturday. In the earlier Free Practice session, the top four quickest cars (Leclerc-Verstappen-Sainz-Hamilton) were separated by less than one tenth of a second with Sainz the only driver on the medium (C4) tire.

Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc qualified fifth but will start fourth as third place qualifier, Sergio Perez of Red Bull, was given a three place grid penalty for impeding Haas driver, Nico Hulkenberg, during Q1.

In an outstanding qualifying effort for McLaren Racing, Lando Norris will start third while his teammate, Australian native Oscar Piastri, will start fifth.

"A positive Qualifying session that puts both cars in good positions for tomorrow, said Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal. "We know degradation and race pace is going to be key tomorrow, but it is satisfying to be lining up P4 and [P5] on a weekend where at times it seemed we were struggling a bit with pace."

After being knocked out of Q2 in the final seconds by Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, seven time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, who has eight Australian GP poles, will start 11th on Sunday. The position is Hamilton's worst start at the Australian Grand Prix since 2010.

"The car felt great in FP3. It was much improved from yesterday and we were right there at the front," said Hamilton. "Going into qualifying, the inconsistencies within the car showed up though, unfortunately."

"The wind typically picks up here in the afternoon and I think we suffered with that today, similarly to how we struggled in FP2. The car is on a knife's edge, and it is difficult as a driver to work around these inconsistencies," added Hamilton.

Australian native, Daniel Ricciardo, who made it out of Q1 on his final lap, will start 18th after having the lap deleted after the Q1 session concluded.

"I knew in Turn 4 I was sliding and fighting to put the car on the limit, and in that lap, I washed a little bit wider," said Ricciardo. "I knew I used more kerb than I wanted on the exit, but I wasn't sure whether it would be off track or not. I had already forgotten about it by Turn 5 and 6 until I came into the garage and Pierre told me the lap was deleted."

Ricciardo's RB Visa teammate, young driver Yuki Tsunoda, put in an excellent qualifying effort, making it into Q3 and will start eighth on the grid.

Starting Grid Summary: Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo, Zhou Guanyu

Australian GP - Starting Grid

1	Max Verstappen		RED BULL 	1:15.915
2	Carlos Sainz		FERRARI		1:16.185
3	Lando Norris		MCLAREN 	1:16.315
4	Charles Leclerc		FERRARI		1:16.435
5	Oscar Piastri		MCLAREN 	1:16.572
6	Sergio Perez		RED BULL 	1:16.274
7	George Russell		MERCEDES	1:16.724
8	Yuki Tsunoda		RB HONDA 	1:16.788
9	Lance Stroll		ASTON MARTIN 	1:17.072
10	Fernando Alonso		ASTON MARTIN 	1:17.552
11	Lewis Hamilton		MERCEDES	1:16.960
12	Alexander Albon		WILLIAMS 	1:17.167
13	Valtteri Bottas		KICK SAUBER 	1:17.340
14	Kevin Magnussen		HAAS 		1:17.427
15	Esteban Ocon		ALPINE 		1:17.697
16	Nico Hulkenberg		HAAS 		1:17.976
17	Pierre Gasly		ALPINE 		1:17.982
18	Daniel Ricciardo	RB HONDA 	1:18.085
19	Zhou Guanyu		KICK SAUBER 	1:18.188

(image provided by BWT Alpine)