Fabio Quartararo has "more to lose, but a lot to gain" after qualifying fifth for the Australian Grand Prix as he bids to preserve his slender advantage over Francesco Bagnaia.
Quartararo arrived at Phillip Island with a two-point lead over Bagnaia in the MotoGP world championship, which he is seeking to defend after prevailing in 2021.
The Frenchman has just one podium finish in the last seven races. Bagnaia, by contrast, has six, including four wins.
And the Monster Energy Yamaha rider will be behind his title rival on the grid after qualifying fifth for Sunday's race, with Bagnaia on the front row in third for Ducati.
Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin took pole by breaking Jorge Lorenzo's lap record, which had stood since 2013, with a time of one minute and 27.767 seconds.
Marc Marquez pipped Bagnaia to second, while Aleix Esparagaro, not out of the title fight himself as he trails Quartararo by 20 points with three races left, was fourth. Johann Zarco rounded off the second row in sixth.
"I'm satisfied about my qualifying but frustrated about the position,” Quartararo said. "I felt I made a really great lap, but it is never enough. I feel like for the pace, we are not too bad, so just frustrated a little bit about qualifying.
"It's not a disaster because I feel quite okay and for me the front two rows is the main thing. Here will be a strange race because I think everyone has a lot of tyre consumption.
"I think it's one of the worst tracks for it during all the year. With the soft, you can go much faster. But after a few laps you drop so much and are much slower. So it's going to be interesting. Not the best for us, because we need to make corner speed on the exit. But it's going to be a great challenge.
"Pecco [Bagnaia] is really fast. But I think we are fast. Many riders have a good pace. So, I think it can be a usual Phillip Island race – apart from last time [2019] where really Marc and Maverick went away – so I think it will be a quite interesting race.
"Of course there is more to gain and more to lose [now]. But what should you do if you have only two points? You have to go and give your best. At the end, you have more to lose, but a lot to gain, so you need to push yourself to the maximum."
Bagnaia is not anticipating a challenge from Aprilia's Espargaro but believes the opening laps will be tricky for him to navigate.
"In the first laps it will be very tough to be competitive and to not lose performance," said the Italian. "Many riders, also from the rear [of the field], will push, and the rear tyre will drop a lot.
"It will be important to be intelligent in the first few laps. I think that Marc, Jorge, Fabio can be very competitive. I think, in this moment, Aleix is not as competitive as the riders I said."
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) 1:27.767
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) +0.013s
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.186s
4. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) +0.190s
5. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) +0.206s
6. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) +0.240s
7. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) +0.262s
8. Jack Miller (Ducati) +0.349s
9. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing) +0.418s
10. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) +0.774s
11. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda) +0.966s
12. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) +0.998s
Lewis Hamilton accuses George Russell of ‘dangerous’ driving after collision
Lewis Hamilton accused George Russell of “dangerous” driving after the Mercedes team-mates collided at 200mph in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s race from pole position ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with British driver Lando Norris an impressive third for McLaren.
Hamilton lines up in fifth place despite a bizarre coming together with Russell, who qualified 12th, on the main straight at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
As both Mercedes men started their hot laps in the closing moments of Q2, Hamilton moved to his left and out of Russell’s tow to assume the racing line for the first right-hander corner.
But the seven-time world champion was forced to take to the grass after Russell, pre-occupied with Sainz ahead of him, closed the door.
Hamilton kicked up dirt from the grass, while his right front-wing endplate flew off following contact with Russell.
“George just backed off,” said Hamilton over the radio. “That is really dangerous. He pulled over to the left. I might have some damage on the car.”
Although Hamilton’s time was good enough to progress to Q3, and limp back to the pits for repairs, Russell was eliminated.
“You didn’t tell me there was a car behind,” said Russell. “I don’t know what the hell was going on in that session. The car was bouncing. I couldn’t get my tyres working.”
Both Mercedes drivers were summoned to to see the stewards to explain their version of events.
Hamilton, 38, revealed he cleared the air with Russell, 25, after he moved to draw a line under their first coming together as team-mates.
“It was just a misunderstanding,” said Hamilton. “I have spoken to George. I went and shook his hand and that was it.”
The Mercedes drivers were closer on track than desired after Russell aborted his previous lap.
“Lewis was not aware that I was starting a quick lap,” said Russell. “I was looking ahead to get the slipstream from Sainz.
“It was not something that either driver necessarily did wrong, but within the team it shouldn’t happen and the communication should have been better towards us.”
Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – in the paddock on Saturday as a pundit for Sky Sports – collided on the opening lap here at the peak of their acrimonious relationship in 2016.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff threatened Hamilton and Rosberg with a ban if they collided again.
And the Austrian was asked if Saturday’s qualifying collision between his current drivers evoked memories of that race in Spain seven years ago.
“No, it wasn’t shades of 2016,” he said, with a wry smile. “I wish we were in the situation of 2016 where we’re so quick.
“But it shouldn’t happen. Team-mates should never collide – and even with another car, you should never collide in qualifying.
“Lewis saw it as his last opportunity and didn’t think that George was on that line. It looks silly, but it wasn’t, it was just a miscommunication.
“This is a team effort and we need to review our communications to avoid it in the future.”
With Mercedes tripping over one another, Verstappen, who finished four tenths clear of Sainz, will be favourite to convert pole into his fifth victory from seven rounds this year.
Verstappen heads Sergio Perez by 39 points in the standings, but his Red Bull team-mate starts only 11th after he fell off the road.
It was a qualifying session to forget for Charles Leclerc, too, as he could manage only 19th of the 20 runners. Home favourite Fernando Alonso lines up ninth on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collide as Max Verstappen claims pole
Lewis Hamilton collided with Mercedes team-mate George Russell as Max Verstappen raced to pole position for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton will start fifth following a bizarre coming together with Russell, who lines up in 12th, at the end of Q2 at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
Verstappen finished four tenths clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with Lando Norris an impressive third for McLaren.
Pierre Gasly took fourth spot for Alpine, one place ahead of Hamilton, who was half-a-second back, with home favourite Fernando Alonso only ninth in his Aston Martin.
Hamilton had to take on a replacement front wing for Q3 after he made contact with Russell in the closing stages of Q2.
With both Mercedes men starting their hot laps, Hamilton moved out of Russell’s tow at 210mph on the main straight.
But the seven-time world champion was forced to take to the grass after his team-mate, who was making his way past Sainz’s Ferrari, unintentionally, closed the door on him.
Hamilton kicked up dirt from the grass as part of his front wing flew off his Mercedes.
“George just backed off,” said Hamilton over the radio. “That is really dangerous. I might have some damage on the car.”
Although Hamilton’s time was good enough to progress to Q3, Russell was eliminated in 12th.
“You didn’t tell me there was a car behind,” said Russell. “I don’t know what the hell was going on in this session. The car was bouncing. I couldn’t get my tyres working.
Russell will start one place behind Perez after the Red Bull driver also failed to make it out of Q2.
Perez is Verstappen’s closest challenger in the championship but a week on from his horror show in Monaco where he finished 16th and two laps down, he qualified only 11th here.
The Mexican ran through the gravel and, although he managed to keep his Red Bull out of the wall, his next lap was not quick enough to carry him through to Q3.
“Unbelievable,” said Perez.
On an afternoon of shock results, Charles Leclerc, who started this race from pole position last year, will line last but one on the grid.
Leclerc complained about the rear of his Ferrari and finished above only Williams rookie Logan Sargeant in the order.
“I don’t have the answers for now,” said Leclerc following his early bath. “The only thing I can say is the left-hand corners were undriveable.”
Q1 was suspended by nine minutes following multiple spins on a track drying out after earlier rain.
Alex Albon, Nyck de Vries, Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas all ran off the road, and with gravel on the asphalt, race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the session.
Max Verstappen tops rain-hit final practice for Spanish Grand Prix
Max Verstappen finished fastest in a rain-hit final practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen completed his speediest time in the early minutes before it started drizzling at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
The double world champion finished two tenths clear of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, with Lewis Hamilton third, four tenths back.
Hamilton completed only eight laps as he elected not to run in the slippery conditions, despite the chance qualifying – which takes place at 4pm local time (3pm BST) – could also be disrupted by showers.
Behind Hamilton, Carlos Sainz finished fourth for Ferrari, one place ahead of his countryman Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin. George Russell finished sixth for Mercedes.
The one-hour running was suspended for nine minutes after Logan Sargeant crashed out.
Sargeant lost control of his Williams through the high-speed final corner, before sliding into the gravel and grazing the wall.
Verstappen will head into qualifying having finished fastest in all three sessions as he bids to extend his 39-point championship lead over team-mate Perez.
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