Verstappen takes pole position at F1 Australian Grand Prix

By COURTNEY WALSH
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Max Verstappen will have his best chance of claiming an inaugural Australian Grand Prix title after taking pole position in his Red Bull for Sunday’s third race of the Formula One season. But the two-time world champion was not pleased with the performance of his RB19 despite setting a track record around the circuit, After setting a lap record during practice earlier on Saturday, the drivers’ championship leader set a benchmark of 1 minute, 16:732 seconds in the final session of qualifying. Mercedes driver George Russell will share the front row of the starting grid after recording a time 0.236 seconds slower than Verstappen. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will start in third position on what was an encouraging day for Mercedes.