MELBOURNE – Elated Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell believe the Formula One championship is alive again after qualifying just behind Red Bull’s pole-sitter Max Verstappen at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Russell will join Verstappen at the front of the grid for Sunday’s race, with seven-time world champion Hamilton third, as Mercedes savoured big performance gains at Albert Park after being well off the pace in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Russell’s fastest lap was a quarter of a second shy of reigning champion Verstappen’s, and his thrill at the car’s showing was even spiked with “a little bit” of disappointment to have missed out on pole.

“We weren’t expecting that, that’s for sure,” he said.

“We’ve got to go for the win. Max is going to be extremely fast, there’s no hiding that.

“I think it’s difficult to overtake around this circuit so the start, Lap 1, is going to be vital.

“But, you know, this result today is going to give us a huge amount of confidence – regardless of what tomorrow brings – over the course of the next four weeks.

“Because if we can deliver a performance like this with a car that is definitely quite a bit off the pace, (it) shows good promise for when we bring our first upgrade.”

Hamilton’s qualifying was his best result since Sao Paulo last season and he said it was “honestly incredible” that Mercedes were breathing down Verstappen’s neck.

He believes that even with Mercedes’ pace deficit, he and Russell might be able to work together to thwart Verstappen’s hopes of a second win in three races.

“We have to expect they’re going to be a quarter of a second, half a second, at least, quicker than us,” he said.

“But maybe we can, we can just about hold on.

“Maybe the fact that there’re two of us and only one Red Bull – maybe with strategy, we can apply some pressure to them.”

The qualifying results were a huge boost for Mercedes, with Hamilton finishing fifth in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while Russell was seventh and fourth.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will start fourth on the grid on Sunday, ahead of fifth-placed Carlos Sainz.

Sainz’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc will line up seventh behind sixth-placed Lance Stroll, who is Alonso’s teammate at Aston Martin.

Alex Albon will be eighth after a positive day for Williams, in front of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg.

Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings on 44 points, ahead of teammate Sergio Perez (43) after two races, with Alonso third (30).

Verstappen will not have Red Bull company at the front of the grid – Perez will start at the back after skidding off track and beaching himself in gravel.

The Mexican said he is hoping Red Bull can fix the grip and balance issue that he encountered so he can “minimise the damage” in the race.

Perez joined the third practice session 20 minutes late as mechanics worked on his car, but left the track four times when he finally got on the circuit.

The problem persisted in qualifying when he locked up and careened into the gravel at Turn 3 on his first lap, beaching the car that had to be removed by a crane.

It means he will start last on Sunday, with a mountain to climb to get in the points on a track where overtaking is not easy.

“I hope we are able to fix the technical issue for tomorrow, otherwise it will be really hard to race like this,” he said.

“We are confident that, together as a team, we will be able to sort it out because it’s very important that we do so.

“We have to minimise the damage tomorrow and get some good points.” REUTERS, AFP