The Latest Breaking News from Nyck de Vries

The Ferrari driver secured his first F1 pole of the year on his final effort of the session, a 1m40.203s, having ratcheted up his pace from a strong opening run in the last part of qualifying to prove unassailable for the two Red Bull drivers.

Leclerc will start ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in Sunday’s race after the one-hour qualifying session on Friday, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

A second red flag induced by Kevin Magnussen clipping the wall enabled the field to switch to fresh soft tyres during the stoppage for a third standing start on lap 56 of 58.

Carlos Sainz was given a late penalty for spinning Fernando Alonso which saw him drop out of the points from fourth, while Logan Sargeant received nothing for slamming into Nyck de Vries

In the climax to a chaotic and controversially handled race, Gasly had lined up fifth for the second red flag restart but locked up into Turn 1 to avoid clipping Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.

In the climax to a chaotic and controversially handled race, Gasly had lined up fifth for the second red-flag restart but locked up into Turn 1 to avoid clipping Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.

Verstappen lost his lead from pole at the start, as the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton passed him in the opening corners. But Verstappen took control after a restart following Alex Albon’s big crash, passing Hamilton using DRS in the ultra-fast section ahead of Turn 9 –…

Max Verstappen started the Australian GP on pole with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in his mirrors, while Fernando Alonso was also lurking in hope of an opportunity

Verstappen will start ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.