'I am angry': F1 star slams own team over Aus GP qualifying 'disaster'

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has taken a stunning swipe at his own team after being left incensed by an incident in qualifying for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

Sainz was left fuming over what he described as a qualifying "disaster", after Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for Sunday's race at Melbourne Albert Park circuit.

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Leclerc took pole ahead of title rival Max Verstappen - and in the process broke Lewis Hamilton's stranglehold on the grid in Melbourne.

Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez is on the second row after coming in third ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris.

Mercedes' Hamilton, who has been the pole-sitter eight times in Melbourne, including the last six in a row at Albert Park, will start fifth.

While it was smooth sailing for Leclerc, the same couldn't be said for Sainz in the other Ferrari, with the Spaniard only managing to qualify in ninth.

Sainz was a whopping 1.5 seconds slower than Leclerc and blamed his team afterwards for sending him out with cold tyres that he couldn't get to optimal level for his lap.

“Until I go to sleep I will be angry,” Sainz said after qualifying. “Even if people tell me to be happy I am angry. I need a good night’s sleep.

“I couldn’t prepare the tyre. I had to do the lap with freezing tyres and it was a terrible lap.

“Ferrari shouldn’t have these problems. It was just a disaster.”

Ferrari race director Laurent Mekies admitted that the situation was not ideal for Sainz but was confident the Spaniard would bounce back.

“We had a delay, we had plans to do a prep lap but we had no time," Mekies said.

“Carlos was told to go straight to the lap. It is easy to lose momentum there and that had consequences for Carlos.

“The speed was there for Carlos so I am sure he will be right back.”

Following the drama, Sky F1 expert Paul Di Resta suggested that it was only a matter of time before Ferrari broke protocol by declaring Leclerc as their No.1 driver.

“At some stage Ferrari will have to switch to a No.1 status in their drivers and it’s hard,” the former driver said.

“Carlos will see his teammate on top and that’s hard to take as a driver.

“When you’re given a chance, he knew this was about next generation, it’s hard to accept because you don’t often get these chances.

“It’s easy for Ferrari to say ‘that’s the chosen one’. Then you lose the fight. It’s a tough decision.”

Charles Leclerc grabs second pole of the year

For Leclerc in the other Ferrari it's a second pole of the year for after the season-opening race in Bahrain.

He knocked out his rivals with a flying lap at the death of one minute 17.868, fractionally ahead of Red Bull's world champion Verstappen, who won in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago.

"It felt good. Even more because it's a track where I've always struggled in the past, in Q3 I managed to put everything together so it feels great, very happy," said Monaco's Leclerc.

"The car is nice to drive, everything is possible tomorrow. We need a good start."

Verstappen had complained of oversteer and balance problems in the final practice ahead of qualifying for Sunday's race and the Dutchman said he was still struggling despite being second-fastest.

"I didn't really feel good in the car all weekend. I don't think there's been one lap where I've felt good in the car," he said.

"We'll try to analyse it. This weekend has been all over the place. Happy to be second, but as a team we want more."

While Mercedes' speed is improving, it still has problems with porpoising - bouncing too much at speed. But fifth was a major improvement for Hamilton, who only qualified 16th in Jeddah. His team-mate George Russell was sixth on Saturday.

In a morale-boost, both McLarens made Q3 for the first time this season with Daniel Ricciardo coming seventh. Esteban Ocon in an Alpine was eighth.

Veteran Fernando Alonso, who has been quick all weekend in the Alpine, had to settle for 10th after crashing at Turn 11, explaining on the team radio that he couldn't shift down gears.

with agencies

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