Ugochukwu’s quick pace in free practice had everyone’s attention during the season’s first qualifying session. Remember with this weekend’s sprint race it’s a reverse grid for the top 12. With the exception of David and Benavidas, who spent the first five minutes in the pit, every driver immediately began heating up their tires on the track.

Fast Laps vs Deleted Laps Showdown

With a fast pace, Taponen recorded the best lap at 1:52.527, followed closely by Stromsted and Slater. While chasing a quick lap, Colnaghi momentarily took the lead with a time of 1:35.136, but Ugochukwu maintained his lead with a time of 1:34.208. However, with some laps being deleted from track limits as quickly as they were being set.

Red Flag to DNF

Although it’s only a 1:34.638, Stromsted was working hard to cut the distance on Ugochukwu’s flying lap. Despite improving in a few areas for his lap, Taponen had fallen to P21. On the turn 10 exit, De Palo collided with the wall, raising a red flag. Going too wide sent him straight into the gravel, which carried him against the wall. As if the damaged car wasn’t bad enough, it is anticipated that his best lap (P6 1:35.113) will be erased as the reason for the red flag.

All vehicles returned to the pit lane to take advantage of the time and make necessary repairs while the session was halted to securely remove De Palo’s car. The session resumed with one DNF for De Palo as drivers began their warm-up phase. Traffic was anticipated, but Colnaghi initiated the second run. Taponen and Giusti were climbing the grid, while MP Motorsport appeared to be improving quickly. 

Small Errors, Big Lost Chances

Due to his purple sector, which gave him excessive speed, Ugochukwu damaged his front wing and struck a DRS bollard in the same location as De Palo beached. After a fast impact on a curb that sent him running wide, Stromsted had a lap erased; drivers then went into the pit lane for the third change of the session. Despite his error ruining his best lap, Ugochukwu maintained the lead with a timing of 1:34.208.

Racing The Clock

With eight minutes left in the last run, drivers had to do everything they could to guarantee a spot in the grid for tomorrow’s sprint race. While Wharton leaped to P2, Nael remained outside the pit lane and rose to P4. Race control noted Colnaghi’s unsafe release incident but decided no further investigation was needed.

Colnaghi, after a green lap, took P2 briefly, but Slater grabbed it at 1:34.269 following his purple-green lap. Ugochukwu was barely hanging onto that P1 as Colnaghi dropped down to P3. Sitting comfortably in P4 was Kato and Wharton in P5 but it’s Gladysz who gets the last laugh as he jumps from P14 to P3 with no traffic ahead and the clock running out.

Australia welcomes back fans with a last-second switch-up as both Lacorte and Nael race against the clock, but at 1:34.187, Nael takes the pole with Lacorte leaping from P22 to P5. As the season begins with anticipated drama and quick laps, follow along to see who rises and falls during round 1 in Australia.