By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE, March 7 (Reuters) - George Russell took pole position and teammate Kimi Antonelli locked up the front row for Mercedes at Formula One's season-opening Grand Prix but Red Bull's four-times world champion Max Verstappen crashed out of the first qualifying session.
Briton Russell lapped the circuit in one minute, 18.518 seconds, 0.293 seconds ahead of Italian Antonelli, who came back from a huge crash in final practice earlier on Saturday.
It was Mercedes first pole in Melbourne
since Lewis Hamilton's in 2019.
"It was a great day, we knew there was a lot of potential in the car," said Russell.
"It really came alive this afternoon.
"Also really happy that Kimi's here... All in all a pretty good day."
Antonelli faces a nervous wait for his position to be confirmed after his patched-up car dropped cooling-fan parts at the start of Q3 and Norris ran over one, sending debris flying and triggering a red flag.
Stewards are investigating the incident.
Red Bull's Isack Hadjar will start third on the grid for Sunday's race, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth.
Home racer Oscar Piastri and defending champion Lando Norris were fifth and sixth for McLaren.
"It's been a very, very stressful day," said Antonelli of his crash which triggered a red flag in practice.
"But the guys today were the heroes, to put the car back on the track."
The new chassis and power unit changes have meant a steep learning curve for drivers, putting a greater onus on managing power deployment and regeneration.
Verstappen came unstuck in the first session of qualifying when he locked up on turn one of his first flying lap, skidded over gravel and smashed into the barrier.
The Dutchman swore over the team radio before exiting the car unscathed.
"The car just locked on the rear axles. Fantastic," said the Dutchman, runner-up in last year's championship.
Verstappen will start at the back of the grid or in pit lane depending on the repair work.
Aston Martin's twice world champion Fernando Alonso was eliminated in Q1, along with both the new Cadillac team's drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.
Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll was unable to take part in Q1, with Aston Martin running out of time to rebuild his car following morning repairs.
Williams driver Carlos Sainz also missed qualifying.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
