It was a one-two for Campos Racing in the half-hour qualifying session at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, led by Theophile Nael ahead of his teammate Ugo Ugochukwu.
It was a dramatic session for Ugochukwu, who broke his rear front wing when he ran wide at Turn 10 and clouted a styrofoam board.
The American driver returned to the pit lane for a new front wing before setting his session-best 1:34.208s.
In the end, the Frenchman Nael clinched pole position by just 0.021s with a 1:34.187s.
Wharton looked like he would have a second row start until a late flurry of laps reshuffled the order.
Audi junior Freddie Slater was third for Trident while Art Grand Prix driver Maciej Gładysz was one of the last to complete a lap to qualify fourth.
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The top 10 was completed by Nicola Lacorte, Mattia Colnaghi, Taito Kato, Wharton, Brando Badoer, and Noah Stromsted.
Australia’s other interest, Patrick Heuzenroeder, was 24th out of the Campos Racing camp.
New Zealand’s Louis Sharp qualified 13th for Prema.
Matteo De Palo brought out the sole red flag of the session when he went off at Turn 10 and into the tyre barrier.
Results: FIA Formula 3 Championship Australian Grand Prix, Qualifying
| Pos | Num | Driver | Laps | Lap |
| 1 | 1 | Theophile Nael | 14 | 1:34.187 |
| 2 | 2 | Ugo Ugochukwu | 13 | 1:34.208 |
| 3 | 5 | Freddie Slater | 13 | 1:34.269 |
| 4 | 11 | Maciej Gladysz | 15 | 1:34.454 |
| 5 | 29 | Nicola Lacorte | 15 | 1:34.533 |
| 6 | 7 | Mattia Colnaghi | 14 | 1:34.547 |
| 7 | 10 | Taito Kato | 13 | 1:34.612 |
| 8 | 21 | James Wharton | 13 | 1:34.621 |
| 9 | 18 | Brando Badoer | 15 | 1:34.625 |
| 10 | 4 | Noah Stromsted | 12 | 1:34.638 |
| 11 | 15 | Enzo Deligny | 15 | 1:34.644 |
| 12 | 16 | Bruno Del Pino | 15 | 1:34.648 |
| 13 | 20 | Louis Sharp | 13 | 1:34.686 |
| 14 | 8 | Tuukka Taponen | 15 | 1:34.741 |
| 15 | 25 | Jin Nakamura | 15 | 1:34.759 |
| 16 | 9 | Alessandro Giusti | 14 | 1:34.817 |
| 17 | 31 | Gerrard Xie | 15 | 1:34.860 |
| 18 | 24 | Fionn McLaughlin | 15 | 1:34.874 |
| 19 | 17 | Pedro Clerot | 15 | 1:34.879 |
| 20 | 26 | Brad Benavides | 14 | 1:34.933 |
| 21 | 19 | Christian Ho | 15 | 1:34.947 |
| 22 | 14 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | 15 | 1:34.955 |
| 23 | 6 | Matteo De Palo | 5 | 1:35.113 |
| 24 | 3 | Patrick Heuzenroeder | 15 | 1:35.156 |
| 25 | 22 | Jose Garfias | 13 | 1:35.307 |
| 26 | 27 | Yevan David | 12 | 1:35.731 |
| 27 | 12 | Kanato Le | 15 | 1:35.795 |
| 28 | 23 | Woohyun Shin | 15 | 1:35.820 |
| 29 | 30 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | 14 | 1:36.161 |
| 30 | 28 | Fernando Barrichello | 15 | 1:36.482 |
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