Lando Norris led the way in F1 Australian GP qualifying in a McLaren 1-2 from Oscar Piastri, as Max Verstappen was third.
Q1:
It was hectic in first part of F1 Australian GP qualifying at Albert Park where McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace with a 1m15.912s lap ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The Top 17 was covered with a second of Norris’ time in a close pack.
Both the Mercedes drivers started the session on the medium tyres but switched to soft for their final run, but Andrea Kimi Antonelli (1m16.525s) was knocked out in 16th. The Italian had a gravel moment at Turn 6 which damaged the bib and cost him time and also performance to knock him out.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m16.579s) was 17th when his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto made it through to knock out Antonelli. Red Bull’s Liam Lawson (1m17.094s) was another casualty in 18th. He couldn’t improve the second time after multiple moments on his final quick lap.
It was another low run for Haas as Esteban Ocon (1m17.147s) was only 19th, continuing their poor performance in the course of the weekend, where teammate Oliver Bearman couldn’t set any lap time due to a gearbox problem which the Brit complained about on his first lap.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Australian GP qualifying saw Norris set the pace again with a 1m15.415s lap, only 0.053s quicker than Oscar Piastri as Verstappen was third, where the Top 11 was covered within a second of the pace-setter’s time in another close session.
The drop zone saw Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar miss the Top 10 by 0.063s after his 1m16.175s lap which included Turn 6 moment. It was a late improvement from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m16.453s) to be 12th ahead of teammate Lance Stroll (1m16.483s).
Alpine’s Jack Doohan (1m16.863s) was 14th after his initial quick lap was deleted due to track limits. His second lap was compromised due to a spin for Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Sauber’s Bortoleto (1m17.520s) was 15th after his quick lap was hampered by a moment. There was an impeding moment noted for Russell on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but it was cleared by the stewards.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Australian GP qualifying saw Verstappen start handsomely with a 1m15.671s lap to head the pack by 0.024s margin over Russell and 0.084s over Leclerc. The Top 6 saw six different teams with Piastri, Williams’ Alexander Albon and Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.
The fast lap of Norris was deleted due to track limits to add pressure on his final run, as Hamilton was seventh after the first run. The final run saw Norris make it count with a 1m15.096s lap to take first F1 pole of 2025 season in Australian GP in a McLaren 1-2 from Piastri by 0.084s margin.
Verstappen (1m15.481s) was third from Russell (1m15.546s) as Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m16.670s) ended as best of the rest in fifth from Williams’ Alexander Albon (1m15.737s), where they both managed to finish ahead of the two Ferrari cars, who had a disappointing finish.
Leclerc (1m15.755s) couldn’t improve on his final run to be seventh from Hamilton (1m15.973s), who did improve but couldn’t better. The Top 10 was rounded out by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (1m15.980s) and Williams’ Carlos Sainz (1m16.062s).
