Lando Norris secured pole position, finishing just under a tenth of a second ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, as McLaren achieved a front-row lockout during the qualifying session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. Defending world champion Max Verstappen qualified in third place for Red Bull.
“It’s the perfect way to start the year,” Norris said. “First of all, a big congrats to the team, everyone at McLaren has one an amazing job to continue from where we were at the end of last season, to start with the 1-2. But it’s just quali, right? Let’s wait and see tomorrow. I know it’s going to be a tricky race, but today was a great start.”
At the beginning of Q1, Haas driver Oliver Bearman was among the first to take to the track. The British driver had missed FP3 due to a second incident during the weekend and was eager to regain valuable time. However, shortly after departing the pit lane, he reported a gearbox issue to his team. Consequently, he was required to return to the pit lane and did not participate in the session.
Liam Lawson faced significant challenges on Saturday. The newly signed Red Bull Racing driver was unable to participate in FP3 due to a power unit issue. Compounding the difficulty, he was navigating an unfamiliar track in a complex car. After two unproductive runs, a crucial final lap started promisingly; however, errors in Sector 2 and an off-track incident in the penultimate corner ultimately placed him in P18, resulting in his elimination from the session. Also exiting in Q1 were Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who sustained damage to the front bib of his W16 E and finished in P16, as well as Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon in 19th with the other Haas entry, and his teammate Bearman.
“Yesterday was quite tough. So for us to be in P3 today, I take that,” Verstappen said. “A lot of good grip around here and some fast corners, so that’s always fun in an F1 car.”
At the top of the Q1 timesheet, Norris secured first place, finishing just six hundredths of a second ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell, with Verstappen in third position.
Verstappen initiated the middle session and recorded a strong opening flying lap time of 1:15.688. However, the Red Bull driver experienced several instances of oversteer during his lap, which enabled the McLaren drivers to secure the top two positions. Oscar Piastri achieved the fastest time, finishing just over two-tenths ahead of Lando Norris. Following Verstappen after the initial flying laps were George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Yuki Tsunoda from Racing Bulls.
During the second session, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto experienced a tense moment as he hit the curbs in Turn 4 and nearly lost control of his vehicle. Additionally, Lewis Hamilton lost control while navigating Turn 11, resulting in a spin in his Ferrari.
The resulting yellow flags affected several drivers’ performances; however, Norris secured the top position once again, posting a time of 1:15.415, thus surpassing Piastri. Verstappen finished in third place with a lap time of 1:15.565.
At the conclusion of Q2, Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls achieved the position of best-placed rookie, finishing in 11th place. He was followed by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll from Aston Martin, who finished in 12th and 13th places, respectively. Jack Doohan from Alpine secured 14th place, while Bortoleto qualified in 15th.
“It’s obviously great to start the year on the front row – probably one position further back than I would have liked, but I think it’s a great start for the year and great to have the team on the front row,” Piastri said. “So now we reset and see what tomorrow has in store. But pretty happy with how qualifying went, just not quite enough in Q3. But it’s the start of a long season, so I’m happy with that, it’s a solid start.”
In the initial laps of Q3, Piastri exerted excessive effort in the penultimate corner, resulting in him going off track into the dirt on his opening lap. Meanwhile, his teammate Norris also pushed too hard into Turn 4, leading him to bounce over the curb, which had previously caused an issue for Bortoleto; as a consequence, Norris’s lap time was invalidated for exceeding track limits. Verstappen approached the same boundary but successfully navigated it, achieving provisional pole with a lap time of 1:15.671.
The reigning champion aimed to secure the pole position at the season opener; however, the McLaren team demonstrated slightly superior speed, with Lando Norris achieving the fastest qualifying time of 1:15.096, followed closely by his teammate Oscar Piastri in second place. Max Verstappen concluded his final qualifying lap with a time of 1:15.481, earning him third place, followed by George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Williams driver Alex Albon, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’15.096 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’15.180 0.084 0.112
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’15.481 0.385 0.513
4 George Russell Mercedes 1’15.546 0.450 0.599
5 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’15.670 0.574 0.764
6 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’15.737 0.641 0.854
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’15.755 0.659 0.878
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1’15.973 0.877 1.168
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’15.980 0.884 1.177
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1’16.062 0.966 1.286
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’16.175 1.079 1.437
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’16.453 1.357 1.807
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’16.483 1.387 1.847
14 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1’16.863 1.767 2.353
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1’17.520 2.424 3.228
16 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1’16.525 1.429 1.903
17 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1’16.579 1.483 1.975
18 Liam Lawson Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’17.094 1.998 2.661
19 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1’17.147 2.051 2.731
20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari – – –
Photo/Formula1/X