Formula 1: Norris pips Piastri to take pole in qualifying at Australian GP

Melbourne, March 15
Lando Norris surged to pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the McLaren driver having just edged out teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.084s to secure a front row lockout for the reigning Teams’ Champions at the Albert Park.



After Max Verstappen had initially secured provisional pole during the first runs of Q3, Piastri thrilled the crowd at his home event by stunningly beating that effort by four-tenths. But the Australian did not keep P1 for long, as Norris went even faster on a lap of 1m 15.096s.

Verstappen wound up in third, the Red Bull man seemingly ready to take the fight to McLaren, while George Russell was fourth for Mercedes ahead of an impressive fifth place for Yuki Tsunoda in the Racing Bulls machine.

Alex Albon put his Williams in sixth – another midfield team hinting at promise – with the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton having to settle for seventh and eighth in a not entirely smooth session for the Scuderia. Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 for Alpine, with Carlos Sainz ending his first qualifying for Williams in P10.

After an eye-catching weekend so far for Racing Bulls, rookie Isack Hadjar just missed out on reaching the top 10 in P11, while Aston Martin suffered a double elimination in Q2 after Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll exited in P12 and P13 respectively.

Jack Doohan put his Alpine in 14th during a solid session – the Australian having to abandon his final lap after the yellow flags were briefly thrown in Q2 following a spin for Hamilton – and 2024 F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto was 15th in his first outing for Kick Sauber.

Ollie Bearman’s challenging weekend continued in qualifying, with the Haas youngster unable to put any laps in following a gearbox issue. Also facing a tough Q1 was his fellow rookie Kimi Antonelli – the Mercedes driver just missing the cut in P16 – while Liam Lawson faced an early exit on his Red Bull debut in P18.

Some more experienced names were also out of the running in the early stages of qualifying, with Nico Hulkenberg out in P17 for Kick Sauber while Haas’ Esteban Ocon was down in P19, one place ahead of his sidelined teammate.