Qualifying report

F1 Australian GP: Norris takes pole from Piastri, as Lawson and Antonelli struggle

Norris led a McLaren 1-2 in the Melbourne qualifying session

Lando Norris led Oscar Piastri in a McLaren 1-2 in qualifying for Formula 1’s 2025 Australian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen third and Lewis Hamilton down in eighth.

In the other Red Bull, Liam Lawson was eliminated in Q1, as was new Mercedes recruit Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda producing stunning Q3 efforts for Williams and Racing Bulls respectively.

The McLaren drivers had to work for it on the final runs in Q3, as both made mistakes on their first runs, after which Verstappen led the pack.

Piastri, who slid too deep at the penultimate corner on his first flier in the final segment, rallied at the head of the park on the final laps – the Australian shooting to a 1m15.180s and provisional pole with a huge gain on the rest in the final sector.

But behind came Norris – having lost his first Q3 lap for a track-limits slip at Turn 4 – and the Briton went even quicker in the final sector after leading the opening third too, with pole established at 1m15.096s by a 0.084s margin to Piastri.

The rest could not match the McLarens, as Verstappen’s Q3 run two improvement left him 0.385s adrift at the finish.

George Russell took fourth for Mercedes, with Tsunoda’s final lap missed by F1’s world feed as it came after so many of the rest – including Albon ahead on the track – and finished. The Japanese driver demoted Albon to sixth, plus the Ferrari pair led by Charles Leclerc in seventh.

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz trailed Hamilton at the end of the top 10, with all three producing personal bests at the end of Q3.

In the middle segment, Isack Hadjar’s late personal best was not enough to progress, and it was the same story for the Aston Martin drivers behind – Fernando Alonso leading Lance Stroll – with the green team later stating Alonso had damaged his floor in an early Q2 off in the gravel behind Turn 10.

Jack Doohan rose to 14th on a late lap set just after Hamilton spun awkwardly at Turn 11 as Ferrari kept its drivers circulating on aging softs, while Gabriel Bortoleto was the last Q2 faller but left a memorable first impression on F1 qualifying by saving a wild moment exiting Turn 4 on his final flier.

In Q1, Bortoleto’s last-gasp improvement knocked out Antonelli, who produced a personal best on his final flier after his previous tour had featured his Mercedes scraping dramatically along the ground. The team later said was linked to damage to his car’s floor-leading bib.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and his replacement at Haas, Esteban Ocon, were eliminated in 17th and 19th – either side of Lawson, the other shock Q1 faller.

After missing FP3 with his engine issue, the new Red Bull driver headed out immediately, but multiple wayward moments on his final lap meant he abandoned it in the pits.

Lawson only qualifies ahead of Haas pair Ocon and Oliver Bearman; the British driver reported a gearbox issue on his Q1 out-lap, which followed his FP1 crash, his missed FP2 and his FP3 gravel-beaching.

F1 Australian GP - Qualifying results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	1'15.096		253.020
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	+0.084 1'15.180		252.737
3	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.385 1'15.481		251.729
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.450 1'15.546		251.512
5	Y. Tsunoda Racing Bulls	22	RB	Honda	+0.574 1'15.670		251.100
6	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	+0.641 1'15.737		250.878
7	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.659 1'15.755		250.819
8	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.877 1'15.973		250.099
9	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	+0.884 1'15.980		250.076
10	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	+0.966 1'16.062		249.806
11	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	RB	Honda	+1.079 1'16.175		249.436
12	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	+1.357 1'16.453		248.529
13	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Mercedes	+1.387 1'16.483		248.431
14	J. Doohan Alpine	7	Alpine	Renault	+1.767 1'16.863		247.203
15	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	Sauber	Ferrari	+2.424 1'17.520		245.108
16	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	+1.429 1'16.525		248.295
17	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27	Sauber	Ferrari	+1.483 1'16.579		248.120
18	L. Lawson Red Bull Racing	30	Red Bull	Red Bull	+1.998 1'17.094		246.462
19	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	+2.051 1'17.147		246.293
20	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari
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