Lando Norris on pole as McLaren lock out front row: Aussie Grand Prix

Albert Park (Melbourne), 15 March 2025: Lando Norris stormed to pole position just under a tenth of a second ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri as McLaren locked out the front row in qualifying for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. Defending world champion Max Verstappen qualified third for Red Bull. 

At the start of Q1 Haas’ Oliver Bearman was one of the first on track. The Briton had missed FP3 due to a second crash of the weekend and was seeking to make up for lost time. However, soon after leaving the pit lane the rookie driver informed his team that he had a gearbox problem. He was forced back to the pit lane and took no part in the session. 

Liam Lawson also endured a tough Saturday. The new Red Bull Racing recruit was forced to sit out FP3 due to a PU problem and on an unfamiliar track in a tricky car the Kiwi struggled. After two unproductive runs, a final crucial flyer began well but mistakes in Sector 2 and an off in the penultimate corner left him in P18 and out of the session. Also ruled out in Q1 were Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli who damaged the front bib on his W16 E and exited in P16, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, 19th placed Esteban Ocon in the other Haas and team-mate Bearman. 

At the top of the Q1 timesheet, Norris took top spot, six hundredths of a second ahead of Mercedes George Russell with Verstappen in third.

Verstappen led the field out in the middle session and the Dutchman posted a strong opening flying lap of 1:15.688. The Red Bull driver suffered several moments of oversteer on his lap, however, and that allowed the McLaren drivers to annex the top two places, with Oscar Piastri taking top spot a little over two tenths clear or Lando Norris. Behind Verstappen after the first flyers were Russell, Leclerc and Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda. 

In the second runs Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto had a nervous moment when he clattered over the kerbs in Turn 4 and almost lost control, while Lewis Hamilton did lose control, spinning his Ferrari in Turn 11. 

The resulting yellow flags disadvantaged several drivers but top spot was again taken by Norris who posted a time of 1:15.415 to beat Piastri. Verstappen was again third with a lap of 1:15.565. 

Knocked out at the end of Q2 were Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, who ended up as the best-placed rookie in P11, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll out in P12 and P13. Alpine’s Jack Doohan exited in P14 and Bortoleto qualified in 15th. 

In the opening runs of Q3 Piastri pushed too hard in the penultimate corner and went wide into the dirt on his opening lap. Behind him, team-mate Norris went too hard into Turn 4 and bounced over the kerb that caught out Bortoleto and the Briton’s lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. Verstappen flirted with the same boundary but managed to stay on the right said of the kerb and took provisional pole with a lap of 1:15.671. 

The champion pushed to seal the opening pole of the season, but ultimately the McLarens were marginally quicker and Norris took top spot in qualifying with a lap of 1:15.096, with Piastri second. Verstappen’s final flyer of 1:15.481 handed him third ahead of Russell, the impressive Tsunoda, Williams’ 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 – – –