Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made it a McLaren one-two in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, while Lewis Hamilton took eighth on his Ferrari debut. Norris and Piastri made life difficult for themselves with mistakes on their first laps in the final part of qualifying, but both produced strong laps on their final runs. Briton Norris beat Australian Piastri by 0.084 seconds as both knocked early pace-setter Max Verstappen’s Red Bull down to third in Melbourne. Verstappen improved on his final run despite brushing the gravel in the fast chicane at Turns Nine and 10 and ended up 0.385secs off the pace, but managed to stay ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in fourth. Hamilton was 0.218secs slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc as the Ferraris.
Norris was pleased by his performance but his main concern was the race, for which rain is predicted. He said: “It’s the perfect way to start the year. Everyone at McLaren has done an amazing job to start with a one-two but it’s just qualifying, let’s see tomorrow, it’s going to be a tricky race but this is a good way to start. “The car is extremely quick and when you put it together it’s unbelievable but it’s difficult to put together. “Particularly after the first lap, when I went off and lost my lap, you’re in a tricky position – you need to risk it but not go too far because you can’t make a mistake. It’s a difficult balance. We know how quick Max.
Verstappen happy with third after ‘tough’ Friday The final Briton on the grid, Haas driver Oliver Bearman, will start last after a difficult weekend. His gearbox failed on his first lap out of the pits in qualifying, after a crash in second practice and a spin into the gravel in the final session cost him track time at the start of his first full season. Of the six rookies on the grid, the most impressive performance came from Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who out-qualified his experienced Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg with 15th place, the German two spots further back. Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 18, and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson were both eliminated in the first part of qualifying. Antonelli, who will start 16th, said gravel on.
