Lando Norris has secured the first pole position of 2025. In the qualifying round for the Australian Grand Prix, he proved faster than his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was three-tenths of a second behind Norris.
Q1: Lawson and Antonelli Out, Bortoleto Surprises
Verstappen’s first qualifying round is immediately very fast. Two purple sectors promise a lot, but he has to narrowly concede to Norris. George Russell squeezes in between them in the Mercedes. At that team, Kimi Antonelli disappoints, the Italian rookie does not get further than the sixteenth place. Liam Lawson causes an even bigger disappointment: Verstappen’s new teammate makes mistake after mistake in the Red Bull and ends up only as eighteenth. Another youngster surprises: Gabriel Bortoleto qualifies with P15 in the Sauber impressively for the second part of the qualification.
Q1 Dropouts: Antonelli, Hülkenberg, Lawson, Ocon, Bearman.
Q2: Hamilton Escapes by a Hair’s Breadth
McLaren shows speed with both Norris and Piastri, but the same applies to Verstappen. He indicated on Friday that he did not have much hope for a good qualification, but in Q2 he presents himself as a contender for pole. There are no surprises, unless it’s Lewis Hamilton. The Brit spins out in the final seconds in his Ferrari. Hamilton gets away with it, but is clearly searching for the limit of the SF-25.
Q2 Dropouts: Hadjar, Alonso, Stroll, Doohan, Bortoleto.
Q3: Norris Edges Out Verstappen
Verstappen asserts his candidacy for pole position by staying ahead of everyone in the first run. Piastri makes a mistake, Lando Norris briefly goes off the track and loses his time. Therefore, McLaren has work to do in the second and final run of Q3. And so it happens: Piastri delights the home crowd by setting the fastest time, but Norris manages to beat the Australian’s time. Verstappen has to give up three tenths and finishes third. Surprisingly, Yuki Tsunoda finishes fifth in the Racing Bull, with Alex Albon sixth in the Williams. They finish ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton (seventh and eighth).
The race is scheduled for Sunday, 03:00 UTC.
