Australian GP: Lando Norris pips Oscar Piastri for pole as McLaren secure 1-2
Lando Norris secured his 10th pole position of his career as he edged past teammate and hometown hero Oscar Piastri on Saturday, March 15 during the Australian Grand Prix qualifying session. Norris and Piastri sealed 1-2 for McLaren, who have laid out a marker for the rest of the teams.
Defending World Champion Max Verstappen will start the race from the second row, alongside George Russell in 4th. Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon produced stunning performances in the final few seconds of Q3 to add to Ferrari’s misery as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton struggled for pace on Saturday.
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How the Australian GP Qualifying unfolded
Norris laid out the marker early on in Q1 as he went fastest by close to half a second and pushed Charles Leclerc into the second spot. Fernando Alonso also had a strong start to qualifying as he was in the top 5 early on. Max Verstappen got in a lap time was just 0.015 seconds off Norris early on.
Leclerc’s second run saw him get close to the top 2 as the battle was heating up. Lewis Hamilton wasn’t having the best of starts but was able to muster up a good run to make it to Q2.
For Kimi Antonelli and Liam Lawson, it wasn’t a great debut for their new teams as both men failed to make it out of Q1 while Gabriel Borteletto made it through at the very last moment.
Q2 started with Verstappen setting the early pace, albeit in a lap that did see him make a mistake. McLaren capitalised with Piastri going fastest and Norris taking the second spot.
Ferrari continued to struggle to keep pace with the front row and were slowly looking over their shoulder towards the final few minutes of Q2. Hamilton had a spin during his flying lap but somehow survived in the end as we went into Q3 with Alonso being the biggest casualty in the session.
Charles Leclerc started off brilliantly and he beat both McLarens to get to the top but was quickly beaten by Russell. Norris’ lap had to be deleted as he went a bit wide of the racing line. The final minutes saw Norris and Piastri battle it out with the British driver edging past his teammate for the pole by 0.084.
Verstappen’s best efforts could only earn him a third spot. Ferrari were outpaced by Tsunoda and Albon in the end as Leclerc and Hamilton were pushed down to 7th and 8th.
“It’s the perfect way to start the year,” said Norris.
“Let’s wait and see tomorrow, I know it’s going to be a tricky race.
“I’m confident the car’s in a great position.”
Rain is expected on Sunday and could play a big role in the outcome of the race.
