Lando Norris took pole ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri for a McLaren front-row lockout at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after Ferrari’s presumed challenge spectacularly collapsed.
The comfortable 0.385s margin over the field came despite a butchered set of first laps from the McLaren stars. Norris had his first time deleted for exceeding track limits, while Piastri logged an unrepresentative time after running wide exiting the penultimate corner.
It was all the invitation Max Verstappen needed to take provisional pole, having topped qualifying at the past two grands prix in Albert Park. But Red Bull Racing’s pole contention was a mirage. McLaren had more than enough pace in hand to overcome the Dutchman.
Piastri was first over the line, beating Verstappen by 0.301s. Norris, who topped both Q1 and Q2, then steamed through to take pole position by 0.084s.
“It’s the perfect way to start the year,” said the Briton. “It was a little fight between me and Oscar today, and it was a tough one.
“I knew the second lap you’re in a tough position — you need to take a lot of risk but you also need to make sure you get the lap clean. I managed to pull it off, so very happy.
“Big congrats to the team. Everyone at McLaren’s done an amazing job to continue where we were at the end of last season with a one-two.”
Piastri was pleased to set himself up on the front row, satisfied that his season has started on the right foot.
“It’s obviously great to start the year on the front row,” he said. “Only one position further back than I would’ve liked!
“I think it’s a great start to the year, and it’s great to have the team on the front row. It’s the start of a long season, so I’m pretty happy with a solid start.”
Verstappen’s lap was quick enough to hang onto an unlikely third place a day after Red Bull Racing looked set to start the year struggling with a recalcitrant car.
“Yesterday was quite tough, so for us to be in P3 today, I’ll take that,” he said.
George Russell was fourth for Mercedes, but the Briton was 0.45s off the pace and never really in the fight for pole. But the German marque was at least closer to the mark than Ferrari, which slumped to a horror seventh and eighth on the grid a day after looking like pole favorites.
Charles Leclerc will line up seventh and 0.659s off the pace, while Lewis Hamilton completed his first qualifying session in red 0.218s behind his teammate.
Between Ferrari and the leaders ahead slotted a fantastic Yuki Tsunoda, who was fifth and 0.574s adrift of pole, and an excellent Alex Albon for Williams, just 0.067s further back.
Pierre Gasly was ninth for Alpine ahead of Carlos Sainz in the second Williams.
Isack Hadjar was the quickest rookie in qualifying, putting his Racing Bulls car 11th, missing a Q3 berth by only 0.063s.
Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were closely matched just over 1s off the pace.
Jack Doohan was knocked out of the session 14th after encountering a spun-out Hamilton on his final flying lap, forcing him to abandon his final lap that otherwise looked on par with teammate Gasly’s Q3-worthy effort.
Gabriel Bortoleto survived a monster snap of oversteer at Turn 4 that cost him a better time, though the Brazilian rookie will have been happy to end the session unscathed, even if it left him 15th.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was knocked out of his first Formula 1 qualifying session 16th after a late Gabriel Bortoleto bolter pushed the Italian into the elimination zone. The 18-year-old Italian rookie had suffered damage to the bib — the front section of the floor — that Mercedes suspects cost him the bulk of his half-second deficit to teammate Russell and would easily have accounted for his 0.009s gap to the Q2 threshold.
Nico Hulkenberg was 17th for Sauber, the veteran beaten by rookie teammate Bortoleto by 0.063s.
Liam Lawson got his Red Bull Racing career to a deeply underwhelming start, qualifying 18th and second-last of the drivers who set a time. The Kiwi butchered his two attempts at a competitive time, first by running off the road at Turn 3 and then by running wide at the penultimate corner on his last lap, which he abandoned without enough time to set another lap.
Lawson’s preparation for qualifying had been hamstrung by missing FP3 with a power unit problem, but he took responsibility for not maximizing the chances he had to progress.
Esteban Ocon underwhelmed in 19th for Haas at 1.235s off the pace, but things were even worse for teammate Oliver Bearman, who was classified last with a gearbox problem that struck immediately upon the British rookie joining the track.
“It’s broken,” he said glumly on his way back to pit lane, from where he never rejoined.
Bearman’s car had just been repaired after he beached it in the gravel at Turn 11 during final practice. It was his second error of the weekend, having crashed into the barriers exiting Turn 10 in FP1, leaving him with just 12 laps of Albert Park before qualifying.
