Lando Norris won pole position on Saturday for the Australian Grand Prix for the opening of the season in front of his teammate Oscar Piastri while McLaren fired a warning shot from their rivals. In hot conditions burning to Albert Park in Melbourne, the world champion Max Verstappen arrived third in tense qualification. George Russell of Mercedes will keep the quadruple Red Bull world champion in the second row. Lewis Hamilton will start in eighth during his beginnings in Ferrari. “This is the ideal way to start the year. A big congratulations to the team, everyone has done incredible job to start with a two,” said Norris.
“But it’s just qualified, right? Let’s see tomorrow,” he added.
“The car is extremely fast. When you bring it together, it’s incredible, but it is difficult to bring it together.
“I’m never going to get ahead of myself, I am convinced that the car is in a good place but we have never run in the wet.”
Sunday race forecasts are intended for cooler temperatures and rain.
Norris overshadowed his rivals with a 15.096 second minute steering wheel on soft tires, 0.084 second in front of Piastri.
“Quite happy, great to start the year in the front row,” said Piastri.
“Quite happy with how the qualifications took place but not enough in Q3, but it’s a long season, so a good start,” added the Australian.
“Maybe left a little on the table.”
No Australian pilot has won his home race since Alan Jones in 1980, but it was a non-championship race before Australia was added to the F1 calendar in 1985.
Verstappen, which was the Pole-Lit in 2023 and 2024, was three tenths behind Norris.
But his teammate recruit Liam Lawson, who replaced the underperforming Sergio Perez, failed to get out of the first quarter.
Mercedes’s teenager Kimi Antonelli was another great victim of the first quarter after the gravel has damaged the soil of her car.
“It was good, yesterday was quite difficult, so for us to be P3 today, I would take this,” said Verstappen.
“Quality towers are exciting, good grip here and some fast corners.”
Verstappen continues a second victory in Australia after his victory in 2023 to launch his offer for a fifth consecutive world title, a feat that only Michael Schumacher obtained.
RB Yuki Tsunoda will start a fifth surprise alongside the Williams of Alex Albon.
The Ferrari Charles Leclerc and Hamilton pair were a seventh and eighth disappointing with Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz d’Alpine in the other Williams filling the top 10.
Last year, in Melbourne, it was a one-two Ferrari with Sainz shooting his teammate Leclerc for the victory, ahead of Norris.
Verstappen and Hamilton failed to finish.
Fernando Alonso and his teammate from Aston Martin, launches Stroll, fought for the pace all weekend and failed to spend in the second quarter alongside Gabriel Bortoleto de Sauber, Isack Hadjar of RB and Jack Doohan from Alpine.
Ollie Bearman de Haas failed to set a time in the first quarter and was eliminated with the teammate Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Lawson and Antonelli de Sauber.
British British endured a horror weekend, crushing the barriers during the first training on Friday and unable to participate in the second session.
He skidded the gravel on Saturday in his first third trial round, before reporting that his gearbox was “broken” without finishing a qualification lap.
(This story has not been published by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a unionized flow.)
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