LANDO NORRIS produced a blistering drive to secure pole position in qualifying as his title charge began.
When the British 24-year-old crossed the line, he said: “What an amazing way to start the year. An unbelievable car. Let’s keep it up baby.”
His McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri came in second in front of his home crowd in Melbourne while Max Verstappen looked dejected as he had to settle for third.
Lewis Hamilton struggled on his Ferrari qualifying debut, clearly still getting to grips with the car as he finished all the way down in eighth.
It’s also 1-0 to Charles Leclerc in their qualifying head-to-head, with the Monegasque out qualifying his new team-mate by two tenths of a second in the end and finishing seventh.
Hamilton said to his engineer Riccardo Adami after the session: “I don’t know what happened there, mate.”
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To which Adami replied: “Tough one. Overall a good job.”
Hamilton even spun during Q2 of his first qualifying session, but thankfully managed to advance to the pole-position shootout.
Two Williams drivers reached Q3 at Albert Park for the first time in ten years, with Carlos Sainz in 10th and Alex Albon finishing in sixth.
It was a bad day in the office for Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli who was booted out in Q1 in P16 while his team-mate George Russell produced a solid drive to grab fourth.
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Red Bull’s Liam Lawson looked no better than Sergio Perez, who he replaced at the team, with a scruffy performance leaving him axed in Q1 in 18th.
It was also a surprisingly quick session for Yuki Tsunoda and Racing Bulls, with the Japanese driver qualifying in P5 while rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar finished P11.
Elsewhere it was a nightmare day for Haas, as they qualified as the bottom two with Ollie Bearman not even setting a lap after a problem with his gearbox.
F1 Australia results
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4. George Russell (Mercedes)
5. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)
6. Alex Albon (Williams)
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
8. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
10. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
11. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
13. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
14. Jack Doohan (Alpine)
15. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
16. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
17. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
18. Liam Lawson (Red Bull)
19. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
20. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
