F1 Australian GP: Norris beats Piastri to pole, Hamilton eighth for Ferrari

Lando Norris led Oscar Piastri in a McLaren1-2 in qualifying for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen third and Lewis Hamilton down in eighth. In the other Red Bull, Liam Lawson was eliminated in Q1, as was new Mercedes recruit Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda producing stunning Q3 efforts for Williams and Racing Bulls respectively.

The McLaren drivers had to work for it on the final runs in Q3, as both made mistakes on their first runs, after which Verstappen led the pack.

Piastri, who slid too deep at the penultimate corner on his first flier in the final segment, rallied at the head of the park on the final laps – the Australian shooting to a 1m15.180s and provisional pole with a huge gain on the rest in the final sector.

But Norris – having lost his first Q3 lap for a track limits slip at Turn 4 – went even quicker in the final sector after leading the opening third too, with pole established at 1m15.096s by a 0.084s margin to Piastri.

Because the rest could not match the McLarens, Verstappen could only settle for third after his run two improvement left him 0.385s adrift.

George Russell took fourth for Mercedes, with Tsunoda’s final lap missed by F1’s world feed as it came after so many of the rest – including Albon ahead on the track – had finished. The Japanese driver demoted Albon to sixth, plus the Ferrari pair led by Charles Leclercin seventh.

Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz trailed Hamilton at the end of the top 10, with all three producing personal bests at the end of Q3.

In the middle segment, Isack Hadjar’s late personal best was not enough to progress and it was the same story for the Aston Martin drivers behind – Fernando Alonso leading Lance Stroll – with the green team later stating Alonso had damaged his floor in an early Q2 off in the gravel behind Turn 10.

Jack Doohan rose to 14th on a late lap set just after Hamilton spun awkwardly at Turn 11 as Ferrari kept its drivers circulating on aging softs, while Gabriel Bortoleto was the last Q2 faller but left a memorable first impression on F1 qualifying by saving a wild moment exiting Turn 4 on his final flier.

In Q1, Bortoleto’s last-gasp improvement knocked out Antonelli, who produced a personal best on his final flier after his previous tour had featured his Mercedes scraping along the ground – with the team stating it was linked to the damage to his car’s floor bib.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and his replacement at Haas, Esteban Ocon, were eliminated in 17th and 19th – either side of Lawson, the other shock Q1 faller.

After missing FP3 with his engine issue he headed out immediately, but multiple wayward moments on his final lap meant he abandoned it in the pits.

Lawson only qualifies ahead of Haas pair Ocon and Oliver Bearman; the British driver reported a gearbox issue on his Q1 out-lap, which followed his FP1 crash, missed FP2 and FP3 gravel-beaching.

By Autosport