Lando Norris began the 2025 F1 season in perfect fashion, topping all three qualifying sessions to grab pole in Australia from team-mate Oscar Piastri as McLaren finally showed their hand.
There had been claims from rival teams that McLaren, fresh from their constructors’ win last year, were up to a second quicker than the rest and had been sandbagging in pre-season. While those claims may have been exaggerated, Norris was 0.4sec quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the fastest non-McLaren car in P3.
Mercedes’ George Russell was next quickest, half a second slower than Norris. But there was severe disappointment for Ferrari. Having looked competitive in pre-season, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton – the latter making his long-awaited Ferrari debut – could only take seventh and eighth on the grid, 0.7sec and 0.9sec off the pace respectively.
That was behind both the Racing Bull of Yuki Tsunoda in fifth and the Williams of Alex Albon in sixth. Hamilton had earlier spun his car in Q2, trying to match the pace of his team-mate.
Norris, who fought Verstappen for last year’s drivers’ title but ultimately fell short, had his first lap in Q3 deleted but was able to deliver under pressure with his second run.
He admitted he was delighted to have claimed the first pole of the year, describing it as the “perfect start to the season”. But the 25-year-old added that he was not counting his chickens with heavy rain forecast on Sunday.
Norris’s title hopes were infamously washed away in Brazil last year, when Verstappen came through from 17th on the grid to win the race while he went from pole back to sixth.
“I’m never going to get ahead of myself, I’m not that kind of guy,” Norris said. “I’m confident in the car but we know how quick Max is in the rain. Let’s see.”
07:06 AM GMT
Race start time tomorrow
It is an early one: 4am GMT. We will be back about an hour before that.
06:58 AM GMT
Norris on ‘Papaya rules’ and racing with team-mate Piastri
“We are prepared. We know we are going to have a lot more of this over the season. There are rules that we cannot cross. We are both competitors... we both want to fight for wins and victories, that is clear. We are free to race... what helped us last year with the constructors was... that there was order when there needed to be.”
06:57 AM GMT
Christian Horner speaks about Red Bull’s performance
“That is very decent, to be honest with you after Bahrain that is what we saw there. I think we’ve got a solid platform from which to work from for the season ahead. We are not optimal with the car ahead. Lap for lap they are identical up to turn 11 and we lose a little bit in the last couple of corners. I think we improved the car a lot today. With Max, that was a very strong performance.”
06:43 AM GMT
Williams will be delighted with that performance
Alexander Albon will be pleased not only with sixth but also beating Carlos Sainz by a few tenths. He is speaking to Sky Sports.
“The atmosphere in the team is so different, never mind the performance of the car. Q3 the car was feeling great. It has been so much fun to drive, I have been enjoying every lap I have been out there. Driving-wise more predictable, especially on the rear of the car. There’s also just the pure feeling of... we’ve got a proper update program coming. I have seen the momentum building. The details are making the difference.”
It would be great if Williams can challenge for fifth in the standings with the likes of RB, Alpine and Aston Martin (if they are that good).
06:34 AM GMT
George Russell speaks after an encouraging fourth
“I thought it was going to be close, to be honest, with the three teams after McLaren and that is how it turned out to be. Q3 was a really tricky session. McLaren is super impressive, we knew that but tomorrow is another day and it’s going to be wet and all to play for.”
06:31 AM GMT
Lewis Hamilton reacts
“I generally feel good. I had a really good time out there today. Everything has been a first this weekend. It’s been a lot of work to really adapt to this car. There is so much different here to what I have experienced in the past. I didn’t know that we would be nine tenths off or eight tenths off today but there is a lot to dissect.
“Charles has been in this team for seven years, he knows this car in and out... and all the tools. I am still learning, to be that close in my first qualifying session I would definitely take it. Tomorrow is going to be a challenge, I have never driven this car in the rain. I don’t even know the rain settings, so I have got to go and study that tonight.”
06:27 AM GMT
Some encouragement for Ferrari?
Just looking at the theoretical fastest lap by the Ferrari drivers, had Hamilton put his best three sectors together it would have been a 1:15.473, good enough for third. Leclerc would have been a couple of tenths behind that.
The overall theoretical best, the best three sectors of any car put together, was a 1:15.014. So perhaps the gap is not as enormous. Still there are probably reasons why they did not string the lap together that will need to be addressed.
06:19 AM GMT
Four Britons on the grid this year
Well, five if you count London-born Thai Alexander Albon, which we arguably should.
Two will be unhappy: Bearman and Hamilton. Three will be happy: Norris, Russell (just about) and Albon.
The unhappy ones are in Ferrari-powered cars, the others in Mercedes engines. Coincidence?
06:15 AM GMT
Norris on his pole
“It’s the perfect way tot start the year. Everyone at McLaren has done an amazing job. To continue from where we were at the end of last season, to start with a 1-2. But it’s just quali right – let’s wait and see tomorrow. I know it’s going to be a tricky race but today was the perfect way to start.
“The car is extremely quick and when you put it together it is unbelievable. It is just difficult to put it together. Especially after my first lap where I went off and got track limits, then I knew the second lap... you are in a tough position. You need to take lot of risk but you also need to make sure you get the lap clean and not make any mistakes. It’s a difficult mindset to go into that final lap but managed to pull it off so I am very happy.
“I am never going to get ahead of myself, I am not that kind of guy. I am confident that the car is in a great position but we have also never run in the wet. We know how quick Max is and Red Bull is in the rain so let’s wait and see.”
06:11 AM GMT
Piastri on his front row
“Pretty happy, it’s obviously great to start the year on the front row. Probably one position further back than I’d have liked. No we reset and see what tomorrow has in store. Just not quite enough in Q3 but it’s the start of a long season. I am pretty happy with a solid start.
“I think it’s probably a little bit in a couple of places. Sector three, I lost a little bit of time compared to the lap before from Q2. I also locked up there and went off in the first run of Q3, so I didn’t want to do that twice. I am just happy to be on the front row.”
06:09 AM GMT
Verstappen reacts to third
“It was good. I mean, yesterday was quite tough so for us to be in P3 today I’d take that. The quali laps were very exciting... lots of good grip around here and some fast corners. For me it never felt like we nailed that bit [tyres at the end of the lap]. Dry or wet, in the wet there are always some crazy things that can happen but it’s the same for everyone so we will see what happens tomorrow.”
06:05 AM GMT
Is this where the Hamilton and Ferrari hype train ends?
Not yet, but that is worrying. Not that they are in seventh and eighth as such, but that they are there, a long, long way off the McLarens and even the lead Red Bull and Mercedes. And they are behind one Racing Bull and one Williams.
06:04 AM GMT
Q3 - Classification
-
NOR 1:15.096
-
PIA +0.084
-
VER +0.385
-
RUS +0.450
-
TSU +0.574
-
ALB +0.641
-
LEC +0.659
-
HAM +0.877
-
GAS +0.884
-
SAI +0.966
06:03 AM GMT
LANDO NORRIS TAKES POLE FOR THE AUSTRALIAN GP!
Both he and Piastri had to dig out laps under immense pressure there and they did it. Not much in it, though. A McLaren front row. Less than a tenth, indeed. Well done to both men. They had immense pace in the final sector. Verstappen was there or thereabouts with them after the first two sectors but the McLarens absolutely blitzed it.
06:02 AM GMT
Q3 - Tsunoda flying...
What can he do?! Fifth! Ahead of the two Ferraris as well!
Norris will not be dislodged.
06:01 AM GMT
Q3 - Norris beats Piastri by just 0.084sec!
Can Russell beat that? No. He’s third.
What can Verstappen do? Surely he cannot match the final sector time. He does not, and is third!
Hamilton only sixth, more than eight tenths down. Sainz in ninth! Albon is on a good lap... and he goes fifth! Ahead of both Ferraris!
06:00 AM GMT
Q3 - Piastri’s S1 time...
... is just off Verstappen’s. Norris is ahead of that mark by nearly a tenth...
Piastri looking steady here. Norris still up after two sectors. Verstappen slightly behind his previous best time but is still in contention here.
Piastri crosses the line with a mega final sector to go onto provisonal pole!
05:57 AM GMT
Q3 - So many mistakes today
It’s good to see really. F1 should be challenging for these drivers. Verstappen left a bit of time on the table, too, running wide at turn four. Not wide enough to have his lap deleted.
Four minutes remain. Out come the pack to start their final runs. A big job for McLaren here.
05:56 AM GMT
Q3 - Order after the first runs
-
VER 1:15.671
-
RUS +0.024
-
LEC +0.084
-
PIA +0.476
-
ALB +0.502
-
TSU +0.568
-
HAM +0.656
-
GAS +0.716
-
SAI +1.693
-
NOR (NO TIME)
A few of those times were set on used soft tyres. In fact, everyone but the top four set their times on used softs.
05:54 AM GMT
Q3 - That is poor from both McLaren drivers
The banker lap tactic backfired. Norris ran wide at turn four and had his lap deleted. He also ran wide onto the exit kerb at turn six and wants his floor inspected. Piastri’s lap fell apart at the penultimate turn, losing bags of time. Ouch. They absolutely need to get their final laps together. Under huge pressure.
05:53 AM GMT
Q3 - A mistake from Piastri
A 1:16.147 from Piastri which is not great. Norris crosses the line ahead by a couple of tenths but has his lap time deleted.
Leclerc goes fastest but is then beaten by Russell by 0.060sec!
But Verstappen beats them all! Not by a huge margin!
05:52 AM GMT
Q3 - McLaren send their drivers out early
Get a first lap on the board, sensible strategy. 1:15.4 was the mark set by Norris in Q2.
Norris marginally the quicker man in sector one but Russell and Leclerc are looking good at the moment...
05:50 AM GMT
Q3 begins!
10 drivers, 12 minutes and one pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. McLaren looking favourites at the moment. It is surely between Norris, Piastri and then Verstappen. Or will someone else string a lap together?
05:49 AM GMT
Antonelli on his Q1 elimination
“We knew medium tyre lap one maybe would have not been optimal but lap two normally the tyre improves but we decided to change plan at the very end. I think in T6 that lot of gravel that was on the kerb really broke the car because the floor [was] big damage afterwards. I could feel it hanging, the car bottoming massively on the straight. Without the damage it would have been a different story.”
05:47 AM GMT
Russell noted by the stewards for impeding Leclerc
I have only seen a brief clip of the two together on track and I am not sure it was the same incident he was noted for.
05:44 AM GMT
Q2 - Classification
-
NOR 1:15.415
-
PIA +0.053
-
VER +0.150
-
RUS +0.383
-
LEC +0.412
-
HAM +0.504
-
SAI +0.516
-
TSU +0.594
-
ALB +0.602
-
GAS +0.697
ELIMINATED: HAD, ALO, STR, DOO, BOR
05:43 AM GMT
Q2 - Norris improves his time to stay fastest
So does Verstappen, but he stays third.
What happened to Hamilton, then? Lost the rear end of the way in to turn 11. A bit of a strange moment but those tyres were old and it was at the end of the lap, so perhaps not an enormous surprise.
05:41 AM GMT
Q2 - Doohan does not improve
13th for the Aussie. Hadjar stays 11th. Sainz moves up to seventh, Albon stays ninth. A lot of drivers who would have had to back out of their laps because of Hamilton’s spin.
Hamilton will be safely through after spinning. That might not have been the case had there been no yellow flags.
05:40 AM GMT
Q2 - Enormous moment for Bortoleto
He manages a superb save, though that will likely be the end of his participation. He will be no better than 13th.
Hadjar, Stroll, Alonso and Doohan the other four drivers in the elimination zone.
We have yellow flags... Hamilton has spun!
05:38 AM GMT
Q2 - Hamilton stays out
The rest of the field are emerging from the pit lane. Hamilton just on a preparation lap. Leclerc has come into the pit lane but has just joined the end of the queue, which is a little odd.
05:37 AM GMT
Q2 - Leclerc stays fifth
Loses bags of time, three tenths, in the final sector. Hamilton does likewise and they stay fifth and sixth. That is not good news for Ferrari. Both drivers losing a consistent and similar amount of time in the final sector suggests a problem with the car’s behaviour itself. Almost certainly how it treats its tyres.
05:35 AM GMT
Q2 - Jack Doohan has a lap deleted
Hadjar, Stroll, Bortoleto, Alonso and Doohan in the drop zone.
Leclerc begins another flying lap on fresh soft tyres. Hamilton not too far behind him by distance and a smidgen ahead of him after the first sector by time.
Leclerc 0.057sec off Piastri after two sectors, Hamilton about a tenth down. It’s close between these two. How will their final sectors go?
05:34 AM GMT
Q2 - Alonso ran wide at the high-speed chicane
Ran into the gravel and heavily over the kerbs so that lost him time and necessitates an inspection, I am sure.
05:33 AM GMT
Q2 - Order as it stands
-
PIA
-
NOR +0.088
-
VER +0.220
-
RUS +0.330
-
LEC +0.370
-
ALB +0.551
-
HAM +0.605
-
GAS +0.644
-
SAI +0.650
-
HAD +0.977
05:31 AM GMT
Q2 - Russell into second, ahead of both Ferraris
Sainz into fifth, but only just behind the man who replaced him at Ferrari. Sainz’s Williams team-mate Albon though splits the Ferraris to go fifth.
Piastri, though, moves into first but Norris cannot beat that. He is within a tenth, though.
Alonso pits at the end of his first flying lap for some reason.
05:29 AM GMT
Q2 - Verstappen crosses the line...
...it’s a 1:15.688. He had a bit of a moment in the high-speed chicane but that’s a decent lap. Leclerc is slower by a tenth and a half. Red Bull in the hands of Verstappen looking in good shape.
Hamilton sets the fastest final sector time but is 0.385sec behind Verstappen. That is a fair chunk of time.
05:28 AM GMT
Bib damage for teenager Antonelli, say Mercedes
Six tenths from Lando Norris in P1 down to Nico Hulkenberg in P17. There have been times in recent years when it wasn’t such a disaster if you were half a second off your team-mate.
Kimi Antonelli has just found out in his first qualifying session that it can be the difference between getting through to Q2 or going out in Q1. Mind you, Mercedes are already claiming the teenage Italian driver was compromised. “We saw bib damage on Kimi’s car during his second run. That caused a loss of performance for his final two laps unfortunately.”
05:27 AM GMT
Q2 begins
There is danger of some big names being eliminated here.
05:27 AM GMT
Lawson speaks
“We expected the start of quali to be tough. To be honest, the first laps were expected to be off... going off on that second lap put everything out of the water a little bit. I shouldn’t be going off in quali.”
He says his last lap was good before the final sector.
05:24 AM GMT
That is a tight pack there
From Hamilton in sixth to Stroll in 14th there is just 0.156sec.
“I had no tyres in the lap,” is what Liam Lawson says after his elimination.
05:22 AM GMT
Q1 ends - Norris fastest
Here is how it finished:
-
NOR 1:15.912
-
RUS +0.059
-
VER +0.106
-
LEC +0.117
-
PIA +0.150
-
HAM +0.301
-
TSU +0.313
-
ALB +0.333
-
ALO +0.376
-
DOO +0.403
-
GAS +0.416
-
HAD +0.442
-
SAI +0.448
-
STR +0.457
-
BOR +0.604
ELIMINATED: ANT, HUL, LAW, OCO, BEA
05:20 AM GMT
Q1 - Hamilton gets a bit of opposite lock in the final sector
His lap time is good enough for sixth, which should see him through. Three tenths off Norris’s best time.
Antonelli in 16th as Bortoleto jumps into 15th! Antonelli is out! That is the end of his qualifying session.
And so is Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg... great effort from the Brazilian rookie.
05:19 AM GMT
Q1 - Antonelli improves to P10
Hadjar into ninth. The Racing Bulls car looks good. Hamilton is slipping towards the drop zone... but surely he should have enough pace. 14th now he is. No room for a mistake.
05:18 AM GMT
Q1 - Norris remains fastest
Hamilton up into eighth, splitting the Williams cars. Lawson has to wait a while to get on the power at turn 10. He should improve this lap but... no, he locks up at the penultimate turn and runs onto the grass before going straight into the pit lane.
Russell moves second, within a tenth of Norris. Fastest middle sector for the Mercedes driver. Antonelli still in 14th, though the rear of the Mercedes was unnaturally low and looked like a problem.
05:14 AM GMT
Q1 - Four minutes remain
We had a brief flutter of yellow flags. Lawson locked up and went into the gravel at turn three but keeps it out of the wall and carries on. Not sure he’s making it out of Q1 here, though I don’t think we should be too harsh on him given his lack of running.
Antonelli trying to get out of the bottom five. Does he? Yes. Just about. 14th. The problem for the rookies in the top teams and indeed all of them, is that the field is so close that you cannot rely on the car to get you up the grid.
He ran into the gravel on the exit of turn six. Martin Brundle on Sky Sports has noted how low the front of the Mercedes looks.
Doesn’t look like Bearman is getting out any time soon.
05:11 AM GMT
Q1 - Russell completes another flying lap
It’s fourth: 0.292sec off Piastri. The camera pans to Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the Mercedes garage. A well-travelled man.
Top 10 as it stands:
-
NOR
-
VER
-
LEC
-
PIA
-
ALO
-
RUS
-
SAI
-
ALB
-
HAD
-
DOO
Hamilton 11th. Hulkenberg, Lawson, Ocon, Antonelli and Bearman in the drop zone.
05:09 AM GMT
Q1 - Verstappen into second in the Red Bull
Just 0.015sec behind Norris and around 0.140sec ahead of Piastri in third. Norris went into the gravel slightly at turn six, though it would not have lost him a great deal of time. Have Red Bull fixed that instability that plagued them on Friday?
05:07 AM GMT
Q1 - Norris moves fastest
Leclerc held that position previously but Norris beats it by 0.450sec. Alonso is within a tenth of Leclerc, which is a bit of a surprise to me. It may be the same for Aston Martin.
05:05 AM GMT
Q1 - Ocon with the first lap of the session
It’s a 1:17.210. His team-mate Jack Doohan will be crossing the line shortly. A fairly steady lap from the onboard but in fact it is faster than Russell and his team-mate. That said, Hulkenberg beats them all. Russell on the medium tyres whereas everyone else on the soft tyres.
05:03 AM GMT
Q1 - More problems for Bearman
He has not had much running this weekend, entirely of his own doing. He has been sent out early on by Haas here, presumably just to get as much track time as he can. However, he complains that he cannot shift to fourth and comes straight back into the pit lane.
05:00 AM GMT
GREEN LIGHT!
Q1 begins and the real, competitive action is under way!
04:58 AM GMT
We are nearly ready to go
Mercedes could be in the battle for pole position. They were very happy with their pace on the soft tyres but were better on the others. Did they sort that in FP3? McLaren are happy with their long-run performance but not so pleased with their raw pace over one lap.
And what about Ferrari? I think they will be challenging the front row. The Red Bull looked like a handful but you would back Verstappen to get something from the RB21.
04:54 AM GMT
Drivers upset at Netflix?
Lots of paddock chatter as ever. Hearing the new Concorde Agreement could be announced imminently (although only between teams and F1, rather than the FIA). There’s also a bit of a row brewing over Netflix with various drivers upset at some of the selective cutting/narratives created.
04:50 AM GMT
Christian Horner speaks about Liam Lawson’s hopes
He had a power unit issue which meant he did not run in FP3.
“Yes, it’ll be ready. It puts him unfortunately on the back foot because he was the only driver who hadn’t driven at this circuit previously. He’s remarkably chilled, he’s got a difficult hand to deal with but I am confident he’ll find the pace. He’s just got to build up to it.”
04:48 AM GMT
‘Albert Park is buzzing’
Just been down in the paddock. Air temp 32.2C at the moment. Atmosphere hotting up as well, particularly outside the Ferrari paddock home where the Hamilton factor is very apparent.
I much prefer Australia as the first race of the season, not least because it takes two days to get here so you might as well make it really count. Just a better atmosphere. Walked in through the north entrance of Albert Park this morning, through all the fan zones, and it was buzzing.
04:45 AM GMT
Fernando not in an engaging mood
Last year was a struggle for Aston Martin but Alonso mostly got everything out of it. You do feel that he is just waiting for 2026, though. It certainly explains his sour mood.
04:43 AM GMT
F1 2025 predictions: Verstappen will lose title and Hamilton to trump Leclerc
We at Telegraph Sport had a go at predicting what promises to be (hopefully) an unpredictable season in several categories.
-
Who will win the drivers’ title?
-
Who will win the constructors’ title?
-
Will Hamilton beat Leclerc?
-
Biggest surprise of the season
-
Disappointment of the season
-
Top three in the championship
You can read thoughts from Oliver Brown, Tom Cary, Frankie Christou and myself. And, of course, chip in with your own predictions.
04:33 AM GMT
And a reminder of how the 2025 calendar looks
24 races is a lot.
04:29 AM GMT
A reminder of how the 2025 grid looks
04:24 AM GMT
Liam Lawson also failed to set a time in FP3
Again, far from ideal for a man in a new car that has never driven this track before.
04:21 AM GMT
Watch: Bearman spins into the gravel
04:17 AM GMT
Times after FP3
-
PIA 1:15.921
-
RUS +0.039
-
VER +0.081
-
LEC +0.267
-
ANT +0.285
-
SAI +0.331
-
ALB +0.337
-
HAM +0.457
-
TSU +0.534
-
NOR +0.676
-
BOR +0.786
-
GAS +0.798
-
HAD +0.811
-
STR +1.027
-
DOO +1.072
-
HUL +1.225
-
ALO +1.349
-
OCO +1.452
-
BEA (NO TIME)
-
LAW (NO TIME)
04:07 AM GMT
Good morning
Today is the day, then. For all of pre-season and even during the first three practice sessions we have had here so far, the mantra has been “we’ll see after qualifying in Melbourne”. That is that whatever teams have been holding back or not, there is no place to hide when it comes to the first session that sets the grid for 2025.
Plenty of the big questions will be answered. Though, with such a long season and such a close battle expected, they may not be answered definitively. Will Red Bull be competitive? Have Ferrari built Lewis Hamilton a car that can challenge for the championship. Are McLaren the team to beat or are their one-lap struggles over pace real?
So we have had only hints. I am not sure that final practice, which took place earlier today, tells us a great deal but here is what happened anyway. Home hero Oscar Piastri was fastest for McLaren, a smidgen ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell with Max Verstappen less than a tenth behind both of them. Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari was nearly two-tenths slower than Verstappen but that did make it four teams in the top four.
Hamilton was down in eighth, around four tenths off the pace whilst Norris – who did not get in a clean lap – was 10th. It was a strong showing for Williams, who are potential candidates to lead the midfield at the start of the season. Carlos Sainz was sixth and Alexander Albon seventh, with just 0.006sec between them. Sainz’s time was around three-tenths off Piastri’s fastest of the session.
There was trouble for two of the rookies, though. Oliver Bearman followed up his crash on Friday with another spin, ending up in the gravel at turn 11 and leaving him with just two laps to his name. He failed to run in second practice yesterday and has now wasted more than two hours of running on an unfamiliar track.
Anyway, qualifying gets under way at 5am GMT and we will be here for all of the build-up, updates and reaction from it. I cannot wait.
