MELBOURNE, Australia — Lando Norris stormed to the pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix during Saturday’s qualifying session at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.
Norris, who led teammate Oscar Piastri, in a McLaren sweep of the front row, turned a best lap of one minute and 15.096 seconds, edging Piastri by .084 seconds.
“First of all, a big congrats to the team – 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,” Norris said. “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.”
Four-time and reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen will start third for Red Bull.
“I think today’s performance was the best we could have hoped for,” Verstappen explained. “Yesterday’s practice sessions were quite tough, but we made quite a few improvements to the car and it felt a lot better to drive. The gap is still big to McLaren and we don’t have the same pace as them at the moment, so there are still improvements to be made.”
George Russell took fourth spot for Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda was fifth for Racing Red Bulls.
Alexander Albon grabbed sixth in a Williams Mercedes, while Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were seventh and eighth, respectively.
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