Norris confirms his new status with pole in Melbourne: "The perfect way to start the year"

The favorites responded this Saturday at Albert Park. McLaren scored a double in qualifying for the Australian GP, ​​with pole position Lando Norris before Oscar piastri, and well ahead of the rest of the field. The Briton took the first pole of the season – the tenth of his career in Formula 1 – mentally: after having easily passed Q1 and then Q2, the vice-world champion had a big scare on his first flying lap in Q3, going wide at turn 4.

With a cancelled time trial, Lando Norris had to bet everything on his second and final attempt… and managed to produce a blistering time of 1:15, less than a tenth ahead of his teammate. Above all, the Briton was almost four tenths behind Max Verstappen, third in this qualifying session. A clear lead which confirms the status of favorites of McLaren and Lando Norris, who will have to confirm this this Sunday in an Australian GP which promises to be rainy.

LANDO NORRIS, FIRST POLEMAN OF 2025 ⭐️

McLaren doubles ahead of Max Verstappen 👀

Yuki tsunoda et Alexander albon are in front of the two pilots Classic Ferrari for sale 🤯#AustralianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/3UKF5mWuwu

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) March 15, 2025

Lando Norris (McLaren), Australian GP pole sitter : “It’s the perfect way to start the year. First of all, a big congratulations to the whole team, McLaren did an incredible job to continue the momentum from last year by starting with a one-two. But it’s only qualifying, so let’s wait and see what happens tomorrow. It’s going to be a tough race, but today is the best way to start.”

“The car is extremely fast and when you put everything together it’s incredible… but it’s difficult to put everything together. There was a bit of a battle between me and Oscar today, it wasn’t easy, especially after my first attempt where I went over the limits. I knew I was in a tricky position: you had to take a lot of risks, but you also had to make sure the lap was clean and not make any mistakes. It’s a difficult mindset to have on the last lap, but I managed to pull out all the stops so I’m happy.”

“I would never put the cart before the horse: I am confident because the car is in a good position, but we don’t know how it is in the rain. We know that Max [Verstappen] is very quick in the rain, so we will see. There will be a lot of opportunities for everyone, but also new things that we will learn during the race. We will see tomorrow.”

ALSO READ > Australia – Qualifying: Lando Norris takes first pole, Ferrari disappointment