McLaren lay down F1 title marker with stunning Australian GP front row lockout

Lando Norris has taken pole position for the Australian Grand Prix to get his 2025 F1 campaign off to a strong start.

The Briton narrowly edged out his team-mate Oscar Piastri with less than one-tenth of a second separating the McLaren pair.

It marks a strong start to the year for McLaren, who enter the year as the favourite following its constructors' championship triumph in 2024.

Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull - but the Dutchman's best lap time was almost four-tenths down on Norris.

Lewis Hamilton's first qualifying session for Ferrari saw him finish in eighth place, one position behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

With Mercedes' George Russell in fourth, there were surprise finishers in fifth and sixth with Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon taking the places respectively.

Pierre Gasly was ninth for Alpine, while Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 on his Williams debut.

Isack Hadjar qualified as the highest rookie in 11th place, with the Frenchman narrowly missing out on a spot in the top 10 shootout.

Both Aston Martin cars failed to reach the final segment of qualifying with Fernando Alonso heading team-mate Lance Stroll in 12th and 13th respectively.

At his home race, Alpine's Jack Doohan was 14th, leading Gabriel Bortoleto who impressively out-paced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg on his debut.

However, Bortoleto's day almost ended in disaster at Turn 4 on his final Q2 effort as a major wobble for the Stake driver threatened to pitch him into the barrier.

Bortoleto is set to start his first grand prix from 15th on the grid.

Article continues below the image.

The bottom five of the grid featured a handful of shock exits, starting with the Mercedes rookie of Kimi Antonelli. The Italian was bumped into the drop one at the very end of the session to mark a disappointing qualifying debut.

His car was seen scraping the track midway through the session, with Mercedes reporting the teenager's car had a bib issue during his second run, causing a lack of performance.

Liam Lawson was another early dropout as the New Zealander struggled behind the wheel of the Red Bull RB21 throughout the session to end up in 18th place, behind Antonelli and the second Stake of Nico Hulkenberg.

Oliver Bearman's nightmare weekend continued in qualifying following his high-speed crash in FP1 and his spin into the gravel during final practice.

The Briton reported gearbox concerns on his out lap and was forced to return to the pit lane, where successful repairs could not be carried out.

Bearman is set to line up at the rear of the grid on Sunday, where he will be joined by team-mate Esteban Ocon.

The Haas newcomer could climb no higher than 19th on his best effort, marking a disastrous start to the season for the American team.