Lando Norris will start the season-opening Australian Grand Prix from pole position.
The Brit beat McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.081s as the pre-season favourites send out an ominous message to rest of the field.
2024 World Champion Max Verstappen will start third on the grid ahead of Mercedes rival George Russell, while it was a disappointing session for Lewis Hamilton and his new Ferrari team.
Hamilton will start only eighth having struggled with rear instability all session, but he’s only one spot behind teammate Charles Leclerc as two midfield teams usurped the Scuderia.
Alex Albon confirmed Williams’ solid pre season form with sixth place on the grid, behind Yuki Tsunoda and his Racing Bull in fifth.
Pierre Gasly for Alpine and Carlos Sainz’s Williams round out the top 10.
Q1: Top team rookies toil
The surprises didn’t end at Row Three.
Liam Lawson was qualifying for Red Bull for the first time after an 11-race, two-spell audition with their junior team and struggled on a torrid Saturday in what’s been dubbed Formula One’s toughest seat.
After losing the entire Saturday practice to an engine issue, Lawson struggled with the balance in a bitty qualifying session for the New Zealander.
He’ll start 18th after locking up at the penultimate corner, ahead of only the two Haases of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman.
Lawson wasn’t the only well-fancied rookie to struggle, as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli could only manage 16th on Saturday.
The Italian has been all over the kerbs all weekend and after clouting them one too many times, damaged the bib on the underside of the car, which Mercedes believe cost him three tenths to teammate Russell on the straights.
Nico Hulkenberg, so often the star of qualifying last season, was the other driver out in Session One in his Sauber.
Q2: Hamilton spin effectively ends the session
The second session ended in anti-climactic fashion, as a spin from Hamilton right at the end brought out double-waved yellow flags to hamper a number of drivers.
One of those was the quietly impressive Jack Doohan, who was unlucky to line up 14th after being on track to be at least on the cusp of getting through the the final session in his Alpine.
It also ended the session of Fernando Alonso, who had fought with the leaders in session one but could only manage 12th in the Aston Martin, ahead of teammate Lance Stroll but behind Isack Hadjar, who backed up the improvement showed by Racing Bulls since testing.
Gabriel Bortoletto survived a scare to keep his Sauber out of the wall, but will start 15th after a good opening Saturday.
Q3: McLaren come good in the end
McLaren recovered from a scrappy start to the final session to snatch the front row away from the rest of the pack.
Norris had his first time deleted for track limits at Turn 6, while Piastri made a mess of the final sector to initially fall half a second behind the early pace.
Verstappen, cast in the unusual role of underdog with Red Bull far from the force they have been since 2022, had gone fastest ahead of late-2024 rival Russell.
The surprises in the final session were two-fold. Ferrari’s lack of pace was evident throughout the session as the Prancing Horse struggled with rear instability.
That manifested with Hamilton’s spin in Q2, and neither driver was anywhere near their early weekend pace as Leclerc could only manage seventh ahead of the seven-time champion.
That opened the door for two of the midfield’s strongest performers this weekend, with Albon initially deposing the Scuderia.
That before Tsunoda made his point to the Red Bull hierarchy having been passed over for the main team over the winter to nick 5th.
