Zürcher Nachrichten - Norris edges Piastri for pole as McLaren lock out Melbourne front row

EUR -
AED 4.106389
AFN 78.818229
ALL 98.550917
AMD 433.76762
ANG 2.000837
AOA 1025.193701
ARS 1264.990691
AUD 1.739051
AWG 2.012376
AZN 1.902847
BAM 1.949299
BBD 2.260203
BDT 136.007051
BGN 1.953741
BHD 0.421433
BIF 3281.291051
BMD 1.117987
BND 1.451984
BOB 7.735411
BRL 6.304217
BSD 1.119387
BTN 95.396458
BWP 15.198588
BYN 3.663349
BYR 21912.539898
BZD 2.248542
CAD 1.56256
CDF 3208.622173
CHF 0.940914
CLF 0.027421
CLP 1052.283208
CNY 8.056604
CNH 8.0615
COP 4703.090674
CRC 568.514285
CUC 1.117987
CUP 29.626648
CVE 109.89753
CZK 24.929962
DJF 198.68854
DKK 7.461287
DOP 65.793587
DZD 149.010876
EGP 56.334907
ERN 16.769801
ETB 148.624943
FJD 2.538048
FKP 0.842009
GBP 0.842973
GEL 3.063551
GGP 0.842009
GHS 13.919172
GIP 0.842009
GMD 81.051047
GNF 9677.293385
GTQ 8.600013
GYD 234.1932
HKD 8.724383
HNL 28.787736
HRK 7.532325
HTG 146.472851
HUF 403.246684
IDR 18524.425215
ILS 3.973923
IMP 0.842009
INR 95.574505
IQD 1464.562616
IRR 47081.221819
ISK 145.137269
JEP 0.842009
JMD 178.664189
JOD 0.792991
JPY 163.96837
KES 144.782901
KGS 97.768141
KHR 4494.306495
KMF 492.333415
KPW 1006.216549
KRW 1577.423135
KWD 0.343915
KYD 0.932806
KZT 568.693171
LAK 24162.516557
LBP 100171.610611
LKR 334.187045
LRD 223.152685
LSL 20.426169
LTL 3.301124
LVL 0.676259
LYD 6.159823
MAD 10.398955
MDL 19.522246
MGA 5064.480324
MKD 61.487521
MMK 2347.082197
MNT 3999.761415
MOP 8.998553
MRU 44.327796
MUR 51.317926
MVR 17.272916
MWK 1940.825081
MXN 21.672597
MYR 4.805076
MZN 71.444311
NAD 20.425656
NGN 1789.404469
NIO 41.085954
NOK 11.618621
NPR 152.642697
NZD 1.896661
OMR 0.430411
PAB 1.119337
PEN 4.103036
PGK 4.546013
PHP 62.456344
PKR 315.243135
PLN 4.23309
PYG 8937.196171
QAR 4.070147
RON 5.104055
RSD 116.822509
RUB 89.849789
RWF 1603.481383
SAR 4.193169
SBD 9.340069
SCR 15.892258
SDG 671.347602
SEK 10.91131
SGD 1.455255
SHP 0.878562
SLE 25.376455
SLL 23443.622963
SOS 638.930361
SRD 40.695273
STD 23140.068094
SVC 9.794512
SYP 14535.732744
SZL 20.425489
THB 37.363512
TJS 11.602416
TMT 3.918543
TND 3.380239
TOP 2.618436
TRY 43.356081
TTD 7.576868
TWD 33.936376
TZS 3017.928064
UAH 46.472623
UGX 4089.362762
USD 1.117987
UYU 46.764051
UZS 14522.647288
VES 104.378209
VND 28989.395896
VUV 134.301269
WST 3.117582
XAF 653.788437
XAG 0.034758
XAU 0.000351
XCD 3.021415
XDR 0.821315
XOF 643.96075
XPF 119.331742
YER 272.956853
ZAR 20.388668
ZMK 10063.249381
ZMW 29.804408
ZWL 359.991271
  • RBGPF

    0.8100

    63.81

    +1.27%

  • JRI

    -0.1100

    12.77

    -0.86%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1700

    10.53

    -1.61%

  • CMSC

    -0.0950

    21.965

    -0.43%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    9.04

    -0.22%

  • RELX

    0.6600

    53.06

    +1.24%

  • BCC

    -2.9700

    90.74

    -3.27%

  • NGG

    -0.1000

    67.43

    -0.15%

  • SCS

    -0.1700

    10.54

    -1.61%

  • RIO

    -0.2400

    62.03

    -0.39%

  • BCE

    -0.7200

    21.26

    -3.39%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    22.26

    -0.58%

  • GSK

    -0.1300

    36.22

    -0.36%

  • BTI

    -0.1400

    40.55

    -0.35%

  • AZN

    -1.4900

    66.23

    -2.25%

  • BP

    -0.2000

    30.36

    -0.66%

Norris edges Piastri for pole as McLaren lock out Melbourne front row
Norris edges Piastri for pole as McLaren lock out Melbourne front row / Photo: Saeed KHAN - AFP

Norris edges Piastri for pole as McLaren lock out Melbourne front row

Lando Norris clinched pole position on Saturday for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri as McLaren fired a warning shot to their rivals.

Text size:

In scorching hot conditions at Melbourne's Albert Park, world champion Max Verstappen came third in tense qualifying.

Mercedes' George Russell will keep Red Bull's four-time world champion company on the second row. Lewis Hamilton will start in eighth on his Ferrari debut.

"It's the perfect way to start the year. A big congrats to the team, everyone has done an amazing job to start with a one-two," said Norris.

"But it is just quali, right? Let's see tomorrow," he added.

"The car is extremely quick. When you put it together it is unbelievable, but it is hard to put it together.

"I'm never going to get ahead of myself, I'm confident the car is in a good place but we have never run it in the wet."

The forecast for Sunday's race is for cooler temperatures and rain.

Norris eclipsed his rivals with a flying lap of one minute 15.096 seconds on soft tyres, 0.084sec ahead of Piastri.

"Pretty happy, great to start the year on the front row," said Piastri.

"Pretty happy with how qualifying went but just not quite enough in Q3, but it is a long season so a good start," added the Australian.

"Maybe left a little bit on the table."

No Australian driver has won their home race since Alan Jones in 1980, but that was a non-championship race before Australia was added to the F1 calendar in 1985.

Verstappen, who was the pole-sitter in 2023 and 2024, was three-tenths behind Norris.

But his rookie teammate Liam Lawson, who replaced the underperforming Sergio Perez, failed to get out of Q1.

- 'Quali laps are exciting' -

Mercedes' teenager Kimi Antonelli was another big Q1 casualty after gravel damaged the floor of his car.

"It was good, yesterday was quite tough so for us to be P3 today, I'd take that," said Verstappen.

"Quali laps are exciting, good grip around here and some fast corners."

Verstappen is chasing a second win in Australia after his 2023 victory to kickstart his bid for a fifth consecutive world title, a feat only Michael Schumacher has achieved.

RB's Yuki Tsunoda will start a surprise fifth alongside the Williams of Alex Albon.

Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Hamilton were a disappointing seventh and eighth with Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz in the other Williams filling out the top 10.

Last year in Melbourne it was a Ferrari one-two with Sainz holding off teammate Leclerc for the win, ahead of Norris.

Verstappen and Hamilton both failed to finish.

Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll have struggled for pace all weekend and failed to get through Q2 alongside Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, RB's Isack Hadjar and Alpine's Jack Doohan.

Haas's Ollie Bearman failed to set a time in Q1 and was eliminated with teammate Esteban Ocon, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, Lawson and Antonelli.

Briton's Bearman has endured a horror weekend, smashing into the barriers in first practice on Friday and unable to take part in the second session.

He skidded into the gravel Saturday on his first lap in third practice, before reporting his gearbox was "broken" without completing a lap in qualifying.

I.Widmer--NZN