With the first qualifying session of the season complete, who were the winners and losers on Saturday at the Australian GP?
Winners
Lando Norris
A fairly obvious winner, but nonetheless impressive. Lando Norris is walking around the Melbourne paddock with real swagger, confidence, and justifiably so.
The MCL39 looked imperious during qualifying, eventually finishing three-tenths clear from the nearest non McLaren. Offering grip and poised in the corners, the car flew in the hands of Norris who always had an answer to team-mate Oscar Piastri and 2024 rival Max Verstappen.
Norris has already alluded to rules of engagement between him Piastri in effect from tomorrow to secure the best possible result for the team. He will want to assert his authority quickly, while Piastri will want to make a statement of his own. Fireworks into turn one are a real possibiliy.
Snatching pole position from Piastri in the dying seconds was akin to taking candy from a baby in terms of home crowd expectations. Getting one-over on Piastri at his home event is vital ahead of tomorrow’s grand prix. It may just be a grid position, but first blood of the intra-team battle goes to Norris.
Max Verstappen
After a shocking start to his title defence on Friday, Verstappen and Red Bull looked like an entirely different team on Saturday.
The car had transformed for Verstappen, no longer uncontrollable and eating its tyres. Instead, the reigning world champion could push hard and responded to his very specific input of an unstable rear.
Qualifying vindicated the overnight work done on the RB21. The Dutchman jumped to the top of the timesheets in Q1 and Q2 at points, taking McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes by suprise.
Verstappen does not expect miracles to happen in the race, but to go from nearly a second off the pace to just three tenths away from pole overnight is an achievement.
If the rain comes tomorrow as predicted, Verstappen can open his 2025 account with a victory. The new Red Bull has pace, if it can be unlocked.
Williams
A quiet confidence surrounded Williams ahead of the Australian GP, as the team from Grove expected a good result fron the FW49.
New signing Carlos Sainz is pushing team veteran Alex Albon forward with both cars progressing to Q3 since Zandvoort 2023. However, unlike then, this was based on merit and speed alone.
Albon has spoken of the momentum building at the team over the winter, and the impact Sainz is having on him personally as well as the engineers.
Albon’s fifth place grid spot for tomorrow is further proof (if any were needed) that the once legendary team is niw firmly on its path back to glory.
Sainz, although starting 10th tomorrow, has seen his decision to join Williams vindicated. The true test will come tomorrow. Both cars in Q3 whilst Alpine had just one is an indication of the importance of consistent results in F1’s tightly packed midfield.
Yuki Tsunoda
After sacking his management team during the off-season, Tsunonda has entered 2025 with a point to prove. Having lost out on Red Bull promotion to Liam Lawson, the Japanese driver started qualifying with red mist descending.
Sixth place was a statement to Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. Comfortably faster than Lawson all weekend, the Japanese driver’s stunning one lap speed will not have gone unnoticed.
If he scores points in the race, Tsunonda will no doubt leave Melbourne with a wry grin on his face. At least for today, paddock insiders are questioning why once again a fast, capable, and reliable driver has been ignored.
Losers
Liam Lawson
Lawson’s Red Bull qualifying debut resembled a barber’s shop on the steps of the guillotine. While not entirely as pointless, his lack of speed was entirely perplexing.
He consistently ran wide during the practice sessions and complained of extreme tyre performance drop off. These issues continued unabated in qualifying.
Never at one with his RB21, he called his performance “stupid”, after a disastrous final lap of Q1 ended with the Red Bull taking to the grass just before the pit lane.
Complaining again of tyre drop off at the end of the lap, a Q1 elimination was an indignant end to his debut. Rain may act as his a saviour, but one could not help but hear the cheers of Sergio Perez fans in Mexico at Albert Park.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
For all the hype surrounding Andrea Kimi Antonelli, he failed to live up to his reputation. Like Liam Lawson, he suffered the indignity of a Q1 exit. Caused by floor damage, he missed out on Q2 by just 0.001s.
With team-mate George Russell lining up fourth tomorrow, qualifying in Albert Park acted as a massive reality check for the youngster.
He will need to keep his nose clean during the race and hope the predicted changeable conditions can act as a springboard to help him move up the order.
F1 rookies need to perform the second they sit in the car, Antonelli has failed this first test. He must redeem himself tomorrow.
Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari
Hamilton’s unfortunate spin in Q2 threatened to derail his Ferrari debut, and demonstrated the journey the seven-time world champion has ahead to master his new machinery.
Ferrari’s pace in Australia evaporated during the final seconds of qualifying. The highs of topping the initial runs of Q3 soon came crashing down once others completed their final laps.
The bizarre scenes of Leclerc pitting after his first lap only to join the queue forming at the end of the pit-lane showed the Ferrari strategy wheel of fortune has not been thrown out just yet.
Add to the equation that Hamilton has not driven the SF-25 in any wet weather scenario, and tomorrow looks precarious for the Scuderia in more ways than one.
Oliver Bearman and Haas
In terms of how to not make your full-time debut in F1, Bearman absolutely nailed it. A series of self-induced faux pas have left the Briton more than slightly red-faced.
Multiple crashes during practice compromised his preparation, and with the pace of Haas, a back row start seemed inevitable.
Any input he could have on his own grid-spot was taken away by a gearbox failure on his first lap out of the pits. The only way from this nadir is up. A clean race tomorrow is a must.
Team-mate Esteban Ocon had no pace, and joins Bearman on the final row of the grid. He and the team face an uphill battle to salvage anything from this weekend.
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool/ Getty Images
