Oscar Piastri and McLaren teammate lived up to expectations finishing qualifying on one and two in Melbourne. | EPA
Image: EPA
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri put up stellar drives in the first qualifying round of the season, taking pole and 2nd place for the Australian Grand Prix.
Norris edges his Australian team mate by 0.084s to take pole position as he fights for his first world title. Red Bull's Max Verstappen initially took pole but was beaten by the hometown hero Piastri by four tenths.
Norris put a damper in the Australian crowd spirits shortly after with a blistering 1m 15.096s lap to trump Piastri.
Verstappen had to settle for third, with George Russel in the Mercedes behind in fourth. Arguably the most impressive lap of qualifying belonged to Yuki Tsunoda in the Racing Bulls' car to finish the top five.
Alex Albon broke Ferrari fans hearts around the world, qualifying ahead of both Charles Le Clerc and Lewis Hamilton.
This was Hamilton's first official race outing in the red of Ferrari after he switched from Mercedes.
Ferrari and Hamilton himself have insisted that there is no pressure on the seven-time world champion to hit the ground running but he is still learning the Ferrari ways before he advances a challenge.
Ferrari had to take P7 and P8, with Pierre Gasly in P9 in the Alpine while Carlos Sainz finished the top 10 in the Williams Racing machine.
Norris and McLaren seemed to picking up where they left off last season, after winning their first Constructors Title in decades.
Aston Martin experienced a double elimination in Q2 after Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll exited in P12 and P13 respectively.Jack Doohan put his Alpine in 14th, with 2024 F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto was 15th.