Norris takes Melbourne pole with Hamilton eighth

Grand Prix of Australia

Melbourne’s Albert Park Date: Sunday, March 16th Race start time: 04:00 GMT

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made it a McLaren one-two in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Australia, while Lewis Hamilton took eighth on his Ferrari debut.

In the final stage of qualifying, Norris and Piastri made mistakes, but both put together strong laps on their final runs.

Australian Piastri and Briton Norris defeated each other by 0.084 seconds in Melbourne to take third place behind pace-setter Max Verstappen.

Verstappen improved on his final run despite brushing the gravel at Turns Nine and 10 and finishing 0.3885secs off the pace, but he managed to stay in front of George Russell of Mercedes in fourth.

As the Ferraris occupied the fourth row, Hamilton was 0. 218 seconds slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had previously driven behind Alex Albon’s impressive Racing Bull and Yuki Tsunoda.

Norris’ performance was well received, but his main concern was the race, which is expected to rain.

It’s the ideal way to begin the year, he said. It’s just qualifying, let’s see tomorrow, but everyone at McLaren did a fantastic job starting with a one-two. This is a good way to get started.

The car is “extremely quick,” and it’s unbelievable when it’s put together, but it’s challenging to put together.

You’re in a tricky position; you need to risk it but not go too far because you can’t make a mistake, specifically after the first lap when I went off and lost my lap. It’s challenging to strike a balance. Max and Red Bull are quick in the rain, we all know.

Before Sunday’s race, which starts at 04:00 GMT, Hamilton claimed there was “a lot to dissect.”

He told Sky Sports, “We will just get our heads down and start discovering why we aren’t on pace with the front runners.”

After a challenging weekend, Haas driver Oliver Bearman will start last.

His first practice crash and a spin into the gravel in the final session cost him track time at the start of his first full season after his gearbox failed on his first lap of qualifying.

The Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who finished 15th overall and the German two spots further back, out-qualified his Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg for the spot.

In the first round of qualifying, Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, 18, and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 18, both, were eliminated. Antonelli, who will start in 16th grade, claimed Lawson went off track and is two places further back while Lawson claimed gravel on a kerb harmed his car.

Verstappen, the current world champion, expressed doubts about his ability to defeat the McLarens on a perfect lap.

He said, “I take that being in P3 yesterday was quite difficult. In an F1 car, the qualifying laps were very exciting, with some very tight corners and good grip around here.

They ultimately felt that the positional gap wouldn’t have changed because it was so large to them. I don’t care whether it’s dry or wet, but many crazy things can happen in the wet.

As Bearman digested his so far this weekend, he regretted his errors in practice.