F1 Qualifying Results: Max Verstappen beaten as Red Bull star suffers shock early exit

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix Qualifying

F1 Qualifying Results: Verstappen beaten as Red Bull star suffers shock early exit

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Chris Deeley

Saturday 15 March 2025 07:06 Updated: 16:15

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McLaren laid down a huge marker to the rest of the field in Australian Grand Prix qualifying, with Lando Norris taking pole and Oscar Piastri alongside him on the front row.

Verstappen and his Red Bull crew managed to turn their weekend around with some hard work overnight, finding pace out of nowhere to put himself right up toward the head of the field and ready to punish any mistakes from his rivals.

F1 HEADLINES: Lewis Hamilton summoned by FIA as star receives Australian GP demotion

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Liam Lawson was knocked out of qualifying in his first session as a senior Red Bull driver, having been off the pace all weekend.

The Kiwi driver only set the 16th and 17th fastest times in FP1 and FP2 before being kept off the track for most of FP3 with a power unit issue, and was driving scruffily with his twitchy Red Bull, which he could only put 18th on the grid.

After being overlooked for promotion to the Red Bull senior team over the winter, Yuki Tsunoda made a real statement by putting his Racing Bulls car fifth on the grid – alongside Alex Albon, and ahead of both Ferraris.

Ollie Bearman's nightmare weekend continued, radioing in to his team about a gearbox issue and being forced to pit before completing his outlap.

Having crashed in FP1 and been forced out of running in FP2 due to the damage, Bearman spun on his first flying lap in FP3 and spent the rest of the session in the garage.

F1 Qualifying Results: Australian Grand Prix 2025

1. Lando Norris [McLaren] - 1:15.096sec
2. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.084sec
3. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.385sec
4. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.450sec
5. Yuki Tsunoda [Racing Bulls] - +0.574sec
6. Alex Albon [Williams] - +0.641sec
7. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.659sec
8. Lewis Hamilton [Ferrari] - +0.877sec
9. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +0.884sec
10. Carlos Sainz [Williams] - 0.966sec

ELIMINATED IN Q2

11. Isack Hadjar [Racing Bulls]
12. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
13. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
14. Jack Doohan [Alpine]
15. Gabriel Bortoleto [Sauber]