Track Interviews - Conducted by Naomi Schiff

Max, congratulations, it's P3 this time around. Big turnaround. How are you feeling with that performance?
Max Verstappen: No, it was good. Yesterday was quite tough. So for us to be in P3 today, I take that. The quali laps were very exciting. A lot of good grip around here and some fast corners, so that's always fun in an F1 car.

Well, we heard you talking a little bit about tyres overheating. How much of a compromise was that for you out there today?
MV: It was quite tough in qualifying. Yeah, I don't know how the others felt, but for me, it never felt like we nailed that. But on the other hand I think the gap was quite big to them, so it wouldn't have mattered in terms of position.

OK. Well, we hear that there's going to be rain tomorrow. Will you be doing the rain dance or would you prefer it dry?
MV: No, for me I think it's fine, dry or wet. Of course in the wet there are always some crazy things can happen, and especially around here it can be quite slippery. But it's the same for everyone, right? We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Well, good luck,. enjoy it out there. Oscar, massive congratulations. It's a front-row start and an all-McLaren front. How are you feeling having done that at home for the first time?
Oscar Piastri: Yeah, pretty happy. It's obviously great to start the year on the front row - probably one position further back than I would have liked, but I think it's a great start for the year and great to have the team on the front row. So now we reset and see what tomorrow has in store. But pretty happy with how qualifying went, just not quite enough in Q3. But it's the start of a long season, so I'm happy with that, it's a solid start.

The margins out there have been so close. It was less than a tenth between you and Lando. But as far as details, what did it come down to? Where were the little seconds left?
OP: I think it's probably a little bit in a couple of places. In Sector 3, I lost a little bit of time compared to the lap before from Q2, and I also locked up there and went off in Q1 of Q3, so I didn't really want to do that twice. Maybe left it a little bit on the table, but it was pretty tricky out there. Q3 at the start looked messy, so I'm just happy to be on the front row and have a good start.

OK, congratulations. Lando, massive. You are our first pole sitter of 2025. How does that feel in this moment?
Lando Norris: Thanks. Yeah, very good. I mean, it's the perfect way to start the year, you know. First of all, a big congrats to the team, everyone at McLaren has one an amazing job to continue from where we were at the end of last season, to start with the 1-2. But it's just quali, right? Let's wait and see tomorrow. I know it's going to be a tricky race, but today was a great start.

We saw that the conditions out there were tricky, drivers going off the track, going over kerbs. How hard was it to put it all together with the margins being so fine?
LN: Very. I mean, the team have done such a good job, the car is extremely quick. And when you put it together, it's unbelievable. It's just difficult to put it together. So really it was like a little fight between me and Oscar today, and it was a tough one. Especially after my first lap, where I went off and got track limits, then I knew the second lap... You're in a tough position, you need to take a lot of risk, but you also need to make sure you get the lap clean and don't make any mistakes. It's a difficult mindset to go into the final lap, but I managed to pull it off, so I'm very happy.

Tomorrow's another day. We don't know what the weather is going to do just yet, but how confident are you that you might be standing on the top step of the podium tomorrow?
LN: I mean, I'm never going to get ahead of myself. I'm not that kind of guy. I'm confident that the car is in a great position, but we've also never run in the wet. We know how quick Max is and Red Bull is in the rain, so let's wait and see. Many opportunities for everyone, but also a lot of new things we're goiung to be learning along the way. We'll see tomorrow.

Press Conference

Congratulations, Lando. A great lap. Just how good was that final lap in Q3?
LN: Good enough, I guess. Tricky because of my first lap and going off track. And just with how tight it's been, especially with Oscar. But yeah, it's a tough one because you want to take a lot of risks, especially on this track. It's a track where you've got to commit. You know what your target is, and once you turn in you're kind of hoping for the best in a lot of cases. You want to take those risks. Obviously, I took too many on my first lap and got track limits, so I was in a difficult position knowing how much risk I wanted to take. But I put it together well, it was just a clean lap, no mistakes, and that was enough. So happy. A perfect way to start the season.

And the margins are very fine. Just how confident were you coming into the session?
LN: I mean, we've been confident just because our expectation is... As much as we want to dominate and actually have a result like we've just had, it really was not necessarily our expectation to have a bit of a gap to the rest of the cars. And when I say gap, I mean when we put the lap in, we had a bit of a gap, but it's been difficult. I think one of our struggles has been how difficult it's been in our car just to execute those qualifying laps and put things together. That's been something I've struggled with this weekend. So to have the kind of pace we had today was not unexpected, but we just weren't going in thinking, "OK, we're going to have two-tenths over everyone or one and a half-tenths." We know we have a good car, mainly because I know I have a very good team around me and everyone back at McLaren and MTC has done an incredible job to keep the car going from last season and improving.

Right, Lando, let's throw it ahead to the race. If it's dry, what's the long-run pace like?
LN: I think it's good. We were decent in Bahrain and I think we're going to expect to be pretty good here. We were pretty good here last year, and that was with a much worse car. We're going in with one target, which is to be at the top and to have two cars at the top. But conditions are going to be unexpected, so we just have to go in prepared. That's all we can really do.

If it's wet, what's the mindset?
LN: Win. The same. It doesn't change.

A more conservative approach? What is it like around Albert Park in the wet?
LN: It's very tough. I mean, it's so cool, but it's a sketchy track because you've got walls close and you can't make a lot of mistakes around here. You pay the price very quickly. It's a street circuit, and you have a lot of these painted white lines, which may be high grip, but they're still very slippery when you're going at speed. We did some wet running a couple of years ago. It tests you. So excited, yes. Nervous at the same time. But we know we have a good car, and we just have to keep our heads down.

Alright, very well done today. Thank you for that. Oscar, let's come to you now. So close to your first pole in Formula One. Just how good was the lap in Q3?
OP: It was pretty good. I was happy with it. This weekend I've been happy with the laps we've been putting in and how I have been executing them apart from the first lap of Q3. But apart from that, I've been happy with how I've driven. I think the last lap, there's nothing I'm majorly kicking myself about. The gap is very tight, obviously, and I just needed that little bit more.

Lando ran wide at Turn 4 on his first lap. Can you talk us through the issues you had on yours?
OP: Yeah, I went a bit deep into Turn 11. With these tyres, with the hot temperature, as soon as you slide them a little bit or get them dirty, they drop off a lot. I struggled a lot with the last sector and then went off at the second-last corner. That's the fine line around here. I think that's been a little bit of a struggle with our car so far - it's been quick, but it bites at times. I'm pretty happy with the job I did, and I'll go back and see where it could have been a little bit better.

You're echoing the thoughts of Lando over one lap. Can we get your thoughts on the race pace?
OP: Pretty happy. Yesterday felt quite good. If it's dry, then I think we're in a good place. If it's wet, it's very difficult to tell - pretty much what Lando described. There are a lot of places that can catch you out here. There are a few corners that in the dry are not corners, that are very much corners in the rain. It becomes a fair bit trickier. And then you've got white lines everywhere, with it obviously being a road circuit. We're pretty confident for tomorrow.

Just a quick word on the support here at Albert Park. There are a lot of OP81 T-shirts in the crowd. Are you feeding off that?
OP: Yeah, I am. I think this is the most relaxed I've been at my home race. The first two years, especially the first year I came here, it was an overwhelming experience. Even last year, it was still a pretty big experience. This year, I've been able to enjoy it more. Maybe because I'm more confident in the car under me, but I've really been enjoying it and enjoying the support. I feel like it's gone up a little since last year as well. It's amazing what happens when you start winning stuff. No, it's great to have all the home support, and I really appreciate it.

Alright, very well done. Thank you, Max. If I could come to you quickly - great job. It seems that you've managed to improve the car progressively over the weekend. Is that the reality?
MV: Yeah, I think so. We had a bit of a tough start. This has never really been a good track for us. So it took a bit of time to understand how we could improve the situation. We did that today. Honestly, I'm quite surprised to be sitting here after yesterday. I felt confident, I felt one with the car, but clearly, we were lacking a bit of pace. Overall, I'm happy with the laps in qualifying. I tried to really extract everything. The tyres are quite sensitive around here, with all these high-speed corners, but I'm happy to be here.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the improvements? Where have you made the most difference overnight?
MV: Yeah, just trying to fine-tune the balance. The car came alive a little more. Yesterday it was, in general, quite OK to drive, just too slow. Today it was a little faster. But clearly still not fast enough. Still, to be ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes here is good for us.

Can we throw it forward to the race now? What's the long-run pace of the car like?
MV: I don't expect miracles, but I think it's OK. Not on the same level, but I'll just do my best and see what happens tomorrow.

Not on the same level as the guys next to you?
MV: Yeah, exactly.

Check out our Saturday gallery from Albert Park here.