15/03/2025
NEWS STORY
Ahead of Q1, the air temperature is 33 degrees C, while the track temperature is 41 degrees. It remains bright and hot.
This morning's session saw Oscar Piastri edge out George Russell and Max Verstappen, the Ferraris not showing the pace we witnessed on Friday. Indeed, Mercedes and Red Bull both showed a marked improvement, certainly in Verstappen's case.
Liam Lawson missed much of the running due to a power unit issue while Oliver Bearman also failed to post a time after spinning off into the gravel.
It's been extremely tight in all three sessions, and there is still no definitive pecking order, however further complicating things is the fact that we are expecting tomorrow to be very wet.
Consequently, while we can expect a clearer picture to emerge over the next hour, there is also the question of whether some teams will compromise today's set-up in anticipation of tomorrow.
Ahead of the green light there is a long, long queue in the pitlane, headed by the Haas pair.
As the drivers head out, softs are the order of the day, however Russell has opted for mediums.
"I have a problem with the gearbox, I can't shift at all," reports Bearman.
Ocon posts a benchmark 17.517 as Bearman reports: "It's broken".
On his mediums, Russell posts a 17.210, however Doohan responds with a 16.999 and Hulkenberg a 16.925.
A 16.546 sees Alonso go top, as Lawson goes fifth.
Gasly goes second with a 16.839 while Antonelli (mediums) posts a 17.449 to go tenth.
Leclerc goes top with a 16.453.
As Norris posts a 16.003, dark clouds suddenly appear overhead. Hamilton goes fourth.
Piastri (16.157) makes it a McLaren 1-2 as Verstappen goes quickest in the opening two sectors.
As Norris reports gravel at Turn 6, Verstappen splits the McLarens with a 16.018.
Bortoleto goes seventh and his Stake teammate ninth.
Quickest in S2, Doohan crosses the line at 16.729 to go sixth, ahead of Hamilton.
Albon goes quickest in S2, subsequently crossing the line at 16.563 to go eighth.
Russell goes fourth with a 16.295, the Mercedes driver still on his mediums.
Verstappen complains that his drink connector is too high up.
Alonso goes quickest in the first two sectors, however a poor final sector means he can only manage fifth (16.288).
Leclerc goes third, 0.117s down on Norris, as Hamilton improves to seventh.
Alonso says his poor final sector was down to gravel on the track at Turn 12.
Lawson runs wide at Turn 3 and has his time deleted, dropping him to 18th. Antonelli can only manage 14th. Replay shows the youngster running wide over the gravel.
With 4 minutes remaining, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Ocon and Bearman comprise the drop zone, with Bortoleto, Antonelli and Tsunoda hovering.
Antonelli's car appears to be too close to the ground, suggesting a ride height issue.
Bearman is back on track, while Leclerc and Piastri appear to have settled, feeling they've done enough.
Lawson posts PBs in the first two sectors only to run wide in Turn 10 and again in Turn 13. Russell improves to second with a 15.971.
Tsunoda improves to sixth, as Antonelli goes tenth.
Gasly goes eighth, while Hulkenberg fails to improve on 17th.
Hadjar goes ninth but is demoted when Doohan goes eighth.
Albon goes seventh, Stroll thirteenth and Hamilton sixth.
At the death Bortoleto goes 15th, thereby demoting Antonelli to the drop zone.
Norris is quickest, ahead of Russell, Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Albon, Alonso and Doohan.
We lose Antonelli, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Ocon and Bearman.
"I haven't done much high fuel running," explains Lawson. "We feel we made a step with the car today regardless of this. The weather is variable tomorrow so let's see."
Verstappen is first out for Q2, followed by Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell and Sainz.
Verstappen posts a benchmark 15.688. Leclerc responds with a 15.838, 0.150s down on the world champion, who could actually have gone quicker.
Hamilton goes third but is 0.385s off the pace.
Russell goes second (15.798), Albon fourth, Sainz sixth and Norris seventh.
Quickest in the final sector, Piastri crosses the line at 15.468 to go top. Norris subsequently improves with a 15.556 to make it a McLaren 1-2.
Alonso pits without posting a time, the Spaniard having run wide at Turn 10.
Hadjar goes ninth but is demoted when Gasly goes eighth with a 16.112.
Doohan can only manage eleventh, and Bortoleto 13th.
Tsunoda goes sixth with a 16.009, as Doohan has his time deleted, as does Alonso.
The Ferrari pair have the track to themselves, as Leclerc remains fifth while his teammate goes sixth, both over 0.35s off the pace. Both are losing out in the final sector.
The final assault gets underway, with Bortoleto leading the pack.
"They are happy," says Zak Brown, "they are just refining their laps.
"Everything is under control so far. I have a sneaky suspicion that when they look at the timing screens, they look at where their team mate is."
With 2 minutes remaining, Hadjar, Stroll, Bortoleto, Alonso and Doohan comprise the drop zone.
Bortoleto does brilliantly to stay out of the wall following a major snap.
Hamilton spins at Turn 11 bringing out the yellows.
Russell improves to fourth, while Doohan fails to improve, one of several drivers to lose out due to that yellow.
Hadjar goes eleventh, while Verstappen aborts after two fastest sectors.
Norris goes quickest with a 15.415 and Gasly tenth, while Alonso can only manage 12th (16.453).
"Sorry about that guys," says Bortoleto.
Norris is quickest, ahead of Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Sainz, Tsunoda, Albon and Gasly.
We lose Hadjar, Alonso, Stroll, Doohan and Bortoleto.
"We knew the medium tyre would not be optimal," says Antonelli, "but normally the tyre improves. But we decided to change the plan and go onto the softs.
"The gravel on the kerb broke my car, the floor had big damage and it was kind of hanging, the car was bottoming on the straight and without the damage, it would have been a different qualifying."
Russell has been noted for impeding Leclerc at Turn 4.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Albert Park here.
Piastri is first out for Q3, the McLaren driver followed by Norris, Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton.
Piastri posts a 16.147, despite a wobble in the final couple of corners. Moments later Leclerc posts a 15.755 and Russell a 15.695.
Norris posts a 15.921 but has his time deleted for running wide in Turn 4.
Quickest in the opening two sectors, Verstappen goes top with a 15.671, while a 16.327 sees Hamilton go seventh, behind Albon and Tsunoda. Gasly is eighth and Sainz ninth.
Replay shows Verstappen going wide in Turn 4, indicating that he could have gone even quicker.
Piastri leads the way as the final assault gets underway. He is followed by Norris, Russell, Verstappen and Gasly.
As he makes his way around the track on his out lap, Piastri is cheered on by the crowd.
The Australian goes quickest with a 15.180, the crowd roars. However, Norris responds with a 15.096. The crowd sighs.
Russell goes fourth while Verstappen can only mange third, 0.385s off the pace.
Hamilton goes sixth, while his teammate has settled for fifth.
Make that seventh... for Tsunoda goes fifth and Albon sixth, thereby demoting both Ferraris.
Norris will start from pole, ahead of Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Tsunoda, Albon, Leclerc, Hamilton, Gasly and Sainz.
Hadjar will start eleventh, Alonso, Stroll, Doohan, Bortoleto, Antonelli, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Ocon and Bearman.
"It was good," insists Verstappen, "yesterday was quite tough so for us to be P3 today, I'd take that.
"Qualifying laps are exciting," he adds, "good grip around here and some fast corners.
"Dry or wet, in the wet crazy things can happen," he says, when asked about tomorrow's weather prospects, "and around here it could be quite slippery but it is the same for everyone so we'll see what happens tomorrow."
"Pretty happy, a great to start the year on the front row," adds Piastri. "Pretty happy with how qualifying went but just not quite enough in Q3, but it is a long season so a good start.
"Maybe left a little bit on the table," he smiiles, "but I'm just happy to be on the front row and have a good start."
"It is the perfect way to start the year," says Norris. "A big congrats to the team, everyone has done an amazing job to start with a 1-2. But it is just qualifying right, let's see tomorrow.
"The car is extremely quick and when you put it together it is unbelievable, but it is hard to put it together.
"I'm never going to get ahead of myself, I'm confident the car is in a good place but we have never run it in the wet."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Albert Park here.