Melbourne, March 15 (IANS) Lando Norris was beaming with joy after securing pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, outpacing teammate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in a dramatic qualifying session at Albert Park.
Reflecting on the session, Norris hailed McLaren’s progress and their perfect start to the 2025 season. “Very good! It’s the perfect way to start the year,” he said. “First of all, a big congrats to the team – everyone at McLaren has done an amazing job to continue from where we were at the end of last season, to start with a 1-2.”
In a thrilling Q3 showdown, Norris put in a sensational lap of 1m 15.096s, bouncing back after his initial effort was deleted due to track limits violation. The McLaren driver edged out Piastri by just 0.084s, ensuring a dream front-row lockout for the team.
While delighted with his pole, Norris remained cautious about the race, especially with rain expected on Sunday. “It’s just quali, right? Let’s wait and see tomorrow. I know it’s going to be a tricky race, but today was the perfect way to start,” he added.
The looming threat of wet weather could shake up the grid and introduce fresh challenges, with Norris acknowledging the unpredictability of a rain-affected race. “I’m confident that the car’s in a good position, but we’ve also never run in the wet. We know how quick Max and Red Bull are in the rain, so let’s wait and see. There will be many opportunities for everyone, but also a lot of new things that we’re going to be learning along the way.”
For local hero Piastri, the session brought mixed emotions. The young Australian narrowly missed out on a maiden pole position in front of his home crowd but still secured a front-row start. “I’m pretty happy,” he admitted. “It’s probably one position further back than I would’ve liked, but it’s a great start to the year and great to have the team on the front row.”
Piastri acknowledged that he had room for improvement, particularly in the final sector of his lap. “I think Sector 3 I lost a little bit of time compared to the lap before from Q2. I also locked up there and went off in the first run of Q3, so I didn’t really want to do that twice,” he explained.
“Maybe I left a little bit on the table, but I think it was pretty tricky out there for everybody. Q3 at the start looked pretty messy, so I’m just happy to be on the front row and have a good start.”
–IANS
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