McLaren dominates first F1 qualifying of the season at Australian GP as Lewis Hamilton finishes eighth in Ferrari debut

McLaren finished with an impressive one-two in the first Formula 1 qualifying event of the 2025 season at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Lando Norris will start Sunday’s opening race of the new season on pole with teammate Oscar Piastri finishing in second after qualifying.

The McLaren pair dominated the latter stages of qualifying to outdo the early pacesetter, Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver ended up finishing the closest to the front-row but still 0.301 seconds behind Piastri.

Mercedes’ George Russell finished fourth and rounds off the second row on the grid.

“It’s the perfect way to start the year,” Norris told the broadcast after qualifying, before praising the efforts of the entire McLaren team.

“The car is extremely quick and when you put it together it’s unbelievable, it’s just difficult to put it together.”

Norris remained coy about his chances of topping the podium in Sunday’s race and noted Red Bull and Verstappen’s speed in what could be a rain-impacted affair.

McLaren teammates Norris (left) and Piastri (right) finished with a one-two ahead of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton – racing for the first time since joining Ferrari – finished eighth.

Hamilton finished 0.877 seconds behind Norris but said he had felt good following Saturday’s qualifying.

“I had a really good time out there,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “It’s been a lot of work to really adapt to this car, it’s so much different here to what I’ve experienced in the past.”

The 40-year-old driver also added that there is “a lot to dissect” following qualifying.

Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc finished one place ahead of Hamilton and will start Sunday’s race in seventh.

Hamilton finished eighth in his first qualifying with Ferrari.

The 2025 F1 season begins in Australia for the first time since 2019 and will conclude in Abu Dhabi in December.

The schedule remains at 24 races – the most ever in a single F1 season – with the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix pushed back in the calendar during Ramadan.

With changes aplenty on the grid ahead of the season, drivers will be looking to supplant Verstappen as he aims for a fifth successive title.

CNN’s Ben Morse contributed to reporting.