2 hours ago
6
Australian Grand Prix
Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne Date: Sunday, 16 March Race start: 04:00 GMT
Coverage: Live commentary connected BBC Radio 5 Live from 03:30. Live substance updates connected BBC Sport website and app
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made it a McLaren one-two successful qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, portion Lewis Hamilton took eighth connected his Ferrari debut.
Norris and Piastri made beingness hard for themselves with mistakes connected their archetypal laps successful the last portion of qualifying, but some produced beardown laps connected their last runs.
Briton Norris bushed Australian Piastri by 0.084 seconds arsenic some knocked aboriginal pace-setter Max Verstappen's Red Bull down to 3rd successful Melbourne.
Verstappen improved connected his last tally contempt brushing the gravel successful the accelerated chicane astatine Turns Nine and 10 and ended up 0.385secs disconnected the pace, but managed to enactment up of Mercedes' George Russell successful fourth.
Hamilton was 0.218secs slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc arsenic the Ferraris took the 4th enactment down the awesome Racing Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Williams of Alex Albon.
Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz completed the apical 10.
The last Briton connected the grid, Haas operator Oliver Bearman, volition commencement past aft a hard weekend.
His gearbox failed connected his archetypal thigh retired of the pits successful qualifying, aft a clang successful 2nd signifier and a rotation into the gravel successful the last league outgo him way clip astatine the commencement of his archetypal afloat season.
Of the six rookies connected the grid, the astir awesome show came from Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who out-qualified his experienced Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg with 15th place, the German 2 spots further back.
Norris was pleased by his show but his main interest was the race, for which rainfall is predicted.
He said: "It's the cleanable mode to commencement the year. Everyone astatine McLaren has done an astonishing occupation to commencement with a one-two but it's conscionable qualifying, let's spot tomorrow, it's going to beryllium a tricky contention but this is simply a bully mode to start.
"The car is highly speedy and erstwhile you enactment it unneurotic it's unbelievable but it's hard to enactment together.
"Particularly aft the archetypal lap, erstwhile I went disconnected and mislaid my lap, you're successful a tricky presumption - you request to hazard it but not spell excessively acold due to the fact that you can't marque a mistake. It's a hard balance. We cognize however speedy Max and Red Bull are successful the rain."
Verstappen said helium did not judge helium could person made the quality to bushed the McLarens adjacent with a cleanable lap.
"Yesterday was rather pugnacious truthful to beryllium successful P3, I instrumentality that," helium said. "The qualifying laps were precise exciting, a batch of bully grip astir present and immoderate accelerated corners truthful that's ever precise amusive successful an F1 car.
"In the extremity the spread was rather large to them truthful it wouldn't person made a quality successful presumption of position. Wet oregon dry, I don't mind, but successful the bedewed a batch of brainsick things tin happen."
Bearman rued his errors successful signifier arsenic helium digested his play truthful far.
"I made my beingness precise hard by performing badly, not up to standard, successful the signifier sessions and the contented with the gearbox beauteous overmuch sums up the weekend," helium said.
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