Wild cheers for Oscar Piastri snuffed out as Lando Norris snatches pole in Melbourne
Rapturous cheers for Oscar Piastri were snuffed out by a blistering Lando Norris lap as the Englishman snatched pole in dramatic fashion at the Melbourne Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon.
Australia's Piastri pinched provisional pole from Red Bull champion Max Verstappen at Albert Park, only for his McLaren teammate to come rocketing through barely seconds later and trump all in a dramatic third qualifying session.
Norris stopped the clock at 1:15.096 to clinch the first pole of the season, edging Piastri by less than a tenth of a second. Verstappen was nearly four tenths further back.
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Piastri had mixed feelings after the chaotic session.
"Yeah, pretty happy. It's great to start the year on the front row, probably one position further back than I would have liked," Piastri said.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia (right) leads teammate Lando Norris of Britain during qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix. AP
"It's great to have the team on the front row, so we'll reset and see what tomorrow has in store.
"Not quite enough in Q3 but it's the start of a long season, so I'm pretty happy."
Mercedes' George Russell will line up on the grid in fourth, alongside Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda in fifth.
Williams' Alex Albon will start sixth, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in ninth and Williams' Carlos Sainz in 10th.
Australia's Jack Doohan will line up in 14th, dudded by a yellow flag for a Hamilton spin while on a quick lap in qualifying two.
Norris secured his 10th pole in Formula 1 and was understandably rapt.
"It's the perfect way to start the year," he said.
"I mean, 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 one-two.
"But it's just quali, right? So, let's wait and see tomorrow. I know it's going to be a tricky race."
The stage is now set for what's hopefully an epic season-opening race in potentially wet conditions, going by the weather forecast for Melbourne.
