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The 2025 season of Formula One is set to see its first race on Sunday, March 16. While this time, the season will begin in Australia with the 5.278km Albert Park Frand Prix Circuit in Melbourne set to host the season opener. Coming on the track after a extended season end break, McLaren was seen kickstarting with a bang as youngster Lando Norris secured the pole position.
On Saturday, March 15, Norris surged to the pole, edging his teammate and home favourite Oscar Piastri by 0.084 seconds. As a result, the McLaren duo confirmed the front row start for the reigning Constructors’ Champions at Australian Grand Prix 2025. However, the reigning world champion, Red Bull Racings Max Verstappen settled for a third place on the grid, finishing just 0.385 seconds behind Norris.
McLaren to start from front; Hamilton secures 12th place
With McLaren starting Sunday’s race from the front row follwed by Max Verstappen, George Russell claimed the fourth place for Mercedes while Yuki Tsunoda produced an impressive finish to secure the fifth place. Big names like Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari finished at seventh and eighth place respectively.
Here’s the starting grid for Australian Grand Prix 2025:
Liam Lawson struggles through Australian Grand Prix weekend
While Verstappen took the third spot in the grid, his new teammate, Liam Lawson acknowledged that he was “just too slow” while admitting the challenging start to the season. The New Zealander in his maiden Red Bull outing, finished 17th in FP2. Despite a repaired power unit issue, Lawson struggled with handling, going off-track and ending his run in the drop zone. He only managed to outqualify Esteban Ocon’s Haas and rookie Oliver Bearman.
