2025 Australia GP Qualifying Review

We had our first qualifying session of the year! For those who missed it, here's a quick recap of what all went down.

Q1 - Shockers

The largest points to take away from qualifying amount to the somewhat surprise exits of Mercedes’ rookie, Kimi Antonelli, and Red Bull’s replacement for Sergio Perez in Liam Lawson. Lawson could classify as a rookie, but this is his 11th start in F1, making his exit more surprising. Antonelli narrowly missed the mark after a great final lap by Kick Sauber’s new rookie: Gabriel Bortoleto. As for Lawson, he suffered a lock up that sent him teetering on the edge of the pavement and the gravel through turn 11, his final flying lap saw the Kiwi make several mistakes that would culminate in him going lawn surfing at turn 9.

Q2 - Spins

Hamilton’s Ferrari had a brief blip when he sent himself spinning in Q2, no damage was suffered aside from Alpine’s rookie driver Jack Doohan’s flying lap, which would see the latter exit qualifying in 14th place. The Aston Martins Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to get into the Top-10, ending up in 12th and 13th respectively. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar would end the session in 11th, and Bortoleto would end up in 15th.

Q3 - McLaren and Williams steal the show

Q3 ended with a lockout of the front row by McLaren, Lando Norris on pole position, with Oscar Piastri in second. Reigning Champion Max Verstappen grabbed third, albeit 3 tenths back from the McLarens. Both Williams and Ferrari saw both their drivers in the top 10, Leclerc outpacing Ferrari’s newest All-Time-Great Lewis Hamilton. Beating both the Ferrari’s was Alex Albon in P6, who subsequently outpaced Carlos Sainz in his first outing as a Williams driver in P10. They've seemed to make massive strides in the right direction in 2025, and may be ahead of schedule. It seems what James Volwes has done for the team is finally getting some results.

Finally, Mercedes’ Russell found 4th place, and then to round out the top 10, Gasly in his Alpine went 8th quickest, and Racing Bulls Tsunoda came in at a lovely P5.