Tag Archives: Carlos Sainz

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Results & aftermath

DOWN TO THE WIRE: Verstappen leapfrogs Piastri, closes to within 12 of Norris with win in Qatar after McLaren’s Safety Car strategy backfires; Piastri second, Norris finishes fourth; Sainz captures last podium spot in P3

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his improbable come-from-behind quest for a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship by taking advantage of team McLaren’s timidity during an early race Safety Car period and then parlaying his team’s decision to pit him into a win at Lusail International Circuit in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. After starting from P3 start and with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lined up in front of him in P1 and P2 respectively, Verstappen passed Norris almost as soon as the lights went out, steaming by the points leader while heading down to Turn 1. Meanwhile, Piastri kept his lead easily, looking like the man to beat on the night and seeking to creep even closer to Norris after already bagging 8 points with his Saturday Sprint Race win. But the racing gods had other plans for the Aussie when Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg crashed out on Lap 7 while tangling with the Apline of Pierre Gasly during an attempted overtake. With Hulkenberg stranded and debris littering the circuit, a Safety Car was quickly deployed. This opened up the first key strategy decisions of the race. Normally, this would have been too early in the race for the frontrunners to dive to the pits for fresh rubber, the entire top ten starting on the reasonably durable Medium tires. However, due to the high lateral loads that clockwise Lusail sends through the left front tires, Pirelli mandated a 25-lap maximum limit for their tires for the Qatari race. That put Piastri and McLaren in a bind and the team’s braintrust decided to not only keep the race-leading Aussie out but also not to split their strategy and call Norris in for fresh rubber under the SC. This proved to be a mistake, as pretty much the entire field, and most significantly Verstappen, opted to come in for a cheap stop for new tires under the greatly reduced Safety Car speed on Lap 8, and knowing that they’d all be forced to change on Lap 25 regardless. This also meant the early stoppers could now run until Lap 32 before the next tire mandate needed to be met.

While Norris was promoted to second when Verstappen boxed for a new set of Mediums, the Papaya duo were now locked into stopping on Lap 25 and then again later in the race, both out of sequence with the rest of the field and with Verstappen lurking right behind them. Sure enough, when first Piastri pitted on Lap 24 and then Norris a lap later, both also opting for another stint on Mediums, Verstappen inherited the lead. While the Dutch Master would relinquish that P1 position once again for his own mandatory second charge onto the Hard Pirellis on Lap 32, Verstappen had now satisfied all his tire requirements for the remainder of the 57-lap contest and both McLaren’s would have to come in for one more change. Piastri talked the team into pitting a bit earlier than required on Lap 42, hoping that he would be able to use the new Hard boots to take the fight to Verstappen’s 10-lap older tires. He duly came out in third behind Verstappen, with Norris leading the race momentarily. But Norris made his mandatory second stop two laps later and Verstappen retook the race lead. Worse still for the points leader, Norris emerged in P5 when Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli passed him before he could get out of the pits. Despite his best efforts, Piastri was never able to get close enough to Verstappen to even threaten a pass for the win. The Dutchman sailed to victory nearly 8-seconds in front of the P2 Piastri. While Norris was able to make a late pass on Antonelli to secure P4, the final results still saw Verstappen leapfrog Piastri for second in the Drivers’ and he now trails Norris by a mere 12 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi next week. Piastri, now in third, trails by 16. Any of the three could win the Championship at the Yes Marina Circuit next Sunday. Tune in next week to find out who will wear the crown — it’ll be must watch TV!

Top 10 finishers of the Qatar GP:

ResultsFinal
Pos Driver Time Pts
1
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#1
1:24:38.241
25
2
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
+7.995s
18
3
C. Sainz Jr.
Williams

·

#55
+22.665s
15
4
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#4
+23.315s
12
5
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
+28.317s
10
6
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
+48.599s
8
7
F. Alonso
Aston Martin

·

#14
+54.045s
6
8
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
+56.785s
4
9
L. Lawson
RB

·

#30
+60.073s
2
10
Y. Tsunoda
Red Bull

·

#22
+61.77s
1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Top 3 Driver Standings with one race remaining:

PTS
1Lando Norris
 408
2Max Verstappen
 396
3Oscar Piastri
 392

The season ending finale is in but a week’s time when the three-way title hunt comes to a climax in Abu Dhabi. Nerves will be on edge in the McLaren camp, particularly on Norris’s side of the garage, as they feel Verstappen’s hot breath on their necks and the Dutchman’s ruthless pursuit of a fifth consecutive championship filling up their rearview mirrors. Hope to see you then to find out how the 2025 season comes to a close and who will be wearing the F1 crown when it does!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Qualifying results

Norris bests Verstappen for pole in bizarre wild & wet Vegas qualifying; Sainz impresses to nab P3; Piastri spins his way to P5 late in the going, damaging title hopes

Top- 10 qualifiers for the Las Vegas GP:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL TYRES KM/H
1 L. NorrisMcLaren 4 8

1’47.934

 I 206.826
2 M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing 1 7

+0.323

1’48.257

 0.323 I 206.209
3 C. SainzWilliams 55 7

+0.362

1’48.296

 0.039 I 206.135
4 G. RussellMercedes 63 7

+0.869

1’48.803

 0.507 I 205.174
5 O. PiastriMcLaren 81 7

+1.027

1’48.961

 0.158 I 204.876
6 L. LawsonRacing Bulls 30 7

+1.128

1’49.062

 0.101 I 204.687
7 F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing 14 7

+1.532

1’49.466

 0.404 I 203.931
8 I. HadjarRacing Bulls 6 7

+1.620

1’49.554

 0.088 I 203.768
9 C. LeclercFerrari 16 7

+1.938

1’49.872

 0.318 I 203.178
10 P. GaslyAlpine 10 6

+3.606

1’51.540

 1.668

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Saturday night’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 11PM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you the to see if Mother Nature has any more ironic twists up her sleeves for this glitzy night affair in the supposed desert!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Russell reigns supreme to take victory in Singapore; Verstappen holds of Norris for P2; McLaren claim Constructors’ Title but tensions between P3 Norris & P4 Piastri come to a head after early race contact

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Mercedes’ George Russell dominated Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, converting his pole position into an easy victory and avenging a last lap shunt here at Marina Bay Street Circuit back in 2023 that cost him a podium on that day. But it was all smiles for the British ace this year, as no one could really match his race pace and Russell controlled brilliantly from the front, masterfully managing his tires, deftly navigating a slew of back markers in the late going and leaving his closest competitors well in the rearview mirror. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the runner up over five-seconds adrift, although the Dutch Master did manage to hold off the best efforts of McLaren’s Lando Norris to secure that solid P2. Norris, who was never able to really put a move on Verstappen on this tight, difficult-to-overtake circuit despite his extreme proximity to the Red Bull’s gearbox as the race wound down, nevertheless came home ahead of his teammate and championship rival Oscar Piastri. Norris gained a position on Piastri with some aggressive maneuvers on the opening lap and then consolidated his eventual P3 finish when the McLaren mechanics botched Piastri’s only pit stop on Lap 27 of this grueling 62-lap contest to the tune of an achingly slow 5.2 seconds. All in all, it was a fairly miserable day for Piastri individually, the Aussie points leader feeling hard done by Norris’s aggressive, wheel banging opening lap pass and thereafter making his displeasure known early and often on the team radio. But the McLaren pit wall played it straight in Singapore and the team was rewarded with enough points on the day between Norris’s third place and Piastri’s P4 to easily clinch their second Constructors’ title in succession with six rounds still remaining and the tenth in the team’s illustrious history. So, Piastri had to grin and bear it for the sake of such a great occasion for the Papaya organization and their faithful fans. But going forward, and with his points lead over Norris trimmed to just 22, Piastri will no longer be playing the good soldier as he duels with his teammate for the ultimate individual prize in Formula 1 and both talented young pilots hunt for their first F1 crown.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

63

George Russell

Mercedes

62

1:40:22.367

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

62

+5.430s

18

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

62

+6.066s

15

4

81

\Oscar Piastri

McLaren

62

+8.146s

12

5

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

62

+33.681s

10

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

62

+45.996s

8

7

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

62

+80.667s

6

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

62

+85.251s

4

9

87

Oliver Bearman

Haas

62

+93.527s

2

10

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams

61

+1 lap

1

Complete race results amiable via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, as the teams make the long journey across the Pacific to Austin, Texas and Circuit of the Americas, the home of the United States Grand Prix and Round 19 of the 2025 season. COTA is a very different animal than Marina Bay and its long straights and high speed curves should be more suitable to McLaren than the last two street circuits. As for whether bygones will be bygones between Piastri and Norris, that’s another matter entirely. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

 

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Verstappen dominates in Baku for easy win; Russell rallies through illness for P2, Sainz earns maiden Williams podium in P3; Piastri crashes out on opening lap but P7 Norris fails to truly capitalize

Red Bull ace Max Verstappen earned his second victory in a row with a dominant win from pole at Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. At the highly technical yet also high speed Baku City Circuit, Verstappen showed his flawless precision and race management, leading every lap of the 51-lap contest, setting the fastest lap and gapping the second place Mercedes of George Russell by a whopping 14.6 seconds at the finish. Carlos Sainz capitalized on his somewhat fortunate P2 starting position after Saturday’s highly chaotic qualifying to earn his first podium with Williams in P3. Meanwhile, McLaren had a weekend to forget, as championship points leader Oscar Piastri followed up his crash out in Q3 on Saturday with a very similar shunt on the race’s opening lap that ended his day in dramatic fashion. But despite being fated to score zero points on the day, teammate and chief championship rival Lando Norris could not make up much ground due to his own mediocre qualifying effort, the young Briton finishing exactly where he started when all was said and done in P7. Norris was therefore only able to reduce his deficit to Piastri by 6 points, the Aussie still retaining a 25-point cushion with seven rounds remaining. Still, as the home stretch of the 2025 season comes into view, Piastri looks mentally vulnerable for the first time and he will be staring at the walls of another very claustrophobic street circuit when the teams unload in Singapore in two weeks.

Kimi Antonelli continued his recent resurgence, making it an excellent day for the Silver Arrows by complimenting Russell’s P2 with a solid fourth place result. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson also had an excellent race, holding off multiple contenders in the final laps to secure an impressive P5. Teammate Isack Hadjar also contributed to the Racing Bulls points haul by coming home in P10.  Those unable to pass Lawson as the laps ran out were the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who nevertheless placed an encouraging P6, as well as the frustrated Norris in P7 and the best placed Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton in P8. Hamilton got the better of his Scuderia stablemate Charles Leclerc with a pass late in the going, relegating the Monegasque to P9. Regardless, it was not a strong weekend for Ferrari and they will be keen to leave Baku behind for Singapore and the friendly confines of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where they have traditionally run very well under the lights.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

51

1:33:26.408

25

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

51

+14.609s

18

3

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams

51

+19.199s

15

4

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

51

+21.760s

12

5

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls

51

+33.290s

10

6

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

51

+33.808s

8

7

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

51

+34.227s

6

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

51

+36.310s

4

9

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

51

+36.774s

2

10

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls

51

+38.982s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight at another demanding street circuit — the nighttime Singapore GP from the beautifully illuminated Marina Bay Street Circuit. Verstappen will be looking to keep his mojo working, Piastri will surely be looking to regroup while Norris ratchets up the pressure, Mercedes will try to keep climbing and Ferrari will be desperate to get back to the sharp end of the field. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Verstappen prevails for pole after long rain-affected, Red Flag-happy qualifying in Baku; Sainz snags P2 for Williams, Lawson P3 for Racing Bulls on topsy turvy day, as Leclerc & Piastri crash out in Q3

 

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:41.331

1:41.255

1:41.117

23

2

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams

1:42.635

1:41.675

1:41.595

23

3

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls

1:42.257

1:41.537

1:41.707

26

4

12

Kimi Antonelli

=Mercedes

1:42.247

1:41.464

1:41.717

21

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:41.646

1:41.455

1:42.070

22

6

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

1:42.347

1:41.788

1:42.143

23

7

4

Lando Norris

\McLaren

1:41.322

1:41.396

1:42.239

21

8

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls

1:41.656

1:41.647

1:42.372

25

9

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

1:41.839

1:41.414

DNF

18

10

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:41.458

1:41.519

DNF

19

2025 F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands — Qualifying results

Piastri pips Norris for pole as McLaren reign supreme at Zandvoort; Verstappen gives home fans hope in P3

With the August summer recess over, it was a return to 2025’s main theme, as the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris duked it out for pole amidst the dunes of Zandvoort during Saturday Qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix. With barely anything to choose between the supremely talented Papaya duo driving the grid’s fastest cars, it was Piastri who pipped Norris in the end by a minuscule .012-seconds. While you could put a sheet of paper between the points leading Piastri and his closest pursuer and teammate, Norris, the McLaren pair managed to gap the P3 Red Bull of Max Verstappen by three-tenths, much to the chagrin of the orange-clad army of his countrymen in the grandstands. Still, it was another fine effort by the Dutch Master at his home Grand Prix, making the most of what has evolved into a surprisingly hard to manage RB21 as the season has progressed.

Despite those three outstanding efforts, the qualifying drive of the day had to be by Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. The impressive French rookie continued to demand attention by vaulting himself into P4 and the second row alongside Verstappen with an outstanding final flying lap. That demoted Mercedes’ George Russell to P5, adding to Silver Arrows frustration after Kimi Anotonelli was bounced in Q2 with only the eleventh-fastest time in that session. Ferrari also continued to flounder, as Charles Leclerc could do no better than P6 and Lewis Hamilton could only manage P7. The second Racing Bull of Liam Lawson also performed well to take P8, while Williams’ Carlos Sainz excelled by setting the ninth fastest time and Aston Martin’s ageless Fernando Alonso qualified in tenth.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Dutch GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

1:09.338

1:08.964

1:08.662

18

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:09.469

1:08.874

1:08.674

18

3

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:09.696

1:09.122

1:08.925

18

4

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls

1:09.966

1:09.439

1:09.208

18

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:09.676

1:09.313

1:09.255

18

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:09.906

1:09.304

1:09.340

22

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:09.900

1:09.261

1:09.390

21

8

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls

1:09.779

1:09.383

1:09.500

18

9

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams

1:09.980

1:09.472

1:09.505

18

10

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

1:09.950

1:09.366

1:09.630

17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9 AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. With the Drivers’ Championship clearly down to the McLaren duo, we’ll see if Piastri or Norris can begin the final stretch of 10 races left on the front foot. Or perhaps there will be a Dutch spoiler waiting to capitalize on any ill-timed contact between the Papaya pair? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Norris holds off Leclerc for maiden Monaco win in plodding, strategic race; Piastri P3, Verstappen P4: FIA double-pit stop rule change backfires

Formula 1 and the FIA tried to fix the age old problem of passing at the venerable Monaco circuit and avoid last year’s Red Flag-induced processional by mandating two separate pit stops for Sunday’s dry and sunny Monaco Grand Prix. It did not quite work out exactly as planned. Instead of creating more opportunities for strategic overtakes, the clever team engineers bent the procedure to their own individual goals for the race and ended up using whichever car and driver that qualified lower as a blocker for the car that qualified in the better position to create a safe window for their pit stops. This created long stretches of the 78-lap race where most of the field were running well below full speed, as drivers like Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon took turns playing cork in the bottle to the second half of the field to ensure each of them could pit twice without any real threat of being overtaken. In the end, the key to Monaco, as it almost always is in good weather, was the Saturday qualifying order. And pole-sitter Lando Norris, who also set the track record in his McLaren en route to the top starting spot, was able to survive the best efforts of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as well as having to wade through a slew of back markers, to capture his first Monaco victory.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen did his best to put a spanner in Norris’s works by running a long and not particularly fast second stint from nominal the race lead while waiting for the penultimate lap to make his mandated second stop for fresh Pirellis. This backed Norris into Leclerc late in the going as Verstappen was simply goal hanging for a Safety Car of some sort or a Red Flag, and therefore the proverbial “cheap” pit stop.  But there were no late incidents and once Verstappen ducked in, Norris sped away from Leclerc’s Ferrari rather easily to secure the win, with the Monegasque and last year’s storybook winner settling for second place. Norris’s McLaren teammate Piastri had a bit of wild and wooly weekend in the principality, with plenty of drifting and airborne kerb-banging, but kept it clean enough in the race to bring the car home in P3. Piastri now leads in the Drivers’ championship by a mere three points over the reinvigorated Norris. Verstappen, who had nothing to lose by running  to the bitter end for his second stop due to his massive time cushion over the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, claimed P4 at the finish, exactly where he started.

While Hamilton ran a lonely and unsatisfying race after a bit of clever pit strategy early on to get him out in front of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, his P5 was two places better than his penalty-induced seventh place start on the grid and about as much as one could expect for improvement here on the streets of Monte Carlo. Hadjar continued to impress despite ceding a spot to Hamilton early in the race on pit cycles and came home a very solid P6, with Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson also scoring for the squad in P8. Esteban Ocon secured his and Haas’s best result of the season in P7, while the Williams duo of Albon and Sainz were rewarded for their slow going shenanigans by scoring valuable team points in P9 and P10 respectively.

Mercedes had a disastrous day as their gamble on running a long first stint on Hard tires with both their cars did not pay off at all due to the slow pace of the midfield runners in front of them. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli scored exactly zero points on a frustrating day the Silver Arrows team will be keen to put behind them as they pack up for the short trip to Barcelona next weekend.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

78

1:40:33.843

25

2

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

78

+3.131s

18

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

78

+3.658s

15

4

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

78

+20.572s

12

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

78

+51.387s

10

6

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

77

+1 lap

8

7

31

Esteban Ocon

Haas Ferrari

77

+1 lap

6

8

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

77

+1 lap

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

76

+2 laps

2

10

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

76

+2 laps

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as F1 wraps up another hectic sequence of three races on the trot with the Spanish Grand Prix from the well-loved Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Hope to see you then at a much more conventional and faster race track where overtaking should at least be reasonably possible and we’re also sure see the return of only the single mandatory pit stop after this weekend in Monaco’s unintended consequences from the FIA’s fiddling.

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna — Results & aftermath

Verstappen takes win with immaculate start at Imola, Norris bests Piastri for P2; Hamilton maximizes performance to score P4 for Ferrari; Williams closing the gap as Russell plummets to P7

Top 10 finishers of the Emilia-Romagna GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

63

1:31:33.199

25

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

63

+6.109s

18

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

63

+12.956s

15

4

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

63

+14.356s

12

5

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

63

+17.945s

10

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

63

+20.774s

8

7

63

George Russell

Mercedes

63

+22.034s

6

8

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

63

+22.898s

4

9

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

63

+23.586s

2

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

63

+26.446s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

McLaren’s Piastri rockets to dominant pole in Bahrain but teammate Norris fumbles final effort en route to P6; Mercedes’ Russell and Antonelli qualify P2 & P4 but penalized one spot each for pit infractions; Leclerc elevated to second on grid; Verstappen and Red Bull nowhere

A week after being thoroughly outperformed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Japanese Grand Prix, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were keen to reassert their dominance during Saturday Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. But it ended up only Piastri who flew the Papaya flag by laying down a stunning marker here at the very tricky and twisty 5.4 kilometer Bahrain International Circuit, blasting his way to a dominant pole position, some two-tenths ahead of his closest pursuer, Mercedes’ George Russell. Meanwhile, Piastri’s normally superlative McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, failed to get the best out of his MCL39 and to come to grips with the windy conditions in the desert and could only manage P6 on his final flier in Q3, over four-tenths behind his pole-sitting teammate. While it is certainly more possible to pass here than at what ended up a stagnant Suzuka circuit last week, Piastri will have a major advantage getting away from the point while Norris has to fight his way through a quartet of fairly fast drivers to get back on terms for a win. Piastri will certainly be looking to maximize that advantage and take a victory that would vault him ahead of Norris for the points lead. Game on.

Mercedes were impressive and were definitely the next best team on pace here, just ahead of Ferrari and well ahead of the struggling Red Bull duo. But, while Russell was hyper-competitive with a P2 effort and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli excelled to slot in at P4, the team were penalized for a pit lane infraction under Red Flag conditions after Haas’s Esteban Ocon had a major crash earlier in Q2. Both drivers were docked a grid place for the team’s error in sending them info the fast lane prematurely while the medical car was still driving to the front of the pits after Ocon had been dropped off for examination, big no-no. That elevated Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to second on the grid and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who had a genuinely superb qualifying effort regardless, up to the second row and P4. Meanwhile, a week after their surprise victory in Japan, Red Bull were nowhere in Bahrain, with both Verstappen and Tsunoda struggling mightily with balance and breaking. It all ended up with a humbling P7 effort for last week’s winner Verstappen, with Tsunoda at least making it to Q3 for the first time in tow tries, albeit with only the tenth fastest time.

Carlos Sainz appeared to finally get the handle on his Williams with a very solid P8 result, but Lewis Hamilton again struggled in his Prancing Horse and could manage no better than an underwhelming P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.392

1:30.454

1:29.841

15

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:31.494

1:30.664

1:30.009

20

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:31.454

1:30.724

1:30.175

16

4

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:31.415

1:30.716

1:30.213

20

5

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:31.462

1:30.643

1:30.216

19

6

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.107

1:30.560

1:30.267

18

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.303

1:31.019

1:30.423

17

8

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:31.591

1:30.844

1:30.680

19

9

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:31.219

1:31.009

1:30.772

18

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.751

1:31.228

1:31.303

17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The adjusted grid after Mercedes’ penalties are factored in is here. 

After a raft of overnighters to start the season, tomorrow’s race airs at the perfectly decent time of 11AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. With a supreme advantage over his teammate and the rest of the field, Piastri will be looking to both stamp his authority on the race from the get go and then vault himself ahead of Norris in the Championship by dint of the victory. But do the Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli have anything to spring an upset when the lights go out, even from their slightly demoted positions? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

McLaren lay down marker in Melbourne to start season, as Norris grabs pole, Piastri P2; Verstappen settles for P3; Ferrari underwhelm

The highly anticipated 75th season of Formula kicked off properly during Saturday Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park GP Circuit in Melbourne when McLaren picked up were they left off in 2024 by locking out the front row ahead of Red Bull’s peerless ace Max Verstappen. Lando Norris bested his teammate and home race hero Oscar Piastri to take pole with a final do or die flying lap after having his only earlier Q3 time deleted for a track limits violation. The dynamic Papaya duo exceeded Verstappen’s best effort, relegating the Dutchman and reigning four-time consecutive champ to the second row and P3 on the grid. Mercedes’ George Russell put in a superlative effort to nail down P4 and, with some serious rain predicted for tomorrow’s race despite dry conditions to start the weekend, put himself in position to contend with the elite three ahead of him. Both Yuki Tsunoda, who was passed over for promotion to the senior Red Bull team and is inexplicably fighting for his F1 life, and the massively improved Williams of Alexander Albon, outperformed the much more heralded Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and new Scuderia recruit Lewis Hamilton. Tsunoda qualified P5 and Albon P6, while Leclerc could do no better than set the seventh fastest lap and Hamilton, who struggled mightily with the balance of his Prancing Horse and spun in Q2, was only good enough for P8 on the grid in his Ferrari debut. Pierre Gasly got the most out his Alpine in P9 and the second Williams of Carlos Sainz secured P10 on his first real effort in anger with his new team.

What all that will really mean if the heavy rains that are predicted to soak Albert Park on Sunday is anyone’s guess. But there were some less than promising signs for several young drivers at this tricky track. Verstappen’s latest wingman, New Zealander Liam Lawson, replacemnt for the long suffering Sergio Perez, struggled mightily with both mechanical issues and a shaky feel for the pointy dynamics of the RB21 and was unceremoniously bounced out in Q1 with only the eighteenth fastest lap. Likewise, Mercedes’ pick to replace seven-time champ Hamilton, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, damaged his car by running over too many curbs and qualified down in P16. And while Haas’s new pilot Oliver Bearman had a miserable start to the year and was unable to get a lap in quali due to numerous crashes and the resulting mechanical issues those caused, the rookies Jack Doohan of Alpine and Gabriel Bortoleto of Kick Sauber fared somewhat better in P14 and P15 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:15.912

1:15.415

1:15.096

20

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:16.062

1:15.468

1:15.180

18

3

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:16.018

1:15.565

1:15.481

17

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:15.971

1:15.798

1:15.546

21

5

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:16.225

1:16.009

1:15.670

18

6

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:16.245

1:16.017

1:15.737

21

7

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:16.029

1:15.827

1:15.755

20

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:16.213

1:15.919

1:15.973

23

9

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:16.328

1:16.112

1:15.980

21

10

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:16.360

1:15.931

1:16.062

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs on ESPN beginning  at midnight Eastern Sunday here in the States. With rain predicted, expect a wet a wild mashup of a race after only dry running so far this weekend. Can McLaren prevail against the modern Rain Meister Verstappen or will a dark horse from further down the grid spring a surprise? Hope to see you the to find out how it all shakes out in Round 1 Down Under!