Formula One: Australian Grand Prix qualifying
Giles Richards is in Melbourne for this year's race and his piece on the unapologetically dominant world champion is well worth a read. Share
Born in Melbourne and growing up in the suburb of Brighton – meaning he would have been able to hear the F1 cars rolling around Albert Park from his house – Piastri logged the fastest time of any driver in FP3 earlier today, logging a time of 1:15.921.
That was 0.039 seconds clear of next best George Russell in his Mercedes, while Verstappen was 0.081 back.
The Maclaren's widely recognised across the grid of coming into the season with some great speed, Lando Norris also looked on pace to set one of the quickest laps but ran into some traffic, holding up what was being projected as one of the quickest times. Share
Hello everyone and welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of the first qualifying session of the 2025 Formula One World Championship season, coming your way from the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
My name is Joey Lynch and I'll be taking you through all the action from Down Under as we look to see who has the pace to place themselves atop the grid for the season's first race tomorrow.
Yet again, Max Verstappen is the hunted; the Dutchman guiding his Red Bull to a fourth world title last season to vault himself further into the pantheon of the sport's all-time greats.
Will be the season in which the crown begins to weigh heavy on his shoulders? Or tyres, perhaps? There's a hungry pack chasing him and eager to send a strong message in the first race of the season in Melbourne, led by local-hope Oscar Piastri in his McLaren. Share
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