The first qualifying session of the 2025 F1 season lived up to theꦰ pre-season hype𓄧 at the Australian Grand Prix.

One team may have ended up dominating, but there were plenty o📖f surprises throughout as the first accurate picture of the 2025 pecking order was finally revealed.

Here are our winners and losers fro🔜m an exciting qualifying in Melb꧙ourne.

Winner - McLaren

Despite both168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Lando Norris and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Oscar Piastri putting themselves under initial pressure by blowing their first runs in✱ Q3, it ended up being a perfec🎐t start to the year for McLaren.

Norris eclipsed his teammate by just 0.084s to claim t🧜he first pole position of the season as McLaren lockedꦫ out the front-row of the Albert Park grid and blew their rivals away.

A considerable margin of nearly four-tenths to third-placed 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen underlined McLaren’s early perf♋orꦆmance and backed up their billing as clear favourites heading into the campaign.

Loser - Ferrari

There will be some serious head-scratchi﷽ng down at Ferrari tonight after a disappointing qualifying showing in Australia.

Ferrari looked like McLaren’s main competitions on Friday, but their promising one-lap pace vanished on Saturday as 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Charles Leclerc and168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Lewis Hamilton struggled.

Leclerc could only manage seventh, while seven-time world champion Hamilton was eighth after surviving a spin during Q🦩2 on his qualify🐽ing debut for F1’s most famous team.

Ferrari ended up a concerning eight tenths adrift of McLaren, while a nightmare Q3 was compounded further when Leclerc and Hamilton were usurped by the Racing Bulls of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Yuki Tsunoda and the Williams of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alex Albon late on.

Winner - Max Verstappen

Reigning world champion Verstappen cꦬompleted an impressive recovery from his Friday practice struggles to take third.

The Dutchman, who is looking to win a fifth successive drivers’ crown in 2025, admitted he was “quite surprised” to 💧find himself on the second row of the grid after handling issues hamp💜ered him throughout practice.

But Red Bull were able to turn things around come qualifying, with Verstappen setting the early pace in Q3 and managing to stay ahead of Mercedes’ 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:George Russell to grab third.

Verstappen💛 has brilliantly put himself right in contention for a victory he had ruled out coming into the weekend, and his chances will surely improve if the forecast rain arrives considering his renowned wet-weather abilities.

Loser - Liam Lawson

It was a contrasting day of fortunes at Red Bull, with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Liam Lawson enduri𒊎ng a messy qua♕lifying debut for his new team.

Lawson was eliminated in the firs๊t part of qualifying with the 18th fastest time out of the 19 drivers who completed Q1, with a mistake on his finaꦆl run costing him the chance to progress further.

The 22-year-old New Zealander has suffered a shaky start to his Red Bull career and was one second slower than teammate💫 Verstappen in Q1. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner defended his new driver, insisting “you can’t judge him on today’s performance”.

It was a display which was reminiscent of Sergio Perez’s qualifying woes throughout 2♌024 and despite the defence from Horner, Lawson cannot afford too many repeat performances.

Winner - Yuki Tsunoda

Meanwhile, the dri🦹ver who was overlooked for a Red Bull sea🅺t this year, Tsunoda, was one of the stars of qualifying.

Tsunoda produced✤ a “magic” last-gasp lap to grab a surprise place on the third row in fifth for Racing Bulls, having ou🅘tpaced both Ferraris.

It was a hugely impressive performance from the 24-year-old Japanese r💜acer an🌠d served as a reminder to Red Bull of what he is capable of on a day their new number two had a bit of a shocker.

Loser - Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes rookie168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Kimi Antonelli was eliminated from Q1 in Australia and will start ꦓthe race from down in 16th position on𝔉 the grid.

It emerged after his shock early exit that Antonelli had picked up damage on his car, which was seen sparking and running incredibly close to the ground at the end of the first part of qualifying. Mercedes confirmed Antonelli damaged the bib on the floor of his W16 which resultꦰed in a loss of performance.

A disappointing debut for the highly-rated 18-year-old, especially𓂃 with teammate Russell able to put his Mercedes fourth.

Winner - Williams

Wil🐬lꦏiams come away from qualifying as one of the big winners, with both their cars reaching Q3.

Albon starred in qualifying with a brilliant lap to take sixth ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton’s Ferraris, while new teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Carlos Sainz also secured a top-10 starting spot wit𒊎h the 10th quickest time.

The performance sho🔴ws the gains Williams have made over the winter with their improved FW47. The Grove-based squad can already think about a double points finish straight off the bat.

Loser - Oliver Bearman

It has been nothing short of a disastrous start to his rookie F1 season for 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Oliver Bearman, who is having a weekend to forget in Australia.

A heavy crash in FP1 forced B෴earman to sit out of FP2, before he missed mo🎉re crucial track time when he beached his Haas in the gravel right at the start of final practice on Saturday morning.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the 18-year-old Briton did not even complete a lap in qualifying after reporting a gearbox problem on his out lap - leaving him 20th an🥀d last.

Afꦅter several s💛uper-sub cameos for Ferrari and Haas last year, Bearman’s full-time introduction to F1 has been a brutal baptism of fire so far.

Winner - Gabriel Bortoleto

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Gabriel Bortoleto was the onꦡly one of F1’s six ro💖okies to out-qualify their teammate on their debut in Melbourne.

The reigning Formula 2 champion came into the weekend vowing to prove his doubters wrong after being branded as a “B driver” b꧅y Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, and he certainly got off to a positive 🎃start in his first ever F1 qualifying session.

Bortoleto did his talking on the track by edging out his vastly experienced Sauber teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nico Hulkenberg and advancing into Q2 on his way to a very respectable 💜15th on th🍬e grid.

Loser - Aston Martin

It 🍌was a disappointing first qualifying of the season for Aston Martin, who appear to star🎶ting 2025 in a worse shape than 12 months ago.

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Fernando Alonso actually showed flashes of encouraging pace in Q1 but ultimately could not reach the top-10, having picked up costly floor damage when he ran wide on his Q2 lap. Teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lance Stroll joined him on the sidelines for Q3 having be♔en dumped out in 13th.

It turned out to be a bit of a miss𝔉ed opportunity for Aston Martin, who had the potential t𒐪o qualifier higher up the grid.