0.084 seconds – All that stood between Piastri and a hometown pole position

Lando Norris pipped Melbourne product Oscar Piastri by just 0.084 of a second to claim pole at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on a piping-hot Saturday afternoon.

The Brit had a nerveless response to Piastri’s own final flying lap of qualifying to top the grid with a McLaren 1-2 to start tomorrow’s race. Four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen will start on the second row of the grid, alongside fierce rival George Russell.

Norris set a blistering 1:15.096, to Piastri’s 1:15.180.

“I’m pretty happy… probably one position further back than I would have liked, but it’s a great start to the year,” Piastri said immediately after qualifying, acknowledging he lost some valuable time in the third sector of his final flying lap. “I’m pretty happy with how qualifying went – [it was] just not quite enough in Q3.”

Earlier, the bayside Melbourne product topped the timesheets in final practice, setting a 1:15.921 with Mercedes driver Russell closely behind and Verstappen third.

Despite setting the pace on Friday, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was a quarter of a second off the pace on Saturday but still slightly ahead of teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Alpine rookie and fellow Aussie driver Jack Doohan was 15th fastest – only three places behind his teammate Pierre Gasly.

It was disastrous afternoon for rookie driver Ollie Bearman who crashed minutes into his practice session. The 18-year-old dipped his wheels on the grass near turn 11 and spun off track into the gravel trap.