As expected, McLaren started the year with some serious dominance. In the first qualifying session of the season, they delivered an impressive performance, but tomorrow's race will likely be a completely different story.
After the first few fast laps in Q1, we could see names constantly changing at the top, until Lando Norris, George Russell and Max Verstappen were locked in there. There were no surprises, and qualifying ended in that order. Liam Lawson, who was the first to be eliminated, did not suffer the same fate, however, having to immediately leave his first qualifying session with Red Bull. The same happened to the two Haas, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Nico Hülkenberg, while Gabriel Bortoleto and Jack Doohan, both rookies, managed to complete a lap that took them into Q2.
In Q2, we could clearly see the superiority of McLaren, Oscar Piastri and Norris leading the pack. Behind them, Verstappen and Russell were close, followed by the two Scuderia Ferrari cars. At the end of the stage, the order was Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, and the two Williams and Yuki Tsunoda advanced without problems, while among the eliminated were the two Aston Martins, Isaac Hadjart, Bortoleto and Doohan.
In Q3, the first attempts did not go well for McLaren, with both cars having their first laps cancelled, so the first quick attempts showed the order Verstappen, Russell, Leclerc. The picture was of course misleading, as McLaren still had a lot of speed, and the wait was not long to show it. In the last attempts, Lando Norris, who activated an infernal speed, managed to get pole position from a difficult situation, in front of Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, while the two Scuderia Ferrari cars were also overtaken by Yuki Tsunoda and Alexander Albon. Great.
Photo: Reuters / XPB Images
