The 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix is up next after Lando Norris was victorious in the season opener in Melbourne.

Ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the McLaren driver claimed the fifth win of his F1 career in tricky wet-weather conditions at Albert Park.

Home favourite Oscar Piastri finished further down the order in the other Papaya car after a mistake cost him a second-place finish at his home Grand Prix.

The Australian will be looking to bounce back at the Shanghai International Circuit with Sprint Qualifying up first on Friday.

How to watch the 2025 Chinese GP

Coverage of all the action in the UK and Ireland will be shown live, with free-to-air highlights available later in the day.

Watch Live: Sky Sports F1 will broadcast every session live, as well as build-up and post-session shows to sprint qualifying, the sprint race, qualifying and the race.

In addition, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of the qualifying, sprint and race sessions.

Live Stream: Sky Sports subscribers will be able to catch all of the action through the Sky Go app, which requires an internet connection to access.

Alternatively, coverage can be accessed through NOW TV.

TV broadcast start times

Sky Sports F1

Friday: FP1 – 03:00 | Sprint Qualifying – 06:45

Saturday: Chinese Grand Prix Sprint – 02:25 | Qualifying – 06:35

Sunday: Chinese Grand Prix – 05:30

Channel 4

Friday: Sprint Qualifying highlights – 11:35

Saturday: Chinese Grand Prix Sprint & Qualifying highlights – 14:00

Sunday: Chinese Grand Prix – 13:00

How to stream the 2025 Chinese GP

F1TV, the sport’s own streaming service, will broadcast sessions in territories where the service is available.

The list of countries in which F1 TV Pro is available can be found here.

READ MORE – Five key talking points ahead of the 2025 F1 Chinese GP

The post When and how to watch the F1 2025 Chinese GP appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Haas boss Ayao Komatsu fears that the team’s surprising lack of pace at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix is not a “one-off”.

It was a wretched race weekend for the American outfit, which started with rookie Oliver Bearman crashing his VF-25 during the first practice session of 2025.

Haas finished 19th and 20th during FP1 and FP2 before going on to qualify in the same positions for the Grand Prix.

Starting from the pit lane, Bearman avoided the chaos in tricky wet-weather conditions and managed to keep his car on track to finish in 14th place on Sunday – the last of the classified competitors.

His team-mate, Esteban Ocon, finished just ahead of him after starting the race from 19th place.

After focusing on long-run pace and tyre management exploration during Bahrain pre-season testing, it was left unclear as to how Haas would compare performance-wise to the rest of the grid.

But after Friday, Komatsu revealed to Motorsport.com how he was left stunned by the Banbury-based squad’s lack of performance.

“I don’t think it’s a one-off,” he said.

“It was a big surprise, we weren’t expecting that whatsoever based on Bahrain testing.

“Bahrain testing wasn’t perfect, but we weren’t expecting it anywhere near as bad as Melbourne.

“In FP1, on a very fast lap when the car went out, I thought either something was broken or something is completely out of the ballpark.

“Then when we established, right, nothing’s broken, we’ve got a big issue.”

Haas expects high-speed corner issues to continue in 2025

The 49-year-old went on to explain how the team discovered the issue at hand and how it went about addressing its lack of performance.

”It was pretty clear the problem was in high speed, Turn 9, Turn 10,” Komatsu added.

”Then we just worked and worked to make those corners better with the expense of low speed.

”But even then, low-speed corners are okay, not great – but compared to the issue we had in Turns 9 and 10, it’s night and day.

”So then by Q1, we managed to get Turn 9 more or less respectable but Turn 10, still nowhere.

”We understand why, but with the issues we have, we cannot solve it for all corners, right?

”So I think at least we took [the] correct steps during the weekend.”

Komatsu confirmed that Haas would continue to find solutions this year instead of focusing on 2026 with the new regulations set to come into force.

He believes that the car’s problems were down to its interface with the ground at low ride heights.

However, the motorsport executive noted that Haas would have to endure challenges at several races due to the severity of the problems.

He added: ”I think that’s the best we could do with the Melbourne circuit characteristics, that our car’s weakness that we discovered in Melbourne and then characteristics of Turn 10 as a corner.

”The next point is to understand which part of the car we need to modify, or which part of the car has the sensitivity to solve this performance issue.

”So up to this point, we are reasonably clear.

”Then of course, next is, how are we going to find a solution?

Some of them can be reasonably short-term solutions, but some of them will be an iterative process, both in CFD and wind tunnel.

“So you’re not going to see a solution for some races – it’s pretty severe.”

READ MORE: How F1 Australian GP practice exposed Haas weaknesses

The post Ayao Komatsu fears Australia not a ‘one-off’ for underperforming Haas appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Lando Norris kicked off the 2025 Formula 1 season with victory at the Australian Grand Prix, but he was made to sweat in the final few laps with Max Verstappen hot on his heels.

The McLaren racing driver led from pole position to take the fifth victory of his career, as he laid down a statement win over his title rivals for 2025.

In tricky wet-weather conditions, Norris was untroubled for the majority of the Grand Prix – his team-mate Oscar Piastri failing to get by.

The British driver handled the transition to dry tyres, but as the rain returned, he experienced an off-moment at Turn 13 before pitting to revert back onto a set of intermediate tyres.

Amidst the chaos, Norris and McLaren made the right call.

However, after Verstappen’s gamble to stay out longer did not pay off, the Dutchman applied the pressure to Norris late on as his tyres faded, and he ran wide at Turn 6.

But Norris held on for the victory in Melbourne, discussing his thoughts after the race on when the Red Bull driver appeared in his mirrors.

“So, I knew Max would be quicker in those last few laps, and I knew he would risk more because there were only a few laps left,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“I did make a mistake at Turn 6 – I just put a wheel on the gravel and lost all my momentum and drive.

“Max got within DRS, and DRS really helped him stay there.

“It’s tough because it’s not just the pressure of him being there, it’s the pressure of knowing that if I put a wheel too close to a white line on entry, I’m off.

“If I clip the kerb wrong in Turn 6, I’m off.

“If I dip a wheel in the gravel, I get a bad run and he’s past.

“There are so many little things that can go wrong.

Papaya squad eases Norris’ worries

It’s no secret that in 2024, the pressure got to Norris when he was sprung into a title fight with the multiple World Champion, Verstappen.

He lacked experience, and it became evident that he was not able to convert McLaren’s pace into a championship-winning season.

Yet after a season of learnings for both the team and the driver, which sees Norris return as a race winner, the 24-year-old appears ready to take the next step.

Continuing to explain the pressure he felt during the final laps of the Grand Prix, he revealed the role his race engineer Will Joseph and Andrew Jarvis played in helping him handle the nerves.

“[I was] just trying to concentrate on not locking up, not rear locking, not hitting the kerbs wrong, but still trying to go quicker than before because the guy behind is doing the same,” Norris added.

“It was stressful – I’m not going to lie, I was checking my mirrors a lot.

“Even Will came on the radio and told me to chill out a bit.

“He knows, and Jarv [Andrew Jarvis], my performance engineer, knows very quickly from my driving when I’m pushing too much or when I’m pushing the entries too much.

“They’re quick to jump in and say, ‘do this better’ or ‘watch out for that’ because they know what I struggle with.

“Especially in a situation like that.”

Norris: Verstappen can handle the pressure better

The Bristol-born racing driver went into detail as to why he suffered so much in the latter stages of the Grand Prix.

“The thing is, I knew I was going to struggle a bit because I put the Inters on two laps before Max, and with half the track still being dry, I pushed,” he stated.

“Even the high-speed was dry, so I kind of destroyed my tyres a little.

“The front tyres – you could see the rubber was already rolling over on the edges.

“I knew my pace advantage wouldn’t be as much as at the beginning of the race.

“At the very beginning, when it was wettest, Max was just as quick as us.

“As it dried, we got a lot quicker, and Red Bull started to struggle.”

Whilst he conceded that Verstappen is better at handling these types of scenarios, Norris remained positive after he held on for the victory.

“That situation was new for me,” he said.

“I’ve never led a race with five laps to go with Max behind me, trying to put me under pressure in these conditions.

“Maybe Max has had that a few times – he’s raced against Lewis [Hamilton] a lot and can deal with it better than I can.

“For me, it was a first, so it was about seeing how I handled it when I got there.

“I’m happy I got through it and stayed calm.

“It’s something I improved from last year.”

READ MORE: McLaren reveals Lando Norris won F1 Australian GP with ‘badly damaged’ floor

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Alex Albon secured crucial points for Williams with a strong fifth-place finish at the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and with a little help from his team-mate Carlos Sainz.

The 28-year-old started the Grand Prix from sixth on the grid, as he lost one place at the start to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after the race finally got underway.

Heartbreak occurred for Williams after Sainz crashed out of the race behind the Safety Car, which was brought out due to Jack Doohan binning his Alpine car on the opening lap.

The Spaniard lost control of his FW47 heading into the final corner, blaming the incident on a “massive torque surge” over the team radio.

With one Williams car left running in the race, Albon managed to keep the other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton at bay for the majority of the Grand Prix.

He eventually pitted for dry tyres, along with many other drivers, during the Safety Car brought out by Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.

With a heavy shower set to hit the circuit, Albon and Williams chose to pit early back onto the intermediates.

This decision proved to be vital, as amongst the chaos and another Safety Car, Albon found himself in fourth place before eventually finishing in fifth place.

Team Principal James Vowles credited his team-mate, Sainz, afterwards for helping him secure a significant points haul in Melbourne.

“There was an additional strategist today and that was Carlos,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“His insight was incredibly useful on that transition to the inter.

“You saw a number of teams not sure, Carlos was adamant, ‘you’re gonna want to swap on that’ – and he was spot on!”

In a press release from the team, Vowles added: “I’m unbelievably proud of this team and I can’t wait to get to Shanghai in just a few days.

“I’m looking forward to what we can do across the remainder of the season.”

Albon hails ‘fantastic start’ after P5 finish

In the remaining laps, Andrea Kimi Antonelli overtook the Thai-British-born racing driver on his Mercedes debut.

The Italian was handed a five-second time penalty, initially bumping Albon back up into fourth, but it was later rescinded after a successful appeal from the German squad.

Reflecting on his performance after the race, Albon admitted he wasn’t feeling too “confident” in the tricky conditions.

“Honestly, it was one of those really awkward races where it never felt comfortable,” he explained.

“The wind was busting like crazy, the conditions were obviously so mixed.

“I wasn’t that confident in the race; it was more about making sure you don’t make mistakes and you knew the result was going to come at the end of it.

“There were moments in the race where I felt better and other moments of the race where I felt, especially when the wind picked up, where I felt like relative to others I was losing performance.”

However, he expressed his joy after the team managed to capitalise on the chaos to pick 10 valuable points.

“I think as a team, we really executed everything we could today,” Albon added.

“First race, it’s not easy to be dialed in, if you know what I mean, in terms of strategy and approach to the weekend.

“We executed everything so well today to get that P4.

“Just a fantastic start, and it just shows we’ve made a huge step from last year.

“These results, P4s, they’re not going to come around many times this year.

“We’ve talked a lot about capitalising early, internally within Williams, trying to make sure we take advantage of rookie drivers and things like that to get them points quickly and P4 today, that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

READ MORE: Alex Albon: Australia qualifying validates Williams is at the forefront of F1 midfield ‘dogfight’

The post How Carlos Sainz played an imperative role in Alex Albon’s fifth place in Australia appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Lewis Hamilton was just glad to keep his Ferrari on the track in tricky conditions, despite finishing in a lowly 10th place at the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

In a chaotic race, Hamilton scored just a single point after the Italian squad made the wrong call during the wet-weather conditions.

The British driver mentioned on Saturday that he did not know the wet settings of his SF-25 car.

So for the majority of the Grand Prix, Hamilton trailed behind the Williams of Alex Albon as he told his new race engineer Riccardo Adami to leave him to his own devices.

A Safety Car, brought out by Fernando Alonso’s crash in the Aston Martin car, allowed most of the drivers to switch onto the dry tyres with the rain easing.

However, a heavy rain shower soon hit the circuit, and Ferrari opted to keep both cars out on track as Hamilton inherited the race lead with the leaders pitting back onto the intermediate tyres.

It turned out to be the wrong decision, as Hamilton slipped back down the order after pitting back onto the wet-weather tyres during another Safety Car.

Unable to make any further progress, his team-mate Charles Leclerc passed him as well as the recovering McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who lost second place after an off-moment at Turn 13 earlier on.

Reflecting on his Ferrari debut afterwards, however, the 40-year-old was content enough that he managed to finish the race unscathed.

“Yeah, definitely a big crash course today,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“I’m just grateful I kept it out of the wall.”

“I’m grateful I got through it, came out of it with a little bit of something, at least one point.

“Obviously I didn’t go off or spin today.

“Lacking pace, for sure, but I do believe the car has more performance than we were able to extract this weekend, and it was even less performance, for example, in the race.

“But I think it’s just settings.”

Hamilton: ‘I was in the deep, deep end today’

Getting to grips with his new car was always going to be a difficult challenge for the seven-time World Champion.

Add to that the precarious wet-weather conditions around Albert Park, Hamilton was certainly grateful just to finish the race.

But the former Mercedes driver admitted afterwards that he was still struggling with being outside of his comfort zone.

“Sometimes it’s ok, but today it felt like I was in the deep, deep end today,” he said.

“Just everything is new, from the first time I’m driving this car in the rain, the car was behaving a lot different to what I’ve experienced in the past.

“The power unit, all the steering functions, all the things that are thrown to you, you’re trying to juggle all these new things.”

Hamilton also spoke about the call from the pit wall, which ended up costing the Ferrari driver a chance at a strong points finish in his maiden race for the Scuderia.

He added: “Unfortunately, at the end they said it was just a short shower, so I was like, I’m going to hold it out, and the rest of the track was dry, so I was like, I’m going to stick it out as long as I can and keep it on the track.

“They didn’t say more was coming, and all of a sudden, more came.

“So I think it was just lacking that bit of information at the end, but I didn’t have any confidence today in it, unfortunately.

“I’m going to make some changes next week to the car, to the setup.”

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton explains qualifying deficit to Charles Leclerc amid Ferrari setback

The post Lewis Hamilton ‘grateful’ to keep Ferrari out of the wall in treacherous Australian GP appeared first on Motorsport Week.

The 11 teams set to compete in Formula 1 from 2026 onwards have all signed the commercial aspect of the new Concorde Agreement, which will come into force next year.

The agreement will last for the next five years, covering the commercial terms under which all the teams will operate under.

The renewed deal between the teams and F1’s commercial rights holders follows on from Stefano Domenicali’s contract extension to continue as the CEO of the Formula One Group.

An F1 statement read: “Formula 1 can confirm that all teams have signed the 2026 Concorde Commercial Agreement, which secures the long-term economic strength of the sport.

“Formula 1 has never been in a stronger position and all stakeholders have seen positive benefits and significant growth.

“We thank all the teams for their engagement during this process to reach the best outcome for the sport.

“The 2026 Concorde Governance Agreement will be finalized in due course.”

Under the new agreement is the inclusion of the 11th team, Cadillac, who received approval from the FIA and F1 to join the sport at the start of this month.

The governing body’s president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, will have to navigate the next part of the Concorde Agreement, which concerns governance.

In the final year of his first term as FIA president, Ben Sulayem will also have to defend his position if any other runners signal their intention to run for president later this year.

As the teams and F1 present a united front after agreeing to the commercial aspects of the Concorde agreement, the 63-year-old will be on his own as he fights for an improved deal for the FIA.

READ MORE: Liberty Media commits to Stefano Domenicali long-term as F1 CEO through 2029

The post F1 teams sign 2026 Concorde Agreement appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Trident racing driver Rafael Camara was victorious in the opening Feature Race of the 2025 Formula 3 season as heavy rain brought the race to a premature end.

On Lap 18, the red flag was waved after successive laps behind the Safety Car, as the stewards announced the Feature Race would not resume due to the weather.

Therefore, Camara would come back into the pits as the race winner in Melbourne, ahead of his team-mate, Noah Stromsted, to make it a one-two for Trident.

Theophile Nael rounded off the podium places for Van Amersfoort Racing.

VAR’s Santiago Ramos kicked off the 2025 F3 season with victory in an incident-packed Sprint Race as the Safety Car was called into action twice.

Heading into the Feature Race, James Wharton was handed a five-place grid penalty after receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision in the Sprint.

As he failed to finish the race, the time penalty was converted into a grid drop for the following race.

Lining up from pole position was Camara, after he set the fastest lap time during Friday’s qualifying session.

How the first F3 Feature Race of the year unfolded

An unfamiliar sight on the streets of Melbourne, the rain came pouring down onto the track.

The stewards announced minutes before lights out that the formation lap would begin behind the Safety Car, with all drivers set to start the race on the wet-weather tyres.

After four formation laps, a rolling start ensued as Camara made an excellent start, pulling out a sizeable gap to his team-mate as the 30 drivers attempted to navigate the tricky conditions.

With the top 10 remaining unchanged on Lap 1, the Safety Car was brought out once again.

Nikola Tsolov, in the Campos Racing car, squeezed Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin into the wall, with the pair making contact.

Both drivers were left stranded on the grass after the collision, unable to continue.

After the cars were recovered, the racing resumed on Lap 5, as Camara once again nailed the start to continue leading the Feature race.

Heading into Lap 6, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in the Campos applied heavy pressure to Trident’s Charlie Wurz in sixth place.

By Lap 7, the Brazillian racing driver had pulled out a two-second gap to Stromsted in second place.

On the following lap, Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne made a late lunge on Prema Racing driver Ugochukwu into Turn 3 to snatch eighth place.

Many drivers struggled to keep the cars on the track as the rain continued to fall down onto the circuit.

On Lap 9, Rodin’s Roman Bilinski barged past Ugo Ugochukwu to move up into ninth place.

The Polish driver battled hard with Stenshorne and Inthraphuvasak for seventh place.

Two laps later, Matias Zagazeta tagged Alessandro Giusti in the MP Motorsport car heading into Turn 13, and the DAMS Lucas Oil competitor received a 10-second time penalty for his actions.

For the second time, the Safety Car was called into action after an incident on Lap 14.

DAMS’ Christian Ho crashed after losing control of his car between Turn 6 and 7, before he was sent careering into the wall.

As a result, Camara lost his significant lead over Stromsted as heavy rain began to fall.

The Safety Car remained on track until Lap 18, when the red flag was eventually shown due to the excessive standing water on the track.

Soon after, the stewards announced that the race would not be resumed as Camara clinched his maiden victory in F3.

The required laps had been completed, meaning full points were to be rewarded.

Trident secured a one-two after Stromsted finished second, ahead of Nael in third place.

Nikita Bedrin finished in fourth, Tim Tramnitz in fifth, and Wurz sixth.

Inthraphuvasak ended the race in seventh, Stenshorne eighth, Bilinski in ninth, and Ugochukwu was the last of the point-scorers in 10th.

With victory at Albert Park, Camara has settled into an early championship lead, ahead of Nael in second and Stromsted in third.

Looking at the Teams’ Championship, Trident have made a good start, residing in first place with VAR in second and AIX Racing in third.

READ MORE: Santiago Ramos wins Melbourne F3 Sprint under Safety Car

The post Rafael Camara takes Melbourne F3 Feature Race win in tricky conditions appeared first on Motorsport Week.

After qualifying in sixth place for the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, Alex Albon expressed confidence that Williams is in the mix for the midfield battle this season.

The Thai-British-born racing driver managed to put the FW47 on the third row for Sunday’s race with a sublime qualifying lap in Q3.

On his debut for the British squad, Carlos Sainz also managed to make his way into the final qualifying session, setting a lap time good enough for 10th place.

After a decent showing at pre-season testing in Bahrain, Williams showcased that it has made big strides from 2024 towards becoming one of the top midfield teams this season.

Speaking after the session, Albon rejoiced as he expressed his excitement with the progress made by the team.

“I’m really happy with my lap; I got most of it out of it,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“These tyres are super sensitive and sector three was, at the beginning, a bit of a lottery.

“It was hard to understand why the tyre was going one way or the other way, and then by the last run of the day, I kind of hooked it up and then finally got that time out of it.

“So I’m very happy – I feel like we’ve obviously done a huge step from last year to this year, not just in terms of performance but also in terms of just parts and weight and everything else.

“It feels like we’ve approached this weekend very differently to [the] last few months.”

When asked if the team had carried its pace from Bahrain to Australia, the 28-year-old agreed but emphasised just how competitive the midfield is going to be in 2025.

“Yes, it does, I think it also validates just how tight the grid is,” Albon replied.

“I mean, the Alpine and the RB, I think any of us could have qualified P5 under the right conditions.

“It’s going to be a dogfight in the midfield, and we’re getting closer to the top teams as well.

“It’s going to be a really interesting season, it’s all to play for, I think.”

Sainz: ‘I feel like I was always one step behind’

Settling into a new team seems to be a common problem for many of the drivers on this year’s grid, including Sainz at Williams.

The Spaniard admitted after pre-season testing that he was feeling ‘a bit lost’ ahead of the season opener in Melbourne.

With limited pre-season testing, the former Ferrari driver was struggling to get to grips with his new car and find the limit whilst pushing.

The 30-year-old reiterated his concerns, despite a strong performance in qualifying, when he was asked if he was happy with his showing after the session.

“Well, first of all, [I’m] very happy for the team, for Alex, even for myself to be in Q3 with my first quali with Williams,” Sainz told media including Motorsport Week.

“If you would have told us three months ago that we would have one car P6 and the other P10, we would have definitely taken it.

“So congrats to the whole team and everyone involved.

“At the same time, I had a bit of a scrappy qualifying.

“Honestly, since FP2 and FP3 on the soft tyres, I’ve been struggling to know where to find the lap time with the out lap, with the setup of the car.

“I feel like I was always one step behind; I was trailing and reacting to the circumstances rather than being a step ahead.

“But it’s completely normal, and in a tight field, you are going to pay.

“Today, I paid the price a bit in Q3.

“But it’s only a matter of time before it starts coming and [I start] putting together a [couple] of laps, and yeah, I cannot wait.”

READ MORE: Alex Albon reveals key weakness Williams has addressed with 2025 F1 car

The post Alex Albon: Australia qualifying validates Williams is at the forefront of F1 midfield ‘dogfight’ appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri achieved a front-row lockout for McLaren, but the duo were left surprised by Ferrari’s poor qualifying for the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could only manage seventh and eighth for the Scuderia on the streets of Melbourne.

Throughout the practice sessions, the team looked competitive, with Leclerc topping the timing sheets in FP2.

Heading into qualifying, the Moneqasque continued to shine as he comfortably made his way into Q3.

The 27-year-old’s opening run was good enough for third, just shy of Max Verstappen’s time by less than a tenth.

However, he ended the session alongside Hamilton on the fourth row whilst his rivals secured a one-two.

On Thursday, Norris stated that people would be “surprised at how quick” Ferrari would be, labelling the Italian squad as the dark horses for 2025.

Yet, speaking after Saturday’s session, the British driver was left perplexed as to why his rivals finished so far down the pecking order.

“I mean, I expected more,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“They’ve been just as quick as us all weekend, we came into qualifying expecting a fight with Ferrari.

“Although Max was not far behind, as he said, he was a bit surprised to be up here.

“I felt I still took a good amount of risks in the final lap to get pole, but I did expect Ferrari to be quicker.

“Whether that’s because they didn’t put good laps in or struggled more with the car, I don’t know.

“You’d have to ask them; we all expected Ferrari to be quicker because they have been just as quick as us all weekend.

“So it’s more that they just didn’t perform in qualifying for whatever reason.”

Norris says the margins are close in 2025

After the disappointment of qualifying, Leclerc explained the team’s struggles, insisting that the car still has “a lot of potential”.

Both Ferrari drivers were over half a second off pole position, however, Norris pointed out that the intense competitiveness of this year’s grid means that teams may sometimes be misaligned with the true pace of its cars.

He explained: “People are quick to judge: ‘oh he’s there on the timesheets, they’re slower, the car isn’t good’.

“But it’s difficult out there to put a lap together.

“When you see how close one tenth can be, it can easily be three or four positions.

“A tenth is easily within most drivers every lap, especially on a track like this.

“It’s about commitment, pushing that little more on the final lap, getting off the brakes, committing to corners, pushing track limits.

“There’s a tenth in most people, sometimes two-tenths in taking those risks.”

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella added his thoughts on the matter whilst speaking to Sky Sports F1.

“This is the most factual assessment so far in terms of pecking order, but I don’t really take Ferrari’s performance today at face value,” Stella said.

“I think they’re much closer than the gap in Q3 would tell.”

Piastri similarly confused by Ferrari’s lack of pace

The home-favourite, Piastri, was also left dumbfounded by his rivals’ sub-par performance in qualifying for the Australian GP.

When asked if he agreed with his team-mate’s remarks, he said: “Yeah, I think the same.

“Going into qualifying, we expected Ferrari to be our biggest challenge.

“In FP3, any one of the top four teams looked like they could challenge.

“I don’t know, maybe we just took more sandbags out than everyone else!

“I was pleasantly surprised by the pace we had in qualifying.

“Maybe surprised by some other teams, namely Ferrari, but it’s only one session.

“The headline now is probably going to be ‘McLaren is by far the quickest’, but I think it will change a lot over the next few races.

“If we don’t know who will be quickest, I don’t know how anyone else can.

“It’s going to be a good fight, I expect Ferrari to be fast and competitive through the year.”

READ MORE: Charles Leclerc explains nightmare Ferrari F1 qualifying slump in Australia 

The post McLaren surprised by Ferrari’s lack of pace in F1 Australian GP qualifying appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Yuki Tsunoda qualified in an incredible fifth place for Racing Bulls at the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, with a little bit of help from polesitter Lando Norris.

The McLaren driver made it a one-two for the Woking-based squad, with the home-favourite Oscar Piastri behind him in second place and Max Verstappen in third.

However, the shock of Q3 came after Tsunoda managed to put the VCARB 02 onto the third row after qualifying in fifth.

With Alex Albon in the Williams joining him in the top six, the Japanese driver managed to out qualify both of the Ferrari drivers.

His Racing Bulls team-mate, Isack Hadjar, finished the session in a respectable position of 11th place, in what turned out to be an impressive start to the season for the Faenza-based outfit.

Tsunoda was ecstatic after a strong qualifying session, but he credited Norris afterwards as he revealed how the British driver contributed to his majestic lap.

“I’m very happy with the results,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“I was able to make a step, session by session. I think the last lap was definitely the best quality lap out of any session so far.

“But also I got a bit of luck from Lando as well – a bit of tow into Turn 9 – I definitely appreciate that.

“I think, overall, [it was] a bit of a magical lap. Thanks to the team as well.”

Tsunoda: Close midfield battle makes F1 ‘thrilling’

It was a challenging winter for Tsunoda after he was bypassed by Red Bull for a seat beside reigning champion Verstappen.

Therefore, this result is sure to bring a smile to the Sagamihara-born racing driver.

When asked about his performance, Tsunoda noted that the fierce competition in the midfield made the outcome even more satisfying.

“The more I build the pace, and you see in lap times, I’m able to improve session by session,” he explained.

“Definitely, I was enjoying it a lot, the car was fast.

“You kind of get used to it with this kind of tight field. Especially last year, [the] midfield was very tight.

“I knew that if I make an amazing lap, it can be very good.

“But also if you have a mistake, it can be a lot of compromise. So that’s kind of thrilling; I definitely enjoyed it a lot.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, where wet weather conditions are forecasted for the start, Tsunoda explained how the team is prepared for the anticipated tricky racing conditions.

He added: “Actually, we also prepared for the rain conditions as well. So to be honest, in terms of setup, it’s not 100% focused into the dry conditions.

“Even in rain conditions, we’re kind of confident, to be honest.

“And last [time], we had a really good performance for the intermediate as well. So any condition, I’m pretty confident.”

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