Lando Norris jokes he’s ‘sad’ after stealing pole from Oscar Piastri at Australian GP

Lando Norris opened up on his feelings after taking pole position away from Oscar Piastri in front of the latter's home fans.

Lando Norris jokes he’s ‘sad’ after stealing pole from Oscar Piastri at Australian GP

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

The 2025 Formula 1 season is underway with the Australian GP weekend. Reigning world champions McLaren matched expectations after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row at Albert Park on Saturday. However, Norris has confessed that he had mixed feelings as he crossed the line to secure pole position.

The Australian GP is the home race of Oscar Piastri. The Melbourne track was filled with fans cheering for the local hero. Piastri even found himself on provisional pole with less than a minute to spare in Q3. Unfortunately, Lando Norris pushed him down to second place.

YouTube video

In the post-qualifying press conference, Lando Norris was asked if he felt guilty over breaking hearts of thousands of Aussie fans. The 25-year-old confessed that he genuinely did feel bad over stealing pole position from his teammate. Norris claimed that he was the sort of person who feels bittersweet in such scenarios.

FS Video

I’m pretty sad actually.. listen, I’m the kind of guy that would say yes it’s bittersweet because I don’t want to upset people.

Lando Norris said

On the other hand, the British driver pointed out that he was simply doing his job for the Woking-based team. Lando Norris outqualified Piastri by less than a tenth of a second with both drivers expected to be in a close contest for victory on Sunday.

But it’s also my job and what I get paid to do.

Lando Norris added

Oscar Piastri opens up on costly Qualifying mistake

The Australian driver looked comfortable throughout the weekend. However, Oscar Piastri lost time to Norris in some crucial areas on the track which inevitably cost him pole position at his home race. The 23-year-old opened up on his potential errors during the final run.

Oscar Piastri (via Alamy)
Oscar Piastri (image via Alamy)

Piastri pinpointed that he lost significant time in the final sector compared to his previous runs during the session. Moreover, the McLaren driver revealed that during his initial Q3 run, he had locked up and ran wide in the same sector as well.

I think the sector 3, I lost a little bit of time compared to the lap before from Q2, and I also locked up there and went off in the first run of Q3, so I didn’t really want to do that twice.

Oscar Piastri said, as quoted by RacingNews365

The 23-year-old admitted that he could have had more pace and potentially taken pole position from Lando Norris. Though, Oscar Piastri asserted that everyone was facing challenging conditions during the session. Thus, he emphasized that he was glad to be starting the Grand Prix from the second slot on the grid.

And yeah, maybe left it a little bit on the table. But I think it was pretty tricky out there for everybody. Q3 at the start looked pretty messy, so I’m just happy to be on the front row and have a good start.

Oscar Piastri stated

The two McLarens will start ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver was a few tenths slower than Norris and Piastri. Yet, the Red Bull star will not be afraid from going wheel-to-wheel in an attempt to clinch the lead during the start of the race.

Who will win the Australian GP?

Before the start of the weekend, McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes were all expected to be in the mix for race victory at Albert Park. However, Qualifying has given some clarity over the pecking order and the potential race winner on Sunday.

Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan in Australian GP press-conference (via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan in Australian GP press-conference (via IMAGO)

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri enjoy an ample pace advantage compared to the rest of the teams. Unless the two face major issues during the race, it is likely that the Woking-based team will take victory at the first race of the season. So far, Norris seems to have an edge over Piastri and could be the one who crosses the chequered in first place.

Max Verstappen can never be ruled out. The Dutch driver might not have been be as quick as McLaren on Saturday, however, there are no doubts that he will be planning to bounce back in the race. If things go in Verstappen’s favor, he could have a shot at race victory.

Meanwhile, Mercedes’ George Russell starts the race from P4, with an outside chance for the win if things go wrong ahead of him. On the other hand, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton start P7 and P8 respectively, effectively putting them out of contention unless rain makes things interesting midway through the race.