Australian Grand Prix: Norris takes pole with Hamilton eighth

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made it a McLaren one-two in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, while Lewis Hamilton took eighth on his Ferrari debut.

Norris and Piastri made life difficult for themselves with mistakes on their first laps in the final part of qualifying, but both produced strong laps on their final runs.

Briton Norris beat Australian Piastri by 0.084 seconds as both knocked early pace-setter Max Verstappen’s Red Bull down to third in Melbourne.

Verstappen improved on his final run despite brushing the gravel in the fast chicane at Turns Nine and 10 and ended up 0.385secs off the pace, but managed to stay ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in fourth.

Hamilton was 0.218secs slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc as the Ferraris took the fourth row behind the impressive Racing Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Williams of Alex Albon.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Williams’ Carlos Sainz completed the top 10. (BBC)