Lando Norris and Max Verstappen expressed concerns about the performance of their respective car after Friday race at the Australian Grand Prix.
Norris dominated the first practice of 2025 and finished third, behind Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, during the second more representative practice session.
McLaren stung Ferrari at the manufacturer’s championship last year and the two teams seem to lead the hierarchical order to qualify on Saturday at 5 am, live Sky Sports F1.
Norris and Piastri were both less than two tenths of Leclerc’s reference time in the second training, but the British driver was not entirely satisfied.
“It was a good start to the weekend, we have a good basic base but certainly not happy, as not confident with the car in terms of search for the best balance and to be quite coherent, especially on the weak fuel,” he said.
“The high fuel, I felt good. Just the weak fuel was always similar to Bahrain, too many inconsistencies, too many problems, so a little struggle.”
McLaren’s strong long-term rhythm was also obvious during pre-season tests in Bahrain, where Norris raised her eyebrows with excellent race simulation.
Norris Piastri’s teammate enters his third F1 season and will seek history by becoming the first Australian to win their home grand prize since he became a world championship event.
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Listen to the hilarious response of Oscar Piastri when you were asked who is more likely to beat England this year in the ashes or with his teammate Lando Norris
“The underlying pace of the car seems strong but Ferrari looks fast, Mercedes at points too. Things are fine but we don’t only want the podium, we want to aim for the first step,” said Piastri.
“A few more things to push so that the car feels a little more pleasant, but the underlying rhythm was strong.
“I am satisfied with the work of the day. I think that the conditions will be different from the next two days, so how much today means that I don’t know – but it feels good.”
Verstappen: Red Bull Performance could be a bit difficult to repair
Red Bull is on the rear foot while Verstappen was 0.624 seconds behind Leclerc in seventh place and obviously fought with the understeer.
Since last year, Red Bull has been revised by their rivals and has apparently not improved during the winter.
Verstappen, who won the last four titles of the pilots, says that Red Bull “definitely failed to fight at the front”.
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Max Verstappen of Red Bull says that he has a hard time in the four tires during training at the Australian Grand Prix.
“The balance was not even completely out, like no massive or major problem, but in one way or another, the grip did not come to life and did not struggle on the four tires, really, in a sector and the last sector,” he said.
“This of course means that we are not really up there right now.”
When asked if the problems will be easy to solve, Verstappen said: “The problem is that it is not really as if I had major balance problems, so I think it will be a bit difficult to solve.
“But it is not so nothing that I did not expect when I arrived here, so I am not surprised or negatively on the rhythm we show.”
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Max Verstappen is testing his cricket skills with the players of England Reece Topley, Issy Wong and Will Jacks. With the kind permission of Oracle Red Bull Racing and England Cricket
Liam Lawson fought even more during his beginnings to Full Red Bull while he finished the 16th and 17th of the two training sessions on Friday.
“I’m comfortable but too slow. We have a lot of work to do overnight,” he said.
“The first day on a new track, we expected to have work to do, but probably not as much. We will work there overnight and try to improve tomorrow.”
The New Zealander has the difficult challenge to be a teammate of Verstappen, after the Dutchman has comfortably defeated Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez in the last six seasons in Red Bull.
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Liam Lawson gets closer too much to the barriers of his Red Bull during P1 of the Australian GP
Lawson, which only started 11 Grands Prix, could fight to get out of the first trimester if practice is something to pass.
“I think if we knew we would also know how to resolve it,” said Lawson to find out if Red Bull can solve their problems.
“In general, it is enough to enter, when we must use it in the short term, but in general, our long -term rhythm has also been slow. We will obviously work there.”
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The couple of Mercedes George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli reflect on the day of difficult practice in Australia.
Russell: A day from top to bottom for Mercedes
George Russell led the Mercedes accusation on Friday, but was only 10th on the second try, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli in 16th.
At one point, Russell went the fastest on the hard tires at the start of the session, but Mercedes fought on the softs.
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Mercedes pilot, Kimi Antonelli, told Sky Sports that it was a positive day and that he feels more confident of the Australian Grand Prix.
“It was a day really from top to bottom because each time we had the medium or the hard tire, we were in the top two of the time leaves and each turn felt good. Then we put the sweet and we did not go much faster,” he said.
“So, clearly, there is a little rhythm in the car and he just draws the best party from the tires, so we have to understand why. Let’s see what we can do overnight.”
Sky Sports F1 live Australian GP Time
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The strategy analyst and former head of the Aston Martin Bernie Collins strategy breaks down your best chances of winning the F1 calendar opening race, the Australian Grand Prix
Saturday March 15
- 12:10 pm: F3 Sprint *
- 1h10: Australian GP Practice Three (session starts at 1:30 am) *
- 3:10 am: F2 Sprint *
- 4:15 am: accumulation of Australian qualification GP *
- 5 am: Australian GP Qualify *
- 7 am: Ted * qualification book *
- 7:30 am: Australian qualification releasing GP * (9 am on Sky Showcase)
- 9:55 p.m.: F3 Race Feature *
Sunday March 16
- 12:25 p.m.: F2 Race Feature *
- 2:30 am: Australian GP Build-up: Grand Prix Sunday *
- 4 am: The Australian Grand Prix *
- 6 a.m.
- 7 am: TED notebook *
- 7:55 am: Australian rereading GP Race
- 10 a.m.
- 7 p.m.: Villeneuve Pironi – Unpublished trady of the race
* Also on the main event of Sky Sports
Look at the 24 racing weekends from the Formula 1,2025 live season live Sky Sports F1Starting with the Australian GP this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time
