2025 F1 Australian GP Qualifying: Winners and Losers

The 2025 F1 Australian GP Qualifying is now done and dusted, and we have a McLaren front row. The team has delivered on the pre-season promise that was obvious during the test. On pole position would be Lando Norris who starts the season in the same way as he ended 2024.

The gap between the two drivers wasn't much but the gap to Max Verstappen in P3 was pronounced. Ferrari had a shocker of sorts as the team could only secure the fourth row with Charles Leclerc in P7 and Lewis Hamilton in P8.

As the adrenaline now comes down and the drivers look ahead to the race on Sunday, who would be happy with how the session went and who would be a bit disappointed? Let's take a look.

2025 F1 Australian GP Qualifying

Winner

McLaren

McLaren's biggest weakness last season was the fact that it started the season on the backfoot. Had the team started 2024 with the same level of competitiveness that it had post Miami, Lando Norris would have clinched the title.

The 2025 F1 Australian GP has already shown that McLaren has eradicated that weakness. The car is the class of the field right now and it has secured the front row. As the reigning constructors champions, this is how you lay down the marker.

Loser

Ferrari

Ferrari ended the 2024 season right on the heels of McLaren and the fact that the same team now finds its two excellent drivers starting the race on the 4th row is a serious question mark on the team's ability.

What's worse is that Ferrari was the class of the field in the Australian GP last season. This time around, the car is still strong but it's been outdeveloped by McLaren, if not others.

Additionally, one has to question when the team's strategic unit would be a more precise outfit as sending out drivers on used soft tires was a strategy that raised a lot of eyebrows.

Winner

Yuki Tsunoda

Beneath that helmet, Yuki Tsunoda would have a smile on his face today. It's not only the fact that he achieved a career best P5 in the Racing Bulls but the fact that Liam Lawson will be starting the F1 Australian GP outside of the top 15.

There's probably an element of the Japanese driver heaving a sigh of relief because next to Max Verstappen in a Red Bull, almost every driver looks bad. In the Racing Bull, Tsunoda can now continue to do his best and possibly garner positive attention from other outfits.

Loser

Red Bull

While it might be too early to jump to conclusions about Liam Lawson but the trend is unmistakable. Every driver who has replaced Daniel Ricciardo since 2019 has faced the same fate and it's about time Red Bull realizes that it's not the driver it's the car.

Gasly was destroyed at Red Bull, he left the team and has massively repaired his reputation. The same holds true for Albon as well. Lawson gave a good account of himself at the sister team but has been made to look below par in the F1 Australian GP qualifying.

Red Bull is facing potential challenges right now which would essentially be triggered the day Max Verstappen leaves the squad.

Winner

Alex Albon

The F1 Australian GP qualifying has Alex Albon slotted in P6 and it serves as a reminder for everyone that Williams has not one but two brilliant drivers. A lot of attention has been focussed on Carlos Sainz and rightly so but Albon is making it clear that he would not cede ground just like that.

Loser

Haas

Team Principal Ayao Komatsu is facing his first baptism by fire as the boss at Haas because nobody including the squad expected such a shocker of an outcome. During the F1 Australian GP qualifying, not only was the car at the bottom of the timesheets, it was not even within striking range.

What's an even bigger surprise is that this deficit has been discovered by the team during the F1 Australian GP race weekend and there was no indication of it before this. If this is the level of the car, it raises serious concerns about what the team is capable of in 2025.