Max Verstappen started the defence of his Formula One World Championship title with third place as Yuki Tsunoda claimed a surprising fifth place.

In the first qualifying session of the 2025 season the two Red Bull teams had different results for the Australian Grand Prix.

Dutchman Verstappen, who is looking to bank his fifth drivers’ title in a row this season, finished behind the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to share the second row with Mercedes George Russell.

The four time World Champion Max Verstappen said: “I think today’s performance was the best we could have hoped for. Yesterday’s practice sessions were quite tough, but we made quite a few improvements to the car and it felt a lot better to drive.

“The gap is still big to McLaren and we don’t have the same pace as them at the moment, so there are still improvements to be made. However, we performed better than I expected and the car has given us enough confidence to push.

“Ultimately P3 today is a good result that I am happy with and it is good that we have found a bit more pace.

“Tomorrow, I don’t mind if it is dry or wet, but I do think it will be a lot nicer for the fans if it is good weather for them. I will just do my best and see how we go tomorrow.”

Verstappen’s new Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Liam Lawson didn’t manage to capture the form that landed him a seat going out in the first qualifying round in eighteenth place.

Lawson had missed the final practice session with a technical problem on his car.

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Liam Lawson said: “After missing P3 we expected the start of quali to be tough, as we missed a lot of soft tyre prep that others got in.

So, to be honest the first laps were expected to be off and then we were planning to just build through the session. But obviously going off on that second lap put everything out of order a bit.

“The last lap was decent until the final sector, we were about half a second up and we should have just kept improving but I had a big drop with my tyres and made a mistake – that’s the main reason we are out, it was stupid from me.

“Getting the tyres in the right window is something we have been battling with both cars this weekend and it’s something we missed practising with, when we had an improved set-up, with a big step up for P3. Missing P3 doesn’t help any of this, we have had a huge lack of running, but I also shouldn’t be going off.

“If I had put it together, we wouldn’t be in this situation. It is obviously not a good start, but we will have tomorrow to try and make something out of it, the weather is set to be variable, so we’ll see. I would love some rain to come to throw some options in there for us.”

Meanwhile Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Japanese driver Tsunoda wowed the Melbourne crowd in his fifth season for the team by finishing just behind the Mercedes’ George Russell in fifth.

Speaking after his surprise qualifying performance Yuki Tsunoda said: “I didn’t expect us to have this result today, I definitely wasn’t expecting to be P5, I was more expecting to be in the top 10. I knew it would be a tight field, but the last lap was a pretty magical lap; I was able to put it all together.

“I got a little bit of help from Lando (Norris) with a tow, so I’m appreciative of that. The lap time came a bit out of nowhere, but the car has been consistently good over the week.

“The team pushed really really hard, I’m surprised to be honest how much of a step up we’ve made since Abu Dhabi, you can tell from this result the hard work they’ve put in over the off season, so well done to them and the team at the factory.

“We know we’re going to have a bit of rain tomorrow, we’re prepared with the set-up of the car. I’m sure the car will perform well so I’m excited and confident, just have to stay focussed.”

His new French-Algerian teammate Isack Hadjar also impressed on his debut missing out on an appearance in the final round of qualifying with an impressive eleventh spot on the grid.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar said “I’m quite happy today, and coming to this weekend, I’d have signed for this result in my first Qualifying in Formula One. I had a good feeling in Q1, and then in Q2, I lost a bit of lap time during my lap as I wasn’t as happy with the balance.

“I know where I lost time, and that’s why I’m a bitfrustrated. Albert Park is a very particular circuit, but this performance fromus as a team with also Yuki in P5 shows we worked hard after Bahrain Testing, making some steps forward and allowing us to have a better understanding of the car.

“Looking at tomorrow where rain is forecast, I’ve never driven in wet conditions with all the other cars around, only once alone in a TPC, so I can’t count on much experience, but instead it will be important to use the instinct and smartness.”