Lando Norris makes McLaren F1 team orders admission with Oscar Piastri on his heels

McLaren locked out the front row in Melbourne with Lando Norris taking pole position for the Australian Grand Prix while Oscar Piastri was second quickest in qualifying

Lando Norris has confirmed team-mate Oscar Piastri will be free to attack him from the get-go in Melbourne.

McLaren locked out the front row for the Australian Grand Prix with Norris taking pole position for the first race of the year. Piastri narrowly missed out on the chance the lead his home race off the line by less than one tenth of a second.

It remains to be seen how the team will approach any duels between their two drivers during the race. Last season saw some tense moments between the two team-mates, with debates stirred both within the team and among fans.

Norris experienced a surprise pass by Piastri in Monza’s opening lap last year, and tension escalated in Hungary after a strategy call by McLaren inadvertently favoured the Australian, creating an uncomfortable dynamic.

As the 2024 season progressed, the team threw their weight behind Norris in the race for the title against Max Verstappen. However, he insists things are different going into the new season with a clean slate for both the McLaren drivers to get off the the best start that they can.

The Brit said: “There has obviously been discussions because we’re prepared. We know we’re going to have a lot more of this kind of thing over the course of the season. There are clearly rules – I answered this the other day – there are clearly rules we cannot cross. Both cars will always have to stay in the race, and that kind of thing.

“But we’re both competitors, that’s clear. We both want to fight for a win and fight for victories – that is clear. But there’s just boundaries around the car, so just a little bit more space here and there, but we’re free to race. We’re free to try and win races.

“But what won us last year the constructors’ [championship] was how we helped one another out and how we kept things clean and how there was order when there needed to be. But a lot of that was very much later in the season and when external things were happening.

“At the minute, there is none of that, so it’s good. We’re both excited, and we’ll, of course, always have our morning talks, but we’ll wait and see.” They will have to be wary of what is behind them when the race starts on Sunday with defending champion Verstappen third on the grid.

But it was a less fruitful day for Ferrari who struggled for pace in qualifying and were left much further down the grid than they would have liked as a result. Lewis Hamilton managed to go only eighth fastest and will line up one place behind new team-mate Charles Leclerc on the fourth row.