How will the grid line up for the 2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix?

The first race of the 2025 Formula 1 season is just a few hours away.

How will the drivers take to the grid?

McLaren locked out the front row for the Australian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris capturing pole position just ahead of teammate — and hometown hero — Oscar Piastri. This gives Norris a chance to win his second race when starting from pole position, and his second in a row, as he ended the 2024 season with a win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix starting from P1.

However, there are some quick drivers that will be behind the McLaren duo when the lights go out. 2024 F1 Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen starts third, with George Russell alongside him in P4. The third row offers a pair of surprises, as Yuki Tsunoda will start fifth, and Alex Albon sixth.

It is an all-red fourth row, as Charles Leclerc starts seventh alongside new teammate Lewis Hamilton, who qualified eighth.

Pierre Gasly from Alpine starts ninth while Carlos Sainz Jr. from Williams rounds out the top ten, starting in tenth.

At the back of the field Oliver Bearman — who failed to set a time after a gearbox failure in Q1 — will start from pit lane after Haas made a change to the suspension on his car under parc ferme conditions.

Here is the full starting grid for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.

Alex Pereira’s fall could be as fast as his unlikely rise in MMA.

Whether you felt “Poatan” did enough to beat Magomed Ankalaev or not, officially he took a loss at UFC 313 and it’s fair to say this was his most lackluster performance in some time. The now-former light heavyweight champion was No. 2 in our Pound-for-Pound Rankings heading into his fourth defense of the 205-pound belt, which meant either Ankalaev was about to crack the top 3 or Pereira had to make a big drop.

As it turns out, Pereira fell all the way to No. 10 in our rankings, which seems harsh, but it’s a harsh game and it’s possible that this was just a necessary course correction to Pereira maybe being too high in the first place?

Check out our discussion on the latest Rankings Show below.

You all also had plenty to say about our decision, so check out your comments below and more of the best reactions to the biggest stories of the week.

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Brendan Schaub had his theory for why the UFC 313 broadcast went haywire on ESPN+ and it’s fair to say his credibility is in question.

Jalin Turner releases statement on retirement at UFC 313, leaves door open for future return

Jalin Turner announced a surprise retirement at the age of 29, leaving many to wonder what could have been.

Magomed Ankalaev throws shade at ‘steroid machine’ Jon Jones after spoiling plans with UFC 313 win

Another week, another UFC champion throwing shade at Jon Jones.

Manel Kape shuts the door on eye poke controversy, feels Asu Almabayev running away was more of an ‘embarrassment’

Manel Kape isn’t apologizing for his fouls in his UFC Vegas 103 main event win over Asu Almabayev. But maybe he should?

Brian Ortega chops off hair for great cause

Brian Ortega with a nice gesture the MMA community seemed to appreciate.

Who are the least compelling UFC champions right now?

We know this wasn’t a nice question to ask, but thank you for answering anyway.

Poll of the Week

In other MMA news...

• Roman Dolidze took care of business in the UFC Vegas 104 main event, avenging a loss to Marvin Vettori from two years ago

• Former Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov scored his first win since parting ways with the promotion and moved one step closer to a UFC contract
• The same could be said of past Ultimate Fighter champion Diego Brandao, who made a successful return to U.S. soil with a blistering wheel kick knockout
• Paddy Pimblett takes a shot at Dustin Poirier’s retirement plans
• Check out the best finishes from the regional and international scene in the latest Missed Fists
• Mairon Santos is staying humble when it comes to his contentious win over Francis Marshall
• Jeremy Stephens is BACK as he has signed on to fight Mason Jones at UFC Des Moines