Lawson got through seven laps in the first session, but was 0.578s off the mark needed to advance to the second group. Norris also topped the second and third sessions, and took pole position with a best time of 1m 15.096s.
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri made sure McLaren locked out the front row, and finished just 0.084s behind Norris, while Lawson’s Red Bull stablemate Max Verstappen took third, finishing with a best time of 1m 15.481s.
Tasked with being within 0.3s per lap of Verstappen this season, Lawson’s qualifying mark was 1.998s back from his teammate. Worryingly for Lawson, the Kiwi was the slowest qualifier of the four Red Bull affiliated cars, as Racing Bulls pair Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar will start fifth and 11th respectively.
Lawson wasn’t the only driver from a title-contending team to go out in the first session, after Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was eliminated in 16th position after opting to try and qualify on the medium tyres, instead of the quicker softs.
Potentially in the Kiwi’s favour, though, is rain forecast for Sunday’s Grand Prix, as a hope of narrowing the field for the 20 drivers.
Lawson going out in the first session, though, continues an underwhelming record for the second Red Bull car. In 2024, Sergio Perez was eliminated in the first session on six separate occasions, despite being in a car that his teammate was able to win a world title with.
After an issue with his power unit curtailed Lawson’s involvement in the weekend’s final practice session, Red Bull’s mechanics were able to repair his car in the two-and-a-half hour window to make sure the Kiwi was able to line up for qualifying.
However, given the challenge of Red Bull’s RB21 car, Lawson was unable to better his initial qualifying mark in the final minutes. Lawson was on course to better his time, but left the track at the final corner to ensure he wouldn’t advance through to the second session.
“We expected the start of [qualifying] to be tough,” Lawson told the host broadcaster after qualifying. “To be honest, the first laps we expected to be off, and then planned on building through the session.
“But obviously going off [the track] on that second lap put everything out of order. The last lap was good, honestly. Just until the last sector where I had a big drop.
“Missing [practice] doesn’t help any of this, but I shouldn’t be going off in quali. We feel like we made a step with the car today, regardless of this. Obviously Max is in a good position, we definitely made a step.
“The weather tomorrow is going to be a little bit variable, so let’s see.”
If it’s any consolation for the Kiwi, his return to Formula One last year saw him start 19th in Austin, and come away with ninth place after the Grand Prix.
Earlier, after setting the 16th and 17th fastest times on the first day of practice on Friday, Lawson was limited to just two laps in Saturday’s final session, his last chance to get any time on track before qualifying.
What was thought to initially be an issue with the battery of Lawson’s RB21 was later found to be a pneumatic problem, and saw Red Bull’s entire mechanic crew spend more than 40 minutes attempting to fix it, to no avail. The setback was the last thing Lawson needed after admitting to struggling for pace on Friday.
Lawson is driving at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit for the first time in a single-seater, but managed just 52 laps across the three practice sessions. Only Haas’ Ollie Bearman managed less, after crashing in practice one, and beaching his car in practice three – with just 13 completed laps to his name, before also failing to set a qualifying mark.
