Allegiances considered, even the meanest of Formula 1 enthusiasts would have loved a fairytale story out of qualifying in the Australian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari attracting the sort of goodwill that top level racing has rarely seen in modern times.
However, reality is real and in the real world, the fastest cars get ahead.
And so it proved Saturday morning as qualifying for the season-opening GP in Melbourne ended in a one two for McLaren's speed stars.
Prior to qualifying, most agreed that McLaren had the car to beat and so it became as Lando Norris took pole with a time of 1:15.096, with the gap between himself and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri 0.084 seconds.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was down nearly four tenths on Norris' time in third for Redbull, while Mercedes who are getting used to life without Hamilton, took fourth through George Russell.
Ferrari's Hamilton's qualifying debut was off by 0.877 seconds and was down in eighth behind his teammate Charles Leclerc.
The main race takes place Sunday morning.
Starting Grid
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4. George Russell (Mercedes)
5. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)
6. Alex Albon (Williams)
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
8. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
10. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
11. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
13. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
14. Jack Doohan (Alpine)
15. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
16. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
17. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
18. Liam Lawson (Red Bull)
19. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
20. Oliver Bearman (Haas)