Australian Grand Prix
Driver of the Day: Bernd Mayländer
Formula One parachuted into Melbourne ready to kick off the 2025 season, with several new faces on the track and Lewis donning rossa corsa in his new Ferrari. With testing completed, fans were eager to stack the teams following a late surge from McLaren in the previous season and the field getting tighter within the newest set of regulations.
Qualifying
The wait is finally over—the sandbags came off and fans got a look at the new drivers and old around Albert Park in Q1. Turn six and ten quickly snagged a few carrying too much speed through the corner—both right before flat-out sections—and the gravel traps successfully claimed several victims. Due to the nature of the current regulations, gravel severely interrupts the downforce created underneath the car, damaging beyond a simple replacement in the garage. Liam Lawson was unable to set a competitive lap after a couple of mishaps, as was Kimi Antonelli, unexpectedly ending the day for the two freshmen in top cars. Hulkenberg, Ocon, and Bearman went out as well after the latter experienced some technical issues early in the session.
The second session was fairly uneventful until Hamilton spun coming out of turn 11. He recovered and was able to set a time to make it through. The big surprise was that both Williams drivers, Albon and Sainz, made it into Q3 (when was the last time that happened? Respectfully).
The last qualifying session was a barn burner with drivers stealing P1 one after another. Norris grabs it first then has his time deleted for track limits, Piastri then takes it, then Leclerc, Russell, Norris again, and Verstappen. It ended with Norris on pole and the McLarens securing the front row, three-tenths ahead of Verstappen and the rest of the field—and a sigh of relief from Woking is heard around the world. McLaren’s pace is unmistakable.
Grand Prix
The teams saw the rain coming but no one was ready for how quickly this race would turn into chaos. During the formation lap, Isack Hadjar spun coming out of corner four and hit the barrier, resulting in a red flag and restart. Probably not how he saw his Formula One debut going, but led to a touching moment of Anthony Hamilton (Lewis’ dad) consoling him—followed by Lewis after the race.
The grid reforms, the lights go out, and Verstappen quickly passes Piastri, while Leclerc also gains two positions. But the race is yellow-flagged on the first lap as Doohan crashes out of turn five, followed by Sainz binning it around the penultimate corner during the safety car. The word at the time is that because it’s a street circuit, the paint used for lane markers is slick compared to that of purpose-built tracks. Sainz claimed it felt like a torque surge but it was most likely caused by accelerating over the painted pavement. An immense letdown after the build-up of hype around Williams this weekend and Carlos having won the Australian Grand Prix last year.
On lap eight the safety car came into the pits and the race is back underway, with drivers drifting around the track on inters. The track began to dry out a bit and DRS was made available, with Hamilton and Antonelli quickly taking advantage, followed by Antonelli spinning out soon after and having to pass Hulkenberg again. On lap 17, Piastri gets past Verstappen after a rare mistake by the Dutchman, and the McLarens are back to 1-2. Piastri quickly caught up to Norris and received team orders to hold the position—the team might have learned their lesson from last year—resulting in a frustrated Oscar. After a dip into the gravel, Piastri falls back from Norris and gets the call that he’s free to race his teammate to everyone’s confusion.
Alonso is the next out, causing another safety car and bringing the field into the pits to put on slicks. The green flag flew for lap 42, but the Doppler doesn’t look friendly—nobody wants to be caught out on slicks in the rain, but it’s only going to be a short burst of—
OFF GOES MCLAREN! Both Lando and Oscar overshoot turn 11 into the gravel and grass, Lando maintains control but Oscar drifts sideways across the entire track into another grass runoff by past turn 12. He’s beached (lawned?), but the Aussie is determined to finish his home race and reverses back to the pavement, receiving cheers from the stands as he reenters the race in second-to-last place.
Both McLarens pit, Verstappen stays out a few more laps to take the lead for the first time in 2025. But that rain isn’t going anywhere and he’s forced to pit after sliding around the track on the 46th lap. Bortoleto is the next driver out, bringing another safety car. The new order after everyone pits were Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Albon, and Antonelli.
Max somehow stuck behind Lando for the remaining laps, after not having near the pace of the McLarens earlier in the race. Oscar fought back to ninth place, with a nail-biter pass on Hamilton on the last lap at the 9-10 chicane. Lando Norris wins the Australian Grand Prix.
Starting Grid
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Yuki Tsunoda
Alexander Albon
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton
Pierre Gasly
Carlos Sainz
Isack Hadjar
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Jack Doohan
Gabriel Bortoleto
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Nico Hulkenberg
Liam Lawson
Esteban Ocon
Oliver Bearman
Race Results
Lando Norris
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Alexander Albon
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Lance Stroll
Nico Hulkenberg
Charles Leclerc
Oscar Piastri
Lewis Hamilton
Pierre Gasly
Yuki Tsunoda
Esteban Ocon
Oliver Bearman
DNF - Liam Lawson
DNF - Gabriel Bortoleto
DNF - Fernando Alonso
DNF - Carlos Sainz
DNF - Jack Doohan
DNF - Isack Hadjar
What an opening weekend! McLaren showed some serious pace and looks like they’ll be the team to beat before the first rounds of upgrades start arriving. Williams and Ferrari were both equal surprises but not for the same reason, as the Scuderia barely stayed in the points. Driver of the day was Lando, but Kimi’s performance was severely overlooked, gaining 11 positions in his first Formula One race at 18 years old–quite the recovery after a disastrous qualifying.
The new driver lineups, upper-midfield power struggle, and paddock shenanigans are shaping up well for the 2025 season. Next up: China.