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| Photo Credit: Pirelli & C. S.p.A. |
The thundering sounds of Formula 1 engines once again flood the world. The stunning country of Australia serves as the first host of 24 events part of the eagerly awaited 2025 season. Major driver and personnel changes have led to uncertainties during the off-season that has only succeeded in dialling up intrigue for the new year of racing.
In the early part of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix race weekend, it was becoming clear that McLaren and British driver Lando Norris would be a major force. The team seeks to defend their 2024 constructors’ title while Norris is viewed as a future world champion. Saturday qualifying saw Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri secured the front row ahead of the Melbourne event.
For Sunday’s main event, the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix would be impacted by rain showers. The wet Albert Park race track may have contributed to all six driver retirements with the first occurring even before the first lap. As engines started for the formation lap of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, the dicey driving conditions were immediately apparent as Racing Bulls F1 Team driver Isack Hadjar lost traction resulting in race-ending damage to his car. Since the accident occurred on the formation lap, the French rookie left his first Formula 1 race weekend without an official grand prix start.
After a brief delay to collect the Racing Bulls machine, the 2025 Australian Grand Prix officially started when the five red lights turned off for a 57-lap event (shortened by one lap due to the first aborted start). In a largely orderly start among the 19 remaining competitors, Max Verstappen managed to split the McLaren drivers passing Oscar Piastri for second place.
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| Photo Credit: Mercedes Benz AG/Jiri Krenek |
Although drivers avoided issues through the initial corners of the first lap, Jack Doohan spun on the wet track and crashed his Alpine. As a safety car period was placed on the field for Doohan, a second crash on the same lap involved Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver’s debut with Williams Racing ended at turn 14 as the latest casualty of wet track. A total of three safety car periods interrupted the 2025 Australian Grand Prix with later instances caused by the crash of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the final caused by Red Bull Racing’s Liam Lawson and Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
The Australian track remained damp through much of the race distance leaving intermediate Pirelli the main form of traction. Most front-running teams would affix slick tires to their race cars on lap 33-34 during a safety car period but the reappearance of rain roughly 10 laps later resulted in a hurried rush back to the intermediate tires. This rain shower proved greatly alarming for the lead McLarens at the time with both experiencing brief off-track excursions due to the rapid loss of traction. Lando Norris in the lead was only a slight bobble but Oscar Piastri (running in second place at the time) sailed off track on turn 13 sliding through the grass. Piastri regained momentum and would recover to finish in the points but the Australian had his hopes of home glory dashed.
A six-lap sprint to the chequered flag saw Lando Norris fending off Max Verstappen for top honours at the Australian Grand Prix. Maintaining his dominant form where he controlled much of the race from pole position, Norris took victory in Melbourne by just under a second over the Red Bull Racing driver. The British driver has greatly cemented the case of him being preseason favourite for the 2025 Formula 1 world drivers’ championship.
Finishing second, Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Racing team first race in 2025 ended on the podium but they continue to lack the authoritative performance they possessed in 2023 but started losing during the 2024 Formula 1 season. Joining Lando Norris and Verstappen in the podium festivities was third place-finishing George Russell piloting his Mercedes-AMG vehicle.
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| Photo Credit: Pirelli & C. S.p.A. |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli proved admirably in his debut in Formula 1 behind the wheel of the second Mercedes-AMG race car. After the crew discovered damage to Antonelli’s car after Saturday qualifying that resulted in a disappointing 16th place starting spot, the #12 race machine found its way up the grid through solid driving and team strategy. At the moment of the chequered flag, Antonelli was handed a five-second time penalty due to a pit lane infraction but the offence was overturned after review. Andrea Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes-AMG team celebrated a fourth place finish putting the organization’s total constructors’ points equal with McLaren after the first round.
Alexander Albon and Williams Racing backed up another strong qualifying showing with a while executed race continuing with fifth in the final running order. Surviving in wet weather nicely in the #18 Aston Martin, Canada’s Lance Stroll drove to sixth place in an excellent effort. Nico Hulkenberg’s return to the Kick Sauber organization resulted in a seventh place finish. With the six points scored by constructors’ championship, the effort exceeds Kick Sauber’s points total in all of 2024.
Following optimism in preseason, Scuderia Ferrari leaves Melbourne with an underwhelming start to 2025. The team briefly gambled leaving drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on track on slick tires when rain showers returned late in the race but any strategy failed with the arrival of the third safety car. Leclerc finished eighth while Hamilton grabbed the final race point crossing the line at the end of the Australian Grand Prix in tenth place.
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| 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Race Results |
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