Australian GP Report
The 2025 Formula 1 World Championship got off to a flying start in Melbourne with a fabulously entertaining Australian GP that saw rain creating an unpredictable race and catching out both rookies and established stars.
In the end the winners were Lando Norris and McLaren, but it was far from straightforward for the man who many regard as the title favourite.
McLaren had a clean sweep in qualifying with Norris ahead of local hero Oscar Piastri. After struggling in Friday practice Max Verstappen and Red Bull showed that they are still in the hunt by earning third on the grid, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell.
All weekend the forecast was for the race was rain, and thus it was no surprise when Sunday morning was soaking wet, with showers coming and going during the day.
A couple of support events were called off, but the rain had eased enough to allow the main race to start with everyone on intermediate wet tyres – albeit after a short delay created by a crash on the formation lap for rookie Isack Hadjar.
At the second attempt Verstappen spoiled McLaren’s day by getting past Piastri and slotting into second behind Norris. However Piastri kept the pressure on, and the Dutchman made a rare mistake and ran wide, allowing the McLaren man to get into second.
As the track dried out and intermediate tyres began to wear into slicks everyone was waiting for a safety car as the obvious opportunity to change to proper dry tyres. It came when Fernando Alonso crashed his Aston Martin on lap 34, triggering stops for the whole field.
It took a while for the marshals to clean up the Alonso crash scene, and only a few laps after the restart the rain returned, and suddenly slicks were not the right tyre to be on.
The McLaren drivers were the first to find out, with both Norris and Piastri sliding wide on the third last corner. Norris managed to get back on the track and dive into the pits for inters, but Piastri spun and got stuck on the wet grass.
While most cars dived into the pits Verstappen was one of several drivers who stayed out before realising that it was hopeless task. With two cars in the barriers the safety car came out again.
When action resumed Norris was pushed hard by Verstappen, but he managed to hold on in front. Piastri recovered from 13th to ninth place, salvaging a couple of points, but it was a lot less than he deserved given McLaren’s obvious status as the fastest team. The team was good on its tyres in all conditions, which will be a key advantage this year.
Verstappen was closer than he perhaps should have been, and there was a little Max magic in his performance. In contrast his new Red Bull team mate Liam Lawson was off his pace all weekend and crashed when he tried to stay out on dry tyres.
Mercedes was the third best team at the opening round, and Russell had a fairly quiet run to third. Meanwhile his rookie team mate Kimi Antonelli did a sensational job to climb up the order, the 18-year-old surviving a gentle spin but otherwise impressing everyone with his assured touch.
Ferrari should have been the fourth best team on the day, but by staying out too long on slicks both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton lost ground, eventually finishing eighth and 10th. It was a tough first outing for Hamiton with the Italian outfit, and he admits that he has much work to do.
Tyre gambles meant that some drivers were unexpectedly high up the order. Alex Albon drove well all weekend to take fifth for Williams, showing that the team is in the mix this year. Lance Stroll for Aston and Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber took advantage of good tyre calls to jump up to sixth and seventh respectively.
It was a difficult day for the Alpine team, with Pierre Gasly sliding out of the points to 11th through staying out too long on slicks, and rookie Jack Doohan crashing on the first lap. Yuki Tsunoda also made a bad tyre call and tumbled to 12th having been heading for fifth at one stage, while as noted his rookie team mate Hadjar crashed out.
The most disappointed team was undoubtedly Haas. The car was the slowest in the field, and despite the opportunities created by the conditions Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman finished 13th and 14th.
Attention now turns to the Chinese GP, which is a sprint weekend. The significance of that is that teams have just one practice session before going straight into sprint qualifying, and the venue is new to the rookies – in contrast most of them knew Melbourne from F2.
While there’s a chance of more rain it is more of a traditional venue with more run-off, and is thus more forgiving. It’s also been completely resurfaced since last year, so teams will have to get used to the changes as quickly as they can given the sprint schedule.
Meanwhile after reviewing video evidence from Australia the FIA has thrown a spanner in the works by mandating a tougher test on rear wing flexing from this weekend, with most observers suspecting that the change is largely aimed at McLaren. It remains to be seen if the ruling has any impact.
About Adam Cooper
Adam Cooper logs his 40th season as a motor racing journalist in 2024. Motor racing journalist, author, historian and copywriter. Started writing career in 1985 while still at university, and has been at every Formula One Grand Prix since Japan 1994 without missing one. He contributed to Autosport for nearly 40 years, while other clients have included Motor Sport, Autoweek, Racer, Road and Track, F1 Racing and The Sun.