Formula 1 – Australian Grand Prix 2025
Race (57 laps):
MELBOURNE. British driver Lando Norris won the rainy Australian Grand Prix, the opening event of the Formula 1 World Championship.
Defending world champion, Dutchman Max Verstappen, finished second in the Red Bull, just 895 thousandths of a second behind. Completing the podium was Norris’s compatriot George Russell from the Mercedes team, trailing by 7.586 seconds.
For Norris, it was his 5th career victory and a first at the Albert Park circuit.
His team was on track for a double victory, but a sudden downpour towards the end mixed up the order in all ten scoring positions.
After the safety car period in the final dozen laps, there was a fierce battle for the lead, but Norris ultimately defended it against Verstappen. After 1029 days, he became the new championship leader, replacing the Dutchman at the top.
Race Summary of the Australian Grand Prix
The warm-up lap started on time despite the rain, but French rookie Isack Hadjar crashed in the second corner during the warm-up lap and the procedure was repeated.
The race eventually started fifteen minutes late, but in the first intense lap, local driver Jack Doohan from Alpine spun out before the sixth corner due to aquaplaning.
The race leadership called for the safety car, and during the speed restriction, Carlos Sainz from Williams crashed in his debut race when his engine cut out, causing him to spin on standing water.
During a brief passage, Verstappen, starting from third place, gained one position at the expense of Oscar Piastri, while Charles Leclerc jumped two places to 5th.
The safety car went down in the seventh lap after clearing the water from the track with the cars, and that’s when the race began to flow smoothly.
The top three pulled away from the rest of the field by 10 seconds, but everyone was cautious on the wet track. Unusually, race control allowed DRS in the 12th lap – it is typically disabled in rainy races.
Verstappen made an unusual mistake in the rain, overshooting a sharp corner and gifting the second position to Piastri. Rookie Kimi Antonelli on Mercedes managed to gain a few positions in the rain, despite starting 16th.
In the 20th lap, teams started considering pit stops, but the variable conditions complicated the situation. The puzzle was solved in the 34th lap by Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who spun on the kerb, and the teams took advantage of the space between the yellow flags and the deployment of the safety car for tire changes.
Most teams opted for dry tires, specifically medium and hard compounds. Only Haas, whose drivers were hopelessly last, decided to take a risk and stay on intermediate wet tires. However, Esteban Ocon convinced them to switch to dry tires during the SC deployment, but it turned out they may have missed out on a decent points haul.
A few laps later, a downpour hit, and the race leader Norris and his teammate Piastri flew off the track in the third sector. Piastri got stuck on the grass and dropped to the tail. However, his team reacted well to the changing situation, held on to Norris’s lead, and Piastri managed to return to the points. Mercedes also reacted quickly, helping Russell to the podium and Antonelli to 5th place.
Antonelli is the third youngest debutant in history, after Verstappen and Lance Stroll. Between these two, Thai driver Alex Albon finished in fourth place, earning 12 points for Williams, which is almost three-quarters of their entire last year’s haul (17).
In the chaos, Stroll from Aston Martin moved up to sixth place, and unexpectedly, Sauber with Nico Hülkenberg behind the wheel snatched six points. Leclerc completed the top ten.