That was Drive to Survive for Lando Norris as the McLaren driver won the opening race of the new 2025 Formula 1 world championship at the Australian Grand Prix.
Starting in the wet and with changeable conditions throughout the afternoon, Norris took the chequered flag and showed its advantage over the rest of the field.
Max Verstappen finished second, pushing Norris to the very end of the 57 laps as last season’s top two show off its class.
The curse of the home drivers hit Oscar Piastri, who finished a lowly P9 after bogging down in the grass, having followed Norris off the track on lap 44.
It was a good day for Mercedes, with George Russell largely keeping himself out of all of the trouble to take the final step of the podium.
Russell’s new teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli crossed the line fourth but was hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release and dropped below Alex Albon, who put in a fine performance for Williams.
Ferrari had underperformed in qualifying and suffered a tough race, Charles Leclerc finishing eighth and Lewis Hamilton in tenth after a gamble with the weather did not pay off.
There were strong performances for Lance Stroll, who was sixth for Aston Martin, and Nico Hulkenberg a place further back for Sauber.
The demanding conditions caught out four of the 2025 rookies, with Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson all crashing out.
Inclement weather throughout the day meant no decision over whether to start the new season behind the safety car was taken until the last moment, with a traditional start in place as the rain held off and all 20 drivers opted for the intermediate tyre.
Hadjar was out before the race even began as he spun his Racing Bulls at turn two, damaging his rear wing against the barrier, leading to an aborted start and leaving visibly upset.
Once the delayed race was under way, Alpine’s Doohan lost it into the wall as his hopes of performing well in his home race were ended, bringing out the safety car as a result.
It was not only the newcomers who were struggling, however, as Carlos Sainz, last year’s race winner at Albert Park, crashed out on the final corner behind the safety car, prematurely ending his Williams debut.
By that point, Verstappen had already passed Piastri in the opening corners to split the McLarens, with Norris having got away with incident to lead the pack as the two accidents were cleared away.
Racing resumed at the end of lap seven with the track continuing to dry out and very quickly the drivers were having to go off-line to seek wet patches and keep the intermediate tyres working.
Piastri battled back up to second as he closed in on Verstappen before the reigning world champion made a rare mistake in the wet, going straight on at turn 11 and just avoiding the gravel.
Verstappen was unhappy with his tyres and dropped off the back of the McLaren duo, while Piastri began to make inroads into Lando’s lead up front.
The removal of Papaya Rules had suggested Norris and Piastri would be free to race one another, but as the latter closed in he was told over team radio to maintain position as both drivers worked through the first clutch of backmarkers.
“Time to go racing,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the Haas pair had been lapped, although Piastri ran wide to give Norris some breathing space as the track entered the window for slick tyres to be considered.
The stops were triggered as Fernando Alonso became the next driver to find himself in the wall; the Aston Martin spun at turn 6 with Antonelli closing in, bringing out the safety car again.
Norris and Piastri both switched to the hard compound while Verstappen, who had been nowhere near the top two before the Alonso crash, switched on a set of mediums ahead of the restart.
As the Alonso wreckage was slowly cleared away, all eyes on the pitwall turned skywards with rain clouds moving over Albert Park, although the 16 remaining runners were all on slicks by the time the safety car peeled off.
Remarkably, those collective decisions were undermined almost immediately as heavy rain started to fall, with both McLarens running off, Norris holding on to pit but Piastri running onto the grass.
With Norris pitting, Verstappen inherited the lead for the first time in the race and Hamilton moving up to second having battled past team-mate Leclerc, the Williams of Albon and Yuki Tsuonda’s Racing Bulls.
With the rain falling ever harder, Ferrari took the gamble to stay out as both Bortoleto and Lawson spun and brought out a third safety car – ruining the chances of Hamilton or Leclerc springing a surprise as they were both forced to pit for intermediates.
Once again, Norris was leading a safety car restart with just five laps remaining and he was able to keep ahead of the pack, while Leclerc edged past Hamilton as the Ferraris fought over the minor points.
Verstappen set about Norris in the closing stages but was unable to find a way past, while Piastri recovered to ninth by passing Hamilton on the final lap.
So a crazy race at Albert Park and yet Lando Norris kept calm to take McLaren first win of the new season. This is an excellent start and hopefully can build up the points to take the championship.
Australian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:42:06.304
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.895s
3 George Russell Mercedes +8.481s
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +10.135s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +12.773s
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +17.413s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +18.423s
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +19.826s
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren +20.448s
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +22.473s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +26.502s
12 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +29.884s
13 Esteban Ocon Haas +33.161s
14 Oliver Bearman Haas +40.351s
Liam Lawson Red Bull DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF
Jack Doohan Alpine DNF
Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls DNF
Lando Norris converted pole position into a hard-fought win during the 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, which featured mixed weather conditions, multiple crashes, Safety Cars and a late-race downpour that caused huge drama.
Norris controlled the early stages of Sunday’s encounter from McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on a sodden track, before improving conditions enabled a switch to slick tyres over the second half.
However, shortly after the field had ditched their intermediates, another patch of heavier rain soaked the circuit once more, dramatically sending both McLarens onto the grass and bringing most drivers immediately back into the pits for suitable rubber.
While Norris managed to gather his car and head into the pit lane, Piastri spun off at the penultimate corner and lost a heap of time trying to recover the situation – a chain of events that released reigning World Champion Verstappen into the lead.
However, with Verstappen still on slicks and conditions continuing to deteriorate, it was inevitable that his own pit stop would be required and, when that duly happened, Norris reclaimed a lead he had managed so well earlier in the race.
After a final Safety Car period, caused by crashes for Kick Sauber debutant Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, Norris came under attack from Verstappen in the tricky, slippery conditions – the latter managing to get within DRS range.
However, Norris had just enough in hand to take the chequered flag over his 2024 rival, with George Russell exploiting the drama to complete the podium for Mercedes, ahead of high-flying Williams driver Alex Albon and rookie team mate Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli had passed Albon late on, only to be penalised for an unsafe release, dropping him to fifth from Aston Martin’s wet-weather specialist Lance Stroll, the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the recovering Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton briefly led the race when he also stayed out a little longer on slicks during the late rainfall, but had to settle for 10th and the final points-paying position after he pitted, denying the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Racing Bulls machine of Yuki Tsunoda.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-beats-verstappen-to-victory-in-dramatic-australian-gp-opener-amid.5rKGxQHJoDl1P8stMSHlIN
The Australian Grand Prix start has been aborted after Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar crashed on the formation lap. The driver was consoled by Lewis Hamilton’s father, Anthony, as he trudged back to the paddock.
The rookie driver accelerated hard at Turn 2 in an attempt to heat his tyres, spinning the rears and subsequently sending the car into the wall. The side of the car hit the wall, causing damage to the rear wing assembly and ending his first Formula 1 race before it had even begun.
This will be a disappointing start for the Frenchman who was looking forward to the wet race after an impressive qualifying from the Red Bull sister team.
hile speaking to the media, including Motorsport.com, Hadjar explained after the crash:
“Just embarrassed and sorry for team.”
Talking through what happened, he explained:
“I mean, [I] overdid it, over slipped the rears and once I lost the car, tried to save it, I was just a passenger. Just snapped so, so fast.”
Speaking about Antony Hamilton consoling him, he added:
“I mean it means a lot knowing that he knew where I was. How bad I felt, to go and see me in the worst moment ever, I think it’s nice just from him.
“I really appreciate that.
“[I just need to] keep my head high and prove myself. I did well yesterday. I’m just mad, I mean these mistakes, they can happen, it’s just breaking the car so early in the season really breaks my heart. Really sorry for the team.
“I’m missing out on more experience. My first Grand Prix, missing out on a wet track. I wish I could be driving right now.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/australian-grand-prix-delayed-after-isack-hadjar-suffers-formation-lap-crash/10703849/
After crashes from rookies Isack Hadjar and Jack Doohan, new Williams driver Carlos Sainz also left the tarmac under the yellow flag, hitting the wall and retiring his car on the first lap of the Australian Grand Prix.
It’s wet conditions in Melbourne this Sunday, evident by the fact we’ve already lost three cars. Ahead of the final turn of the street circuit, Sainz’s Grove car spun under power in a very similar fashion to both rookies. The former Ferrari driver complained of a torque surge that spun his car.
The driver was unhurt, but the right side of his car was heavily damaged.
A yellow flag through the pitlane followed the three incidents, a scenario teams utilised to fit new sets of hot intermediate tyres.
This will be a disappointing start for Sainz who is starting his first season with the Grove outfit. Qualifying in tenth on the Saturday, four places behind his team-mate Alex Albon, the team has shown strong performance in Melbourne.
Talking with Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, the Spaniard confirmed that his move to the British team was vindicated.
“Yeah, definitely. It might have just [been] how it is meant to be.
“Now it is a matter of working hard because I see a lot of potential in this team, a lot of potential to unleash from myself, with a team [like Williams], with the full support, with the full machinery working in the right places.
“I feel like we are on the right path.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/carlos-sainz-crashes-in-wet-australian-gp-start-blames-torque-surge/10703861/
On the 44th lap of the Australian Grand Prix, McLaren suffered a nightmare situation as Lando Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri ran wide.
As his family watched on, the Australian driver oversteered onto the grass and looked to get stuck as his rear tyres spun. Slamming the car into reverse, he slowly utilised the rear weight bias of his Papaya machinery and, in a stroke of luck, managed to return to the tarmac. Unfortunately for the driver, this costly error pushed him down the grid as his team-mate powered on.
Originally running in P2, the infamous Aussie curse struck once again, denying Piastri of a spot on the podium despite a very successful weekend up until this point.
Since Albert Park started hosting races in 1996, no Australian driver, including the likes of Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo, has stood on the podium at their home Grand Prix. Piastri is still hoping to do this after he confirmed another contract with his team. Jack Doohan, the second Australian on the current grid, also faced his fair share of bad luck, crashing out of the race on the first lap.
Although Piastri initially lost P2 to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, he managed to take the position back and continued his strong start, consistently putting pressure on his team-mate. However, after the spin on lap 44, he was sent to the back of the pack with only rookie Haas driver Oliver Bearman behind him.
As the chaos continued, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson crashing out of the race, Piastri managed to end in the points with a ninth-place finish.
Six drivers crashed out of the race. Isack Hadjar, unfortunately, did not start after crashing on the formation lap. Following Hadjar, Doohan, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Lawson, and Bortoleto, all retired from the race.
Joining Norris on the podium were Red Bull driver Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell, who finished in second and third, respectively.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/oscar-piastri/10703878/
Lewis Hamilton believes his first Ferrari Formula 1 start went “worse than I thought it would go” as he suffered a lack of confidence – and moments of miscommunication – during the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton ultimately finished 10th, albeit after leading for a brief spell when Ferrari gambled on staying out during a sudden downpour in the late stages of the race. This proved to be the wrong call, as Hamilton dropped to ninth after eventually stopping for intermediates and was later passed by the recovering Oscar Piastri.
The disappointing result came in a race where Hamilton was getting acclimatised to the Ferrari in wet conditions and to race engineer Riccardo Adami, who sometimes got short shrift from his driver as the two worked together in a race environment for the first time.
Hamilton told Sky that he expected his first race in red to go a lot better, and later said that it was a significant challenge to get used to his new car and deal with the conditions around him.
“I felt like I was in the deep end today – just everything is new. From the first time I was driving this car in the rain, the car was behaving a lot different to what I’ve experienced in the past, the power unit, all the steering functions – all the things are thrown to you and you’re trying to juggle them,” said Hamilton.
“Unfortunately at the end they said it was just a short shower and the rest of the track was dry so I was like, ‘I’m gonna stick it out as long as I can. I can keep it on the track.’ They didn’t say more was coming, so then all of a sudden more came, so I think it was just lacking that bit of information at the end.
“I didn’t have any confidence today in it unfortunately, so I’m going to make some changes next week to the car. Today was the braking and the rear stability, particularly on power – there was lots of snaps, I was nearly in the wall a lot!”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-poor-ferrari-debut-rain/10703981/
Oscar Piastri has opened up about his difficult race in Melbourne. The Australian Grand Prix kicked off the 2025 season in a chaotic fashion with six drivers retiring from the race.
After starting from second on the grid, Piastri initially lost out to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Although the Australian driver didn’t take long to return to where he started, he admitted that he didn’t have a great start to his home race campaign.
“The start was not amazing, but just got pinched on the inside a little bit and then was overtaken. I think the pace was really strong until we pitted for slicks.
“And I think Max locked up a little bit and went wide, and I was able to show the pace I had. It’s just a shame that it didn’t lead to the result we wanted.”
On the 44th lap of the race, both Piastri and his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris ran wide. The latter was able to minimise this mistake’s effect on his race and went on to secure the victory. Piastri, however, had to nurse the car off the grass and return to the back of the pack with just Oliver Bearman behind him.
“I tried to push a bit too much. In those conditions, [it was] very difficult to judge just how slippery it’s gonna be. I think from one left to the next, it didn’t really change a lot. I could see Lando going off in front of me, but I was also already in the corner, so there wasn’t much I could do to slow myself down at that point.
“And then once I had the gravel and the grass, I obviously tried to keep the car as straight as possible, and then, yeah, obviously to get getting stuck in the grass like that was pretty unbelievable inside of the car. I’ve only got myself to blame for being there, so it’s a shame.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/oscar-piastri-quote/10703938/
Lando Norris was delighted after winning the thrilling wet-dry-wet Australian Grand Prix, particularly as McLaren had “got it wrong a lot last year” in similar circumstances.
The British driver was referencing his chances to win both in Canada and at Silverstone in 2024, where McLaren made mistakes on pitstop timings and tyre choices, but avoided similar mistakes as Norris turned pole position into the Melbourne win as the 2025 season commenced.
Norris finished ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, having soaked up pressure from the world champion early on and then his team-mate Oscar Piastri through the middle phase of the race, before the second McLaren spun down the order when the rain returned in the closing stages.
“We got it wrong a lot last year, so I guess we learned from our mistakes,” Norris said after climbing from his MCL39 following his fifth F1 career victory. “We lost out on Silverstone and Canada through a race like this. So, we’ve just learned from our mistakes, I think.
“It’s still only around one of 24, but dealing with the pressure, dealing with Max, dealing with Oscar behind me, I was pushing the whole way through. I could relax inside, but I wasn’t relaxing from how much I was pushing.
“A tough one, so to not make overly too many mistakes, to not have a mistake that cost me anything, I guess I could take a little bit of credit for that.
“A tough challenging race, but I mean for McLaren, I need to give a big thanks because they’ve given me an amazing car. So, I have to start with them.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-mclaren-learned-from-2024-mistakes-for-australian-gp-victory/10703922/
Four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen finished the Australian Grand Prix in second position behind McLaren’s Lando Norris. The wet race ended with six drivers retiring.
In the latter stages of the race, after both McLaren drivers ran wide on Turn 11, Norris pitted straight away, but Verstappen stayed out for an additional two laps before he peeled into the pits. Discussing why he and the Red Bull team made this decision, the Dutchman explained in the press conference:
“We were in the medium, and of course you never know how that’s going to work out. I thought it was quite a sensible call, with 15, 16 or 20 laps to go when the safety car came out. Then of course it started to rain. I saw them go off in front of me. I kept it clean when I saw Oscar rejoining.
“I was like, ‘let’s stay out’ because it was only those three corners. The rest was still dry because when I continued, the first two sectors were fine. It was just if I could survive the final sector.
“I think that lap that I did, I was like, well, if there’s not a lot more rain coming, I think it can work. Because you have to also factor in that even if they would catch me on an inter, they have to box again for slicks at one point if it’s not going to rain anymore. So it was fine. I was like, ‘yeah, we’ll do another lap.’ But then unfortunately, on that lap, the first sector I think was still okay-ish but then from sector two, it just started to rain a little bit too much.
“Then we had to box. I think in hindsight, it wouldn’t have mattered. If I would have boxed together with Lando, it would have been P2. If I would have boxed the next lap, it would have been P2. And the lap that I boxed, I was also P2. We tried something else. It might have worked this time. In a way, it didn’t work, but we didn’t lose any position, so it’s fine.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max-verstappen-reveals-reason-for-delayed-australia-gp-pitstop/10704031/
The five-second time penalty handed to Kimi Antonelli during the Australian Grand Prix has been removed after Mercedes submitted a successful ‘Right of Review’ request over the incident that sparked the penalty.
In an action-packed race that featured changing weather conditions, the stewards deemed that Antonelli had been released into the path of Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in the pit lane and subsequently handed the Italian a five-second time penalty.
While Antonelli had worked his way forwards from a starting slot of P16 to cross the line in P4, the penalty resulted in the teenager being dropped down to P5 in what was his debut F1 race.
However, after Mercedes petitioned for a ‘Right of Review’, a hearing took place in which the Silver Arrows presented “video from the roll hoop camera which was previously unavailable”.
After this was examined – along with additional video not previously available to the stewards taken from the helicopter – the decision was taken to remove Antonelli’s penalty, promoting him back up to fourth place.
In a document released following the hearing – which was attended by representatives from Mercedes and Kick Sauber as well as Williams, the latter having benefitted from the penalty given that Antonelli’s demotion promoted Alex Albon up to fourth – the reasoning behind the stewards’ decision to reverse the penalty was explained.
“It is clear that Car 12 did not cross into the fast lane until a significant distance down the pit lane and only after the driver checked his mirror to confirm clearance with Car 27,” the document reads.
“The roll hoop camera shows that he had sufficient room to safely pass the McLaren pits without risk to the McLaren mechanics.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/breaking-antonelli-promoted-back-to-p4-as-australian-grand-prix-penalty-is.2TktXRAy9MX7Px0GlzdHnT