Lando Norris kicked off the 2025 Formula 1 season with a victory in a wild Australian Grand Prix – the first win in Melbourne for McLaren since 2012 – with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) settling for second, and a teenage rookie battling through from 16th to 4th on debut.
The Albert Park circuit delivered a race of high drama, mixed conditions and spectacular racing as Melbourne’s famously fickle weather played its part in creating a sensational season opener.
Results: Race at a Glance
- Winner: Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Podium: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) P2, George Russell (Mercedes) P3
- Fastest Lap: Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1m22.632s
- Championship: Norris leads with 25 points; McLaren and Mercedes tied on 27 points in constructors’
Rookie Heartbreak and False Starts
The drama began before the race had even officially started. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, who had impressed in qualifying, saw his Formula 1 debut end in tears when he lost control and crashed on the formation lap.
The heartbroken newcomer was inconsolable as he returned to the pits, his car too damaged to take the start. “I just wanted to give him a hug. I felt for him like a father,” Anthony Hamilton revealed.
With the first formation lap aborted, tensions were high for the second attempt, made on a damp but drying track that had all teams opting for intermediate tyres. When the lights finally went out, Norris converted his pole position cleanly into the lead, while Verstappen made a characteristically bold move to claim P2 from home favourite Oscar Piastri.
The opening lap chaos continued as Alpine’s Jack Doohan found himself in the barriers at Turn 5, bringing out the first Safety Car of the afternoon. Carlos Sainz, now at Williams, spun and crashed behind the Safety Car, reporting a “massive power surge” in his car.
McLaren Domination: Papaya 1-2 Emerges on Drying Track
As the race settled following the early interruptions, it became clear that the McLarens held a pace advantage. Norris controlled proceedings from the front, with Piastri shadowing him closely in third behind Verstappen. The young Australian looked capable of mounting a challenge, even closing to DRS range of his teammate at one point.
McLaren’s pit wall briefly instructed Piastri to “hold position” while they navigated traffic, before giving him free rein to race Norris – a sign of the team’s new approach under Zak Brown. Unfortunately for Piastri, a small error at Turn 6 saw him run wide and drop back from the battle.
The track steadily dried, with Race Control enabling DRS on lap 12. Verstappen, never one to settle for second best, maintained pressure on Norris but made his own mistake through the challenging Turns 10-11 complex, allowing Piastri to reclaim second place in a brilliant move that had the home crowd roaring their approval.
Melbourne Weather Flips the Order
With McLaren seemingly cruising to a dream 1-2 finish, Melbourne’s weather had other ideas. Fernando Alonso’s heavy crash on lap 34 brought out another Safety Car, triggering a round of pit stops for slick tyres.
The racing had barely resumed when weather radar warnings began to materialise. Drops of rain were falling in the final sector, quickly developing into what officials classified as “Class 3 heavy rain”. The sudden downpour caught out multiple drivers, including both McLarens.
Norris and Piastri both slid off at Turn 12. While Norris recovered through the grass, Piastri spun and found himself facing backwards into the Turn 13 run-off – his podium hopes evaporating in an instant.
“I’ve only got myself to blame,” Piastri admitted candidly afterwards. “I tried to push too much in those conditions… The other 56 and three-quarter laps were very strong.”
The strategic chaos that ensued saw Verstappen briefly inherit the lead by staying out on slicks, along with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. “We need to make a decision,” Verstappen urged his team as he tip-toed around the increasingly treacherous circuit. Eventually, all were forced to concede to the worsening conditions and dive in for intermediates.
The rain claimed two more drivers as Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson both crashed heavily, triggering another Safety Car period. In total, five drivers failed to see the chequered flag: Alonso, Sainz, Doohan, Lawson, and Bortoleto, with Hadjar never even making it to the grid.
Norris Holds Off Charging Verstappen
The race continued with six laps remaining, setting up a sprint to the finish. Norris mastered the restart, but Verstappen loomed large in his mirrors, hunting him relentlessly. The gap shrank lap by lap, with Verstappen getting within DRS range on the penultimate tour, but ultimately failing to deny Norris the first place.
“The last two laps were a little bit stressful,” admitted Norris, who kept his composure under immense pressure to secure his fifth career victory by just 0.9 seconds.
“It was a tough race, especially with Max behind me,” Norris said. “It was just tricky conditions, but these are the ones that are enjoyable, fun and unpredictable, but this time we got it right and we ended up on top. I’m very happy.”
Verstappen, ever the pragmatist, accepted second place as a solid start to his title defence. “It was worth the gamble,” he said of his slick tyre strategy. “We were lacking a bit of pace compared to the McLaren, but it’s still 18 points more than I had here last year, so I’ll take that.”
George Russell completed the podium, having driven a measured race to secure Mercedes’ first top-three finish of the season. “It was just about staying out of trouble,” Russell explained. “From the beginning, it was clear that these guys were just too quick for us and we were quicker than the Ferraris, so I was kind of in no man’s land and I just made the decision quite early on that the best way to approach this race was just to bring it home.”
Rookies and Veterans: Antonelli Shines as Hamilton Struggles
The story of the day for Mercedes was arguably the performance of their rookie, 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Italian recovered from a disappointing qualifying to charge through the field from 16th to 4th, even overcoming a mid-race spin and a controversial time penalty (later rescinded) for an unsafe pit release.
In contrast, Lewis Hamilton’s much-anticipated Ferrari debut yielded a solitary point in 10th. “Overall, not what I was hoping for,” Hamilton conceded. “There was so much to get used to. […] No one told me that it was raining more elsewhere, and all of a sudden I was faced with it around the rest of the track. A bit of an opportunity missed, but I’m glad I kept it on track.”
His teammate Charles Leclerc fared slightly better in 8th, but the Scuderia’s strategic decisions in the changing conditions left both drivers frustrated. “We stopped a lap too late to switch to inters, losing positions again,” Leclerc lamented. “It has been a tricky day overall, but we will look into it.”
The final classified positions saw Antonelli 4th, Alex Albon an outstanding 5th for Williams, Lance Stroll 6th, Nico Hülkenberg 7th, Leclerc 8th, a recovering Piastri 9th, and Hamilton rounding out the points.
McLaren Fires First Shot in Championship Fight
Norris leaves Melbourne leading the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career, with Verstappen second and Russell third. In the Constructors’ standings, McLaren and Mercedes find themselves tied on 27 points, with Red Bull third on 18.
Ferrari’s disappointing haul of just 5 points places them seventh, a position that few would have predicted for the sport’s most storied team. “We are on the back foot, but it’s only race one out of 24,” Leclerc noted, trying to maintain perspective.
For McLaren, the victory represents a significant statement of intent. Their pace advantage was clear throughout the weekend, and but for Piastri’s late mistake, they could have secured maximum points.
As Formula 1 now turns its attention to the Chinese Grand Prix on March 23, the season has already delivered intrigue, drama, and a glimpse of a potential changing of the guard. If Melbourne is anything to go by, 2025 could be one of the most interesting seasons in recent memory.
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