It was a dramatic season opener at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, with Red Bull rookie, Liam Lawson, crashing out in wet conditions with just a few laps remaining. Slippery, challenging conditions and cold tyres proved too much for Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar. He lost control of his car on the formation lap in an attempt to warm his tyres. It was a devastating start to his debut race.
F1 announced an abandoned start for the highly anticipated 57-lap race as crews worked to remove Hadjar’s car from the track and re-assessed track conditions.
All eyes were on Kiwi Liam Lawson, who was geared up to start from the pit lane as the Red Bull team changed his rear wing overnight. Haas rookie Oliver Bearman also started from pit lane. All drivers started the race on intermediate tyres.
It was ‘light’s out and away we go’ with the race underway after a 20-minute delay. Norris got the jump on teammate Oscar Piastri. Max Verstappen passed Piastri by Turn 4 as the Australian struggled to find grip.
Lap 1 carnage saw Australian rookie Jack Doohan (Alpine) crash out of the race on Turn 5. He put a wheel on the slippery white track lines, lost control of the car, and made heavy contact with the wall. His car was left worse for wear, and the first safety car of the race was brought out.
Two rookies retired from the race by Turn 5 on the first lap of the first Grand Prix for 2025. We knew it would be a thriller race in wet conditions, but some hoped the rookies would do well on their race debut.
On the topic of debuts, Carlos Sainz also crashed out of the race on his debut for Williams. The incident took place under safety car conditions with Sainz reporting an issue with the car over team radio.
“I had like a massive torque surge” said the Williams driver.
Red Bull took the opportunity under safety car conditions, controversially making the call to box Lawson for new intermediate tyres. Was this the right call for Lawson on his race debut?
With tension high, racing was back underway. Norris went early, creating a 0.7-second gap to last year’s champion. Verstappen was not showing confidence on intermediate tyres, with Piastri just three-tenths behind.
Can Verstappen find momentum?
Bearman had the fastest lap momentarily before race leader Norris went quicker, showing that the McLaren cars were here to win.
Race control announced that multiple drivers, including Yuki Tsunoda, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Alex Albon, were under investigation for safety car infringements. The infringement was for leaving more than 10 car lengths ahead. Race control later cleared drivers of any wrongdoing.
Just in case the drivers weren’t already feeling the pressure, race control kept them on their toes.
“Leclerc’s tyres are going off like last week’s milk,” said Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft.
Crofty’s comment described the issues Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc faced in 5th position, involving his tyres’ lack of grip. Leclerc’s gap to Mercedes driver George Russell increased with Russell charging forward.
It was a McLaren 1-2, with Verstappen having a moment on Lap 17 where he locked up his front left and went deep, coming into contact with some off-track standing water. Piastri said thank you, sir, and took second place, while Verstappen slotted back into third.
Meanwhile, Lawson was at the rear of the field battling Haas driver Esteban Ocon, making a successful pass on the Frenchman—the Kiwi’s first move of the race.
Adding some comedy humour to the tense race, Leclerc asked over his team radio if there was a leakage within the car.
It was definitely amongst the strangest of radio communications within the Ferrari team yet.
Norris continued to lead the race at the halfway mark, with teammate Piastri following his lead in 2nd. The McLaren drivers had an impressive 16-second lead on Verstappen, who was running in 3rd place—Russell in 4th and Leclerc in 5th.
Norris began to lap drivers, with Haas driver Oliver Bearman being the first. Lawson sat in 15th position in front of Haas drivers Ocon and Bearman, but by Lap 33, Ocon and Lawson joined the list of lapped drivers.
In another shocking turn of events, F1 veteran Fernando Alonso lost control of his car on Lap 34. The Spanish driver made heavy contact with the wall, damaging his car and stopping on track, resulting in another safety car.
The teams scrambled in the pitlane, preparing for chaos as multiple teams called their drivers into the pits. With the incoming rain forecast, it was a tough decision for teams: stick to intermediate tyres or change to slicks.
The unknown factors of how much rain and how long it would last made the decision difficult for those in contention for the race win. If the race so far was anything to go by, any of the 17 drivers still racing could take the chequered flag.
McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari took a risk and opted for the slick, hard tyre for all their drivers. Alpine also made the same decision for Gasly and Aston Martin for Stroll.
Red Bull took a leap of faith and chose the medium tyre for Lawson and Verstappen. The Kick Sauber team, Williams driver Alex Albon and Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda also opted for the medium tyre.
As Lawson was released from the pits, he had a close call with Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto. The Kick Sauber team released the Brazilian from their pits in an unsafe manner. Race control investigated the incident, and Bortoleto was reprimanded with a five-second time penalty.
Haas decided to stick with the intermediate tyre for Ocon and Bearman, but a few laps later, they changed their mind and brought the two drivers into the pits again for mediums.
Bearman exited the pits and re-entered the race alongside Verstappen, nearly taking the Dutchman out as his cold tyres struggled to find grip.
The action resumed on Lap 41, with a deluge of rain incoming. Lawson had a clear track ahead of him and a 22-second gap to race leader Lando Norris, allowing Liam to lay down the fastest lap.
Just as fans thought they had seen it all, light rain arrived, resulting in a greasy track that caught Piastri off guard. He lost control of his McLaren, sliding off the track and becoming beached on the swamp-like grass, causing a yellow flag. His home victory dreams were dashed.
Verstappen took the race lead, with McLaren anticipating a safety car. With Piastri still stuck in the grass they decided to call Norris into the pits. The arrival of rain was also a factor, with pit crews rushing to their pit formations as Russell, Albon, Antonelli, Stroll, Hulkenberg, and Bortoleto entered the pits.
Lawson, Verstappen, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Gasly, Leclerc, Ocon, and Bearman all chose to stay out, running a different strategy.
Lawson jumped to sixth place ahead of Norris as they came side by side as Norris merged from the pit exit.
In a laudable effort, Piastri managed to reverse back onto the track after some time, ending up a lap down from the rest of the field. His hometown crowd cheered as he made his way to the pits. McLaren team made the sensible move to change his tyres to intermediates.
Verstappen was still in the lead, with an 18-second gap to Lando. Red Bull decided to box Verstappen to change to intermediates as the rain intensified. In a heart-stopping moment, he lost grip in the rear as he drove down the pit lane, nearly tagging the concrete wall.
On his Ferarri debut, Lewis Hamilton took the race lead – Leclerc in 2nd – with both drivers on the slick hard tyre and Norris in 3rd on the intermediate tyre. Verstappen dropped down to fifth after his pit stop. Hamilton’s race lead was short-lived, as Norris regained the lead after one lap.
Lawson was one of the few drivers on the track without intermediate tyres. The Red Bull team called him into the pits, but the Kiwi lost grip in the pouring rain, slipping on the track’s painted white lines, spinning the car on the last corner, stopping past the pit entry, and forcing him to complete another lap on worn medium tyres.
He managed half a lap before spinning and sliding into the wall in the same spot Hadjar went off on the formation lap, ending his Grand Prix debut with Red Bull.
Speaking to media, Lawson commented: “I was hoping for a majority wet race. It basically dried up more than we thought and we struggled a lot with the fronts in the first stint, just overheating and then towards the end it dried up, we went to the slick. Honestly, the pace on the slick was okay for those few laps, but in the end it started raining more than we thought.
“We thought initially that it was just going to be sector 3 and that we could survive half the track, but it just rained everywhere and then I couldn’t keep it on track.”
When asked if he was on the same page as the Red Bull team regarding when to pit, Lawson added:
“No, we’re on the same page, but we wanted to take a risk. We shared that gamble together, but, I mean, I just apologise for putting the car in the wall.
“I’ve been through this plenty of times before in my career, and fortunately we have just a few days off. Obviously China is a sprint weekend, so it’s gonna be tough in itself, but I’m just excited to go into another weekend.”
On the same lap, Bortoleto lost control of his Kick Sauber car and slid off the track, making heavy contact with the wall. He ended up beached on the grass. Both incidents resulted in the safety car appearing for the third time.
Leclerc became the third driver to spin in as many laps, narrowly missing Tsunoda. Hamilton and Leclerc simultaneously came into the pits for intermediate tyres. The earlier decision to change to intermediate tyres was a big mistake for multiple teams.
All the pit stops saw Lando Norris take the race lead for the second time. Verstappen was behind him, and Russell was third as racing got back underway on Lap 52 with 5 to go.
It was a clean race to the finish on a relatively dry track. Norris crossed the finish line to take the season’s first Grand Prix race win, followed by Verstappen in second and Russell in third. Norris also finished the race with the fastest lap, 1.22.167.
It was Norris’s 5th Grand Prix win in Formula 1.
Only 14 drivers finished the chaotic season-opening race out of the 20-car field.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli finished the race in 5th place after starting 16th. In new developments post-race, F1 announced that Antonelli’s penalty for an unsafe release in the pits had been overturned, promoting the rookie to 4th. It was an incredible drive for his debut race!
With his P4 finish, Antonelli becomes the second-youngest driver in F1 history to score points. Verstappen is the youngest in history at just 17 years, 5 months, and 29 days, while Antonelli is 18 years, 6 months, and 19 days old.
Teammate and local favourite Oscar Piastri finished in the points in 9th place after fighting his way back from 13th, making up four spots in just five laps.
Round 2 of the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Championship is the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanhgai International Circuit. It takes place next weekend, 21-23 March. It’s also a Sprint Race round. Exciting!
