Hanna Ifri
It’s lights out and away we go for the start of the 2025 Formula One season! The Australian Grand Prix provided a dramatic curtain-raiser at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit, with chaos unfolding before the lights even went out.
A weekend packed with high-stakes moments including a formation lap retirement, a record-breaking qualifying session, and an early-race crash ensured an electrifying start to the season.
Oscar Piastri sent his home crowd into raptures by setting the fastest-ever lap at Albert Park
Saturday’s qualifying session was one for the history books. Australian star Oscar Piastri sent his home crowd into raptures by setting the fastest-ever lap at Albert Park, breaking Max Verstappen’s previous record. However, his moment in the spotlight was fleeting, as McLaren teammate Lando Norris snatched pole position moments later, shaving further time off the record with a blistering 1:15.096. Piastri was relegated to second, just 0.084 seconds behind, while Verstappen secured third on the grid in what proved to be a fiercely competitive session.
Pre-race heartbreak struck for rookie Isack Hadjar, who found the wall during the formation lap, ending his debut before he could even take his place on the grid. This delay pushed the race start to 15:15 local time, instead of the scheduled 15:00. Hadjar wasn’t the only rookie to suffer misfortune, hometown racer Jack Doohan also crashed out before turn 6, ending his race before it had truly begun.
By lap two, the safety car was deployed as the field shrank from 20 to 17. Carlos Sainz, last year’s Australian Grand Prix winner, suffered technical issues in his new Williams, a bitter disappointment after a strong P10 qualifying performance. Under the safety car, Norris led the race with Verstappen close behind, while Piastri kept the reigning world champion on his toes.
As light drizzle began to fall, teams were left contemplating tyre changes, with class-three rain threats looming. In the midfield, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli battled Nico Hülkenberg for P10, momentarily stealing the spotlight. Meanwhile, at the front, Verstappen locked up under braking, running too deep and allowing Piastri to slip into second behind his McLaren teammate.
The race didn’t stay green for long, as Fernando Alonso spun out, triggering another yellow flag. Piastri’s radio crackled with warnings of “a very small but intense shower” by lap 37. As the McLaren pit crew readied themselves for a tyre switch, anticipation built only for the drama to escalate as Norris spun and Piastri slid off the track onto the grass. The infamous ‘Australia curse’ seemed determined to haunt its home drivers once again. Fortunately for McLaren, both drivers recovered, with Norris reclaiming the lead while Piastri dropped to second-last.
Just as we thought the safety car had made its final appearance, it was called out once more after Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out. At the front, an unlikely trio of Alex Albon in the Williams, Hülkenberg in the Stake Kick Sauber, and Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin led the Ferraris around the track.
With only 14 cars remaining, blue skies finally emerged over Albert Park, and the safety car peeled away for what we hoped would be the last time. Piastri, determined to salvage his race, fought his way into the points, finishing P9 after capitalising on a mistake by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and overtaking Lewis Hamilton.
What might have felt like an eternity soon turned into triumph
Although McLaren had to abandon hopes of a 1-2 finish, the team focused on ensuring Norris managed his pace as Verstappen closed the gap in the final two laps, benefitting from DRS. But for McLaren fans, what might have felt like an eternity soon turned into triumph.
Norris crossed the line to win the season opener in Melbourne.
Joining him on the podium was Max Verstappen in second and George Russell in third, bringing a dramatic and unpredictable Australian Grand Prix to a thrilling conclusion.
To all the fans that woke up for the 4am race start, this was an anxiety inducing start to the season, but as all Formula One seasons go, it’s never good to assume how it will end based on the first race. The F1 Calendar next sees them in China across the weekend of the 21-23rd of March to start the fight for the championship battle.
Hanna Ifri
Featured image courtesy of Taehoon Kim via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @f1 via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @f1 via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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