2025 F1 Season Start: Previewing the Australian Grand Prix
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - FEBRUARY 26: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during day one of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 26, 2025 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
2025 Australian GP Facts & Figures
The 28th Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne will be celebrated on Sunday.
The Australian Grand Prix entered the Formula 1 circus in 1985. It was held at the Adelaide Street Circuit from 1985 to 1995. Adelaide was the last race of the year each time and it was the place of many historical F1 moments. Nigel Mansell losing the 1986 World Drivers’ Championship due to tyre failure was a big one. However, Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill colliding in the 1994 title-deciding race will always be in the minds of any true F1 fan.
In 1996, the race venue was changed to Melbourne and the Albert Park Circuit and it has been the inaugural GP of 23 of the last 30 seasons. The traditional season-opener since 1996, Australia last hosted the first race of an F1 season in 2019.
The most successful driver in Australia is Michael Schumacher, who won four times between 2000 and 2004.
Regarding Pole Positions, Sir Lewis Hamilton has eight to his name, including every Pole Position from 2014 to 2019.
Among other current drivers, Fernando Alonso won in Australia in 2006, Charles Leclerc did it for Ferrari in 2022. Moreover, Max Verstappen won the 2023 event before Carlos Sainz led a Ferrari 1-2 in 2024.
McLaren and Ferrari are tied for the most wins in Australia since 1985 with 11 each. Ferrari has won 14 times at Australia, but three of those victories came before the Grand Prix joined the World Championship.
Since the switch to Melbourne, Ferrari leads the teams with nine victories. On the engine side, Mercedes engines have 11 wins at Albert Park with three teams —Mercedes (4), McLaren (6) and Brawn GP (1).
Albert Park Circuit
The circuit was the subject of some criticism in recent years due to the difficulty it presents for overtaking. A street circuit, Albert Park is not a traditional urban track since it has some real overtaking spots which were not explored in recent years. However, the current layout, which started in 2022, proves to be better in that regard.
The circuit length is 5.279 km and it has 14 corners (it previously had 16). There were angle changes to several corners and others were eliminated before the 2022 race. Turn 1 was made 2.5 meters wider on the right-hand side. Turn 3 was also widened by four meters to the right, while Turn 6 was also widened by more than seven meters and will see a huge increase in speed. Moreover, the T9-T10 chicane that preceded the straight that put cars into the extremely fast T11-T12 chicane was eliminated and proved a good overtaking spot.
Now, there is a flat-out section from Turn 6 that will go through T7, T8, and into the now T9-T10 chicane. What is now Turn 11 (previously T13) was also reprofiled to increase overtaking chances.
Pirelli's special F1 podium cap for 2025 Australian GP
The record during a race around the old Albert Park Circuit (5.303 km) was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004. The German put the Fastest Lap of 1:24.125 min behind the wheel of his Ferrari F2004 with an average speed of 226,934 km/h.
The current records are from the 2024 Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen's Pole Position time of 1:15.915 min being the fastest in Qualifying, and the Lap Record from the race was 1:19.813 min lap, also by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
2025 Australian Grand Prix - Tyres
The dry tyres for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix will be the C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow Medium, and C5 as P Zero Red soft.
Pirelli explained their choice for the first race of 2025: "Compared to a year ago, the tyres themselves have evolved in terms of the characteristics of both construction and compound. The former has been slightly modified to handle the increased aerodynamic loads likely to be generated by the final version of the current generation of cars.
As for the latter, the C3, the most versatile in terms of balance and degradation, is substantially the same as the version used for the previous two seasons, while the C4 has been modified to reduce the possibility of graining on the tread surface, as well as minimising degradation, something that has also been applied to the C5 in order to expand its use as a suitable race tyre. A fortnight ago, in the Bahrain pre-season test, the C3 did the most work, completing over two thirds of the total mileage.
Track characteristics, per Pirelli
Teams and drivers therefore have plenty of data relating to this tyre, which is quite similar to last year’s, although they will have to take into account that the Sakhir track surface has very different characteristics to the one they will encounter in Albert Park, which explains why in Australia the C3 is the Hard, while when the championship gets to Bahrain, it will be the Soft."
The minimum starting pressures for the tyres will be 25.5 PSI (front) and 22.0 PSI (rear).
Tyre pressures for 2025 Australian GP
2025 Australian Grand Prix Weather Forecast
Friday, March 14th - FP1 & FP2
Conditions: Partly sunny
Max. temperature: 31°C
Chance of rain: 0%
Saturday, March 15th - FP3 & Qualifying
Conditions: Mostly cloudy, breezy and warm
Max. temperature: 32°C
Chance of rain: 2%
Sunday, March 16th - Race
Conditions: Windy with periods of rain
Maxi. temperature: 22°C
Chance of rain: 70%
Who will be on the 2025 Australian Grand Prix Podium?
Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
Ferrari has won four of the last six editions of the Australian Grand Prix with three different drivers (Sebastian Vettel in 2017 and 2018, Leclerc in 2022 and Sainz in 2024). Will Lewis Hamilton join that group with a win for Ferrari in his debut with the team? It would be the dream scenario for the Englishman, but the favorites are probably on other cockpits.
McLaren is tipped as the favorite for Australia, and Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will surely be free to compete for the win. Since Alan Jones won the non-championship 1980 event for Williams, no other Australian has won at home. This season, Piastri, who won two races last year, seems to have a good chance.
Still, nothing is certain regarding the team's performance and many surprises could come our way when the lights go out. Red Bull and Max Verstappen should never be discarded, while there are many exciting storylines around the paddock, including a much-anticipated debut for Andrea Kimi Antonelli with Mercedes.
Our podium prediction for the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix is: 1. Oscar Piastri, 2. Lando Norris, 3. Lewis Hamilton.
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