Race Report & Results 2025 Australian F1 Grand Prix

Event: Australian Grand Prix
Track: Albert Park Circuit
Weather: wet/dry/wet 16°C
Tarmac: wet/dry/wet 19°C
Humidity: 68%
Wind: 18.3 km/h W
Lando Norris scored his 5th race win by finishing first at the 39th Australian F1 Grand Prix today. It was his first race win of the 2025 season and his first win in Australia. The Mclaren driver started from pole position and scored the 190th race win for McLaren.
2025 Australian Grand Prix: Lando Norris Triumphs in Thrilling Season Opener
McLaren's Norris Draws First Blood in a Wet-Dry Classic
The 2025 Formula 1 season roared into life at Albert Park with a drama-filled Australian Grand Prix that had everything—crashes, chaos, and a nail-biting finale. When the dust (and rain) finally settled, Lando Norris claimed victory for McLaren, fending off Max Verstappen in the closing laps to take the first championship lead of the year.
Rookie Carnage Before Lights Out
The race hadn’t even started before the first casualty emerged. Racing Bulls' debutant Isack Hadjar spun out on the formation lap, beaching his car and delaying the start. That set the tone for a difficult day for the rookies, as Jack Doohan and Carlos Sainz found the barriers on Lap 1, bringing out the first of many Safety Cars.
McLaren vs. Verstappen: The Duel Begins
When the race finally got underway, Norris led cleanly from pole, with Verstappen quickly jumping Oscar Piastri to slot into second. The opening laps were a battle of tyre management on intermediate tyres, with Verstappen and Norris trading fastest laps while Russell and Albon made inroads behind them.
As conditions began to improve, the switch to slick tyres loomed, but the ever-unpredictable Melbourne weather had other ideas.
Rain Chaos Turns Race Upside Down
Just as teams prepared to pit for dry tyres, the heavens opened again. This time, the rain was heavier, catching out several drivers, including Fernando Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Liam Lawson, who all spun off in separate incidents. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri’s dream of a home podium evaporated as he lost control in the slippery conditions, leaving Norris and Verstappen in a two-way fight for victory.
Strategic Masterclass at Williams
While the front-runners were focused on survival, Alex Albon and Williams quietly played the strategy game to perfection. With former Ferrari ace Carlos Sainz acting as an additional strategist, Albon executed a flawless race, making all the right tyre calls to finish an impressive fourth, fending off Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who secured fifth place on debut.
Final Laps: Verstappen Closes In
As the race entered its final stages, the track dried up again, and Verstappen turned up the pressure on Norris. The Dutchman used his superior Red Bull straight-line speed to reel in the McLaren, but Norris held his nerve. A heart-stopping moment on the penultimate lap saw Norris briefly slide wide, but Verstappen couldn’t capitalize. With a clean final sector, Norris crossed the line to claim McLaren’s first season-opening victory since 2008.
Title Race Kicks Off – China Up Next!
With this victory, Lando Norris leads the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship for the first time in his career, but Verstappen is right on his heels. With a Sprint weekend in China coming up next, the rookies will have even less time to adapt, and the battle between McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes is set to heat up.
Can Norris build on his momentum, or will Verstappen strike back? Stay tuned to F1-Fansite.com for all the latest news and race analysis!
Classification 2025 Australian GP
P | No | Driver | Team | Time | Laps | Grid | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:06.304 | 57 | 1 | 25 |
2 | 1 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:07.199 | 57 | 3 | 18 |
3 | 63 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:14.785 | 57 | 4 | 15 |
4 | 23 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:19.077 | 57 | 6 | 12 |
5 | 12 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:21.439 | 57 | 16 | 10 |
6 | 18 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:23.717 | 57 | 13 | 8 |
7 | 27 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:24.727 | 57 | 17 | 6 |
8 | 16 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:26.130 | 57 | 7 | 4 |
9 | 81 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:26.752 | 57 | 2 | 2 |
10 | 44 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:28.777 | 57 | 8 | 1 |
11 | 10 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:32.806 | 57 | 9 | 0 |
12 | 22 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:36.188 | 57 | 5 | 0 |
13 | 31 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:39.465 | 57 | 18 | 0 |
14 | 87 | ![]() | ![]() | 01:42:46.655 | 57 | 19 | 0 |
DNF | 30 | ![]() | ![]() | Spun off | 46 | 20 | 0 |
DNF | 5 | ![]() | ![]() | Spun off | 45 | 15 | 0 |
DNF | 14 | ![]() | ![]() | Spun off | 32 | 12 | 0 |
DNF | 55 | ![]() | ![]() | Spun off | 0 | 10 | 0 |
DNF | 7 | ![]() | ![]() | Spun off | 0 | 14 | 0 |
DNS | 6 | ![]() | ![]() | Spun off | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Penalties:
- Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes W16 (#12) - 5 second time penalty for unsafe pitstop release.
Fastest lap: 1:22.167 min by Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38 (#4) on lap 43 @231.246 km/h
2025 Australian F1 GP Results |
FP1 2025 Australian F1 GP |
FP2 2025 Australian F1 GP |
FP3 2025 Australian F1 GP |
Quali 2025 Australian F1 GP |
Start grid 2025 Australian F1 GP |
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What a season-opener despite the phase without barely anything happening for a bit & quite a few car control losses among both inexperienced & experienced drivers, which shows how difficult the track conditions were.
A great start for Lando regardless (even if the other garage side didn't get a good result for a start), but the stranded car recovery processes were unnecessarily slow as was the unlapping process the first time around, which partly contributed to Ollie ending up lapped almost immediately after unlapping for the first time.
I also noticed that Bortoleto's Sauber's front-right suspension was damaged even before the concrete wall contact.
I don't think he & Lawson had contact before, though, or at least nothing on the world feed with quite a few passes & situations going unseen due to how much happened in a short span when the rain intensified & further SC neutralizations occurred.
A good start for Sauber as well as Stroll, Albon, & Antonelli.
Anthony Hamilton going by Hadjar was an interesting sight & I ultimately understand the immediate start procedure abandonment instead of starting the second formation lap straight away as usual.
Thats a win win scenario for Max, only losing 8 instead of 15...!
Indeed
I really have to work on my maths its of course 7 and not 10 to Lando, did i detect a note of desperation as Hannah just couldn't get past Albon, even with his engineer doing his best to help multiple times, I thought Lucy was expert in the rain?
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