RACE REPORT | F1 Australia 2025

Lando Norris overcame Safety Cars, unpredictable weather, and dramatic moments to take victory in a chaotic 2025 season opener.

The drama had already begun during the formation lap when Racing Bulls’ rookie Isack Hadjar spun at Turn 2, made contact with the wall, and destroyed his rear wing, preventing him from taking part in the race. The start was abandoned and delayed by 15 minutes until his VCARB 02 was recovered.

Despite the delayed start, the race got underway without any collisions. However, Max Verstappen, starting third, managed to get ahead of Oscar Piastri in second, while Lando Norris maintained his lead. Charles Leclerc gained two places, pushing Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon further down the order.

But then the drama continued…Jack Doohan, under heavy pressure from Franco Colapinto, crashed his Alpine at Turn 5, bringing his home race to an early end. A safety car was deployed shortly after.

However, behind it, last year’s winner Carlos Sainz lost control of his Williams at the final Turn 14, blaming a torque surge from his Mercedes power unit as he backed the car into the wall. Race control then directed the field to pass through the pit lane while the debris was cleared.

The restart on Lap 8 avoided any more accidents, Norris stayed in the lead with Verstappen and his teammate Piastri right behind. Meanwhile, Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto was reporting brake issues and Lewis Hamilton his Ferrari being "snappy".

On Lap 17, Kimi Antonelli, while trying to climb up the order, spun at the same place, where his teammate George Russell did in practice, but managed to get his Mercedes undamaged back to the track pretty quickly, loosing only one place to Nico Hulkenberg.

A few seconds later, it was Verstappen who made a mistake, running wide and allowing Piastri to slip past, reclaiming his original position to the delight of the home crowd.

A bit of a funny moment at Ferrari then but not really for Charles Leclerc as he was complaining to his engineer about a soaking wet seat, asking him if there is a leak. He was told "it must be the water." Then the Monegasque replied: "add it to the words of wisdom".

Meanwhile, Piastri managed to close the gap to Norris but was told to wait with the overtake until dry conditions, however, then he made a mistake at Turn 6, which stretched the gap between the McLaren duo back to almost 3 seconds.

On Lap 34, Fernando Alonso hit harder one of the curbs and crashed his AMR25 into the the wall at Turn 6. At the time he was running on points in P10. Safety car was deployed after.

And then the biggest drama came. After the restart rain started falling again and it was the McLaren's duo that was in problems first. Norris slid off the track, with Piastri following closely behind. However, while Norris managed to recover and rejoin the racing line, Piastri lost control and veered further off, ending up in the grass. Norris reclaimed the lead, but soon after, he pitted, promoting Max Verstappen to first place. Meanwhile, Piastri managed to get back on track and also headed into the pits.

As Verstappen remained on track amid the unfolding chaos, Lewis Hamilton moved up to second, followed by Pierre Gasly in third, with Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc behind—though Leclerc had a spin. Initially told to “stay out,” Verstappen then received the call to pit, handing the lead over to Hamilton before Norris, now on intermediate tires, overtook him.

The drama continued as Liam Lawson lost control in the wet and crashed, his Red Bull coming to a stop with its rear end in the barrier. Gabriel Bortoleto also found himself in the barriers. Under the resulting Safety Car, Ferrari opted to pit, dropping Hamilton and Leclerc from second and third to ninth and tenth. This reshuffled the order, with Norris, Verstappen, and George Russell leading the pack, followed by Alex Albon, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and Lance Stroll.

Racing resumed at the end of Lap 51, setting up a six-lap sprint between the two main title contenders, Norris and Verstappen. Norris made another strong restart, maintaining his lead while Verstappen had Russell pressuring him from behind.

Further down the order, Leclerc overtook Hamilton for ninth, while Piastri climbed to 11th, chasing down the Ferraris. The two Scuderia drivers managed to pass a struggling Gasly, with Piastri quickly following suit. Antonelli moved up to fourth by overtaking Albon but was later penalised five seconds for an unsafe release.

In the final laps, Verstappen stayed right on Norris’ rear wing but couldn’t find a way past. Norris held on to claim victory by just 0.9 seconds over the reigning world champion, with Russell completing the podium. Antonelli crossed the line in fourth. The remaining points scorers were Albon, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Leclerc, Piastri, and Hamilton.

Race results