Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen by less than a second at the end of an intense season-opening race in Melbourne.
The McLaren driver won from pole position despite sliding off-track at one stage in a race enlivened by periodic showers.George Russell completed the podium while Alexander Albon brought joy to Williams by finishing fourth. He gained the position from Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who received a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane after climbing through the field from 16th.
The first attempt to start the race on a damp circuit was abandoned when Isack Hadjar spun into the barrier at turn two. Following a 15-minute hiatus, which gave the track more time to dry out, the race finally began.
Norris kept his lead from pole position but Verstappen got off the line well and attacked Piastri immediately, passing him for second place as they approached turn three. But behind them, the treacherous conditions first claimed Jack Doohan at turn six, then Carlos Sainz Jnr at the final corner, and the Safety Car was deployed.
Once the race resumed the leading trio ran in tight formation. But approaching lap 20 the rain returned and Verstappen ran wide at turn 11, losing second place to Piastri.
Light rain lingered and eventually passed, allowing the track to dry out again. Piastri briefly closed within striking distance of Norris but was told to “hold position” behind his team mate while they picked their way past a group of backmarkers.
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Eventually the conditions improved sufficiently that drivers were beginnig to discuss the possibility of switching to slicks. Then Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin got away from him at the exit of turn six and he crashed heavily.
The Safety Car was deployed once more, and the teams took the opportunity to switch their drivers onto slicks. But even as they prepared to restart the race the teams became alert to the threat of another rain shower.
It struck at the end of lap 44, catching the McLaren drivers out at turn 12. Both went off, Piastri spun to a stop on the wet grass at turn 13 and Norris dived for the pits, handing the lead to Verstappen.
Verstappen bowed to the inevitable and pitted for intermediates soon afterwards, falling back behind Norris. Hamilton, who had risen to third as others pitted and spun, tried to tough it out on his hard slicks. But by now Lawson and Bortoleto had hit the wall and the Safety Car was summoned again. Hamilton finally came in, and Norris regained the lead.
The race restarted with seven laps remaining. Verstappen closed menacingly on Norris after DRS was reactivated, but had to settle for second place.
The Ferrari drivers made some progress after their setback. Leclerc, who spun when the rain hit, repassed Hamilton, then both gained places from Gasly. However Piastri, who lost a significant amount of time rejoining the track, put a superb pass on the seven-times champion around the outside of turn nine to take ninth place.
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2025 Australian Grand Prix
- Hamilton dismisses ‘negativity’ over his radio calls. ‘Other drivers are almost abusive’
- Antonelli “got really scared” when he made “big save” on first lap of Australian GP
- Williams explain role played by car’s systems in Sainz’s race-ending crash
- Norris is only driver besides Verstappen to win back-to-back races since 2021
- “The only rookie that kept it on the road”: Full radio from Antonelli’s superb F1 debut
Jere (@jerejj)
16th March 2025, 6:26
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 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.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2025, 8:37
Yeah, I noticed that too (as did the podium finishers in the waiting room and I think Palmer picked it up in the commentary room at the first replay too). Curious what happened, did they touch with Lawson the lap before that or ealier in the lap maybe?
d0senbrot (@d0senbrot)
16th March 2025, 11:22
If you look closely at the replay of Bortoleto, you can see that the suspension only breaks after the spin. At the moment the car rolls backwards, the drive shaft is probably under enormous tension, which shatters the entire suspension as it is released. Perhaps this was preceded by some other applied force, but at the initial moment of the spin the wheel is seemingly still in place.
DaveW (@dmw)
16th March 2025, 6:29
In a dry race this would have been a devastating walk over by McLaren. They left Verstappen in the dust and Ferrari were nowhere. I’m curious to see where Hamilton would have been versus Leclerc if not for Albon holding him up so long. But they just had no real pace. The rookie crop looks dire.
Tom
16th March 2025, 6:34
Worse for Ferrari is that this is usually one of their best circuits and they still are making the wrong calls.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th March 2025, 7:44
Yes, I was thinking that hamilton so far has either been lucky to almost always be on the right car or has some quality that helps car development, but fixing ferrari’s strategies is probably something he can’t do.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2025, 8:38
Sainz gave it a decent try though, and mid last year it seemed to be actually catching on and the team seemed to be actually making the right calls more and more often. I guess they’re back to their usual selves now. Or maybe Hamilton can step up here?
David West
16th March 2025, 19:24
But not a good track for Hamilton, only 2 wins here, one of his worst records.
And Ferrari had to raise their ride height, not going to help.
China will be a better yardstick, I think they will be ahead of Mercedes and probably able to fight Red Bull (Max) but McLaren are a bit too far ahead.
Although last season McLaren had a very similar start to the season as Ferrari have here.
Mark Reville (@myrrve)
16th March 2025, 8:05
How can Hamilton claim to be unfamiliar with switches and settings? It’s as if he was sitting in for the first time. Perhaps he’s a little bit slow – in every sense.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2025, 8:39
They are different switches, in different menus probably doing slightly different things to the car. So he is still learning to see what works to do exactly what he needs, while after a decade at Mercedes he was probably almost automatically dialling things in to adapt to how the track, car and tyres evolve.
F1fanatic
16th March 2025, 12:35
You’d think that he would sit in the sim until he got the hang of it.
BMW P85 V10
16th March 2025, 13:27
He should have been training on the couch on every possible occasion until he was familiarized with al the settings. You might expect more dedication from him as a former 7 time world Champion.
David (@nvherman)
16th March 2025, 14:48
Believe you’ll find that Hamilton is still a 7 time world champion
anon
16th March 2025, 15:59
BMW P85 V10, Hamilton was also not allowed to undertake any preparatory work with Ferrari until his contract expired with Mercedes earlier this year.
MacLeod (@macleod)
17th March 2025, 7:55
@anon
But normal they give a driver a praticewheel and a book to get himself familiar with all modes and that would be given proably with his signing …. when he is familiar with that he would give his personal preferences on where he wants some dials and switches on the steeringwheel.
Doggy
16th March 2025, 6:30
The scary thing is that if this race was a usual dry race, McLaren would have gotten 1 & 2 and finish ahead of the 3th place by more than 25 seconds
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
16th March 2025, 6:34
We don’t know that – the first part of the race when they pulled out that gap was on inters, not dry tyres.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2025, 8:42
Yeah, as @t1redmonkey mentions, we never got to see that. Had Max gotten past at the start on slicks he would certainly not have lost the place back to Piastri the way he did, so he might have been able to put pressure on Norris then already.
I do think the running confirms that the McLarens are quick but their advantage over the rest of the field grows over the stint length, but it’s hard to tell how things would have gone in completely different conditions.
Bob
16th March 2025, 8:50
They’re kind of like Red Bull in 2023 in that respect. Over a single lap or in the early stages of the race they didn’t have much of a pace advantage. However, as the race went on and everyone got slower due to tyre wear, the Red Bull could just keep going and going and they’d ultimately dominate the race. I have a feeling the McLaren is similar. Over qualifying and in the first stages of a stint, Max and the Ferraris (once they get up to speed) will be fairly close in pace to McLaren. However, as the stint goes on and on the others will drop off and McLaren will be able to keep going.
MacLeod (@macleod)
17th March 2025, 7:58
What we know is that the McLaren is much kinder to his tyres then the Red Bull and that is where they got their advantage but as said we will have to wait atleast 4-5 races to know there advance for sure and how much it is.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
16th March 2025, 6:35
Ferrari please don’t go back pre 2023 race management.
Sometimes it’s better to just take the points for a solid P4 and P5 instead of going for the one in a million tyre gamble. It never works.
Cudos to Antonelli for mastering and to a lesser extent to Bearman for surviving the rookie slaughter.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th March 2025, 7:45
Yes, initially I was thinking pitting under the SC was a losing move, but I guess the track was wet enough that even if they stayed out they’d have lost many positions, probably would’ve had a worse result still.
Patrick (@paeschli)
16th March 2025, 10:47
I don’t understand why they don’t split strategies when the “right” call is so unclear
Riccard
16th March 2025, 11:29
Agreed. I think “Norris lap” vs “Verstappen lap” was uncertain with the limited information available in advance, which is why teams were split on the approach. But if your cars are close together and you are torn between two laps, put one on each to avoid stacking.
I do think by the time Verstappen actually came in, it was clear Norris’s moment had been better, so waiting *beyond* that was either slow reactions or betting on a red flag – which this steward group seemed (correctly) to prefer not to use.
BMW P85 V10
16th March 2025, 13:34
Agree on Red Bull waiting it out for the possibility of a red flag. That way they could win something, but had nothing to loose. Following Norris’ pit strategy would never bring any advantage.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th March 2025, 19:51
Nit-picking slightly but the race director decides on the use of the red flag, not the stewards.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
16th March 2025, 20:03
@roadrunner If the crash that brought out the Safety Car had been one lap earlier, or the cars been able to hold on one lap later (there was uncertainty as to exactly how intense the rain was going to be), the Ferraris would have made it work because they could have pitted under the Safety Car.
I thought everyone needed to swap when the rain started, because I wasn’t convinced it would be possible to get through under dry tyres and the earlier the swap happened, the better off one would be. However, Ferrari did something worth trying (even if I should have known that if any part of the wall was going to demonstrate what was wrong with a particular call, it would the Ferrari pitwall).
I think both drivers asked Ferrari to think twice, but that apparently wasn’t persuasive enough.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
16th March 2025, 6:39
Everyone needs to remember that Australia throws up weird differences in cars that aren’t reflected elsewhere.
MichaelN
16th March 2025, 9:05
That’s often said, but there haven’t been many surprise winners there. A lot of the variation had been due to it being the first race.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
16th March 2025, 6:42
McLaren: strong drive from Norris, the perfect race to boost confidence into the season. Piastri will regret that error.
Red Bull: Max driving very well but McLaren would have walked this in the dry. Lawson a real worry, Perez style pace could have strong championship connotations against MCL.
Ferrari: Hamiltons looks a couple tenths shy of Charles. Insane decision not to split the strategy, particularly when Charles spun in sector 3. These are the days, like the middle of last season, where Ferrari and Charles disappear and fail to collect the easy points.
Mercedes: silly quali strategy on mediums put Antonelli on the back foot. Clean race from both drivers, not spectacular but solid.
Aston: the less said the better
Williams: good drive from Albon, bad luck for Carlos
Racing Bulls: Hadjar – crashing at turn 1 on the formation lap is a new low but quali was solid. Yuki, once again with ok pace and brings back a nothing result. A more refined Tsunoda would have got a P4 with Lawson and Hadjar in the wall
Sauber: Bortoletto, good quali, fairly rookie race. Hulk trying to stay out of trouble. Long season ahead
Haas: Grim weekend.
Alpine: Gasly as usual dependable. Doohan costly error but solid weekend aside from that.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 7:08
Good summary. Max perhaps lucky to have gotten away with the slicks gamble.
One “McLaren” moment where they broke Piastri’s momentum with team orders. You’d expect Lando to be faster in the dry, so why wouldn’t Piastri pass him while he could? Lando was fortune Piastri complied. The moment he accepted second place in the championship?
George had a somehow relatively uneventful race as he did in Brazil last year. This time it worked out better. Less rain, but the track seemed more hostile to wet driving.
I thought Antonelli was spectacular, given the conditions. Yes, he was out of position, but it was still an impressive drive. Lucky that his spin was where there was run-off. Otherwise, he’d have been out, too. I don’t think any driver who pushed it in the race didn’t have a moment.
Piastri passing Lewis on the outside may have showed that, contrary to what was said on F1TV, the closeness of this season may well have been mis-sold. We’ll have to see if they have this kind of margin at other tracks, and if they can maintain it over the season. Red Bull and Mercedes have looked clueless trying to resolve their car problems. Has Ferrari changed the car too much?
Lewis had an error-free race. Seemed like the best strategy, but Leclerc’s pass was ominous.
Great from Lando. Perhaps behind Piastri and Max on wet pace, but he soaked up the pressure and got it done.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
16th March 2025, 8:09
I think Antonelli did fine but he benefitted significantly from the SCs. Overtaking a compliant Sauber was routine and his pace relative to George was impressive but I feel George was managing his race at that point and Kimi was on a charge. That charge almost immediately ended in an error. The result made the performance look better than it was for me, particularly given Ferrari’s insistence to gamble their race away.
It’s a similar story with Piastri – I felt he had to have a go and challenge Lando but he picked a point in the race where Lando was clearly thinking strategically. Their decision at that time was to pit for slicks, pit for inters or wait for a SC. Once Oscar has shown his hand the team clearly encouraged his to think of the long game. Usually Oscar is level headed, so I think he went for it to put Norris under pressure. He’ll back himself to fight Lando again, but I thought last season that if Lando could get 3 wins from the opening 5 then he’d win 14 this season. Lando looks stronger than last year to me, and McLaren a good way ahead too.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 9:23
Fair points, thank you. Norris looks a lot better. He has taken all of that criticism, including his own, and digested it. Piastri will have to improve a lot to mount a challenge. If it’s a tight season, hell only have a few races. If it isn’t, they’ll let them go at it.
BMW P85 V10
16th March 2025, 13:38
Still made a mistake that could have cost him the race as it did with Piastri.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 19:32
Yes. There was some luck that they did it where there was grass. If there were barriers where Max went wide… but then, I feel he wouldn’t have done so if that was the case. If all slips had been race-ending, George was ready to… plod. In this case it was the right strategy.
Riccard
16th March 2025, 11:34
Hamilton avoided “big” errors like spinning, but he qualified poorly, started poorly (would have been ahead of Albon had he not tried to fight Leclerc at a silly moment), struggled to pass Albon despite a 2s/lap advantage, and was overtaken twice at the restart.
In fact if Gasly hadn’t run off at the end allowing him past, he may have finished outside the points.
So while it was free from big errors, it was also a little anonymous: he’ll want more performance in the races to come.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 19:35
I think given the conditions, the cautious could have been the only finishers, although, that’s not likely as the likes of Max would drive with control and others like Norris, Piastri and Antonelli would be lucky.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th March 2025, 7:48
Aston: they must hope newey can do miracles (as far as I recall, he couldn’t start working on the car until now basically).
Edvaldo
16th March 2025, 13:51
Let’s not be unfair with Stroll. He drove very well for his standards and collected some good points.
On days like this, he can look like he belongs there, as his race was as not much different from something like Russell’s : he brought it home safely in one piece without major incidents.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
16th March 2025, 6:51
It was a chaotic race right from the start, with early retirements. McLaren lost an easy 1-2 finish, and Piastri now finds himself already on the back foot in the title fight against Norris. A massive setback for him, I’m not sure if he can recover from it. He should have focused more on finishing the race and getting a podium rather than engaging in a useless fight with his teammate that ended in a disaster.
Verstappen delivered another great performance maximizing his car despite an rare mistake when pressured by Piastri. Meanwhile, it’s rare to see Alonso make an error like that, maybe it’s age. As for Antonelli, his P5 finish was impressive, but what truly stood out was his pace throughout the race. He was matching Russell’s times and drove aggressively.
Ferrari, well… they’ve done it again. The Oxford educated strategist, likely drowning in mathematical models – and now even more lost with AI – somehow failed to grasp that no one survives a heavy rain on hard tyres. Strategic blunders were rampant today. Leclerc wasn’t called in immediately after Alonso’s crash, despite it being obvious that a SC will be deployed Ferrari, as always, waited for the official confirmation instead of acting proactively.
Then came the decision to put both cars on hard tyres late in the race, right as the SC was deployed with the rain expected in 5 laps. Finally the decision not to pit both cars when the rain intensified. I’ve long questioned whether Vasseur is the right man for the job, he lagged massively in restructuring the operations taking too much time to remove Rueda and Xabi. I won’t expect him to resolve the team’s deep rooted strategic issues anytime soon.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
16th March 2025, 7:18
If only they’d used more AI. Hoping against hope is something a machine does not tend to do… They gambled in Canada, Silverstone and now again. It’s just beyond me, especially when you’re on course to solid result after a difficult weekend.
But seriously speaking, it’s buffliing that Ferrari (and so many other teams too) went for the hard tyres when it was obvious that the safety car would stay out for quite some laps and with rain around the corner.
They somehow all have predetermined how to run a race and struggle so much to adapt to changes and Ferrari is particularly poor. Despite all the tools in the world but they can’t manage a single wet weather race properly. How often did Brawn get it wrong with Schumacher? Once or twice in 9 years. Be on the right tyres at the right time.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th March 2025, 7:57
Yes, I also thought it was strange that only red bull, out of the top teams, went for the mediums, which were the best tyre considering the wet track and the amount of laps left to the end, the hard was exaggerated for the duration + the wet track weakness.
Davethechicken
16th March 2025, 8:14
I think in the simulation and practice it was clear that the hard was the best tyre. Last year many drivers went HHM or variations of same only using M as had to.
I think Max had the choice of a used H or new M.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
16th March 2025, 20:04
@esploratore1 I still think Max would have been better off on the hard tyre. He got away with it largely because of his skill.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 7:18
I’m not sure about Alonso this time. I’ve been hearing commentators describe his and Lewis’ errors as “uncharacteristic” over the last few years. That said, was this one bad luck or did he get a bit too greedy and become another victim of Albert Park’s white lines? It would seem a shame if he didn’t use his experience and take it handy. What is an experienced driver if he doesn’t use that experience? Had all the skittles gone off the road, Russell might have snatched this one. Perhaps Verstappen was never going to retire? Since he even backed off, pushing probably wasn’t on this time around.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th March 2025, 7:55
As for alonso, yes, I’m thinking it’s age too, let’s not forget he made a fatal mistake also in brazil in the wet.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 9:32
With Alonso, I think a lack of humility might be a weakness. Max could suck up the fact that the conditions and tyres were limiting factors, so he backed off and accepted that he wasn’t going to be a hero here. When asked about the novices before the race, Alonso made it about himself and talked of his experience advantage. I still think that this one could have been bad luck, but, if it was a mistake, he needs to look at his frailties more objectively and improve. The old dog can teach himself new tricks… if he wants to.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 9:39
Lando has been too humble. I think that this makes his a very difficult path, as he puts himself at a disadvantage. If he can soak up all of this pressure, it may make him stronger. That may not matter if the car is a monster, as he should still have Piastri covered. His engineer said towards the end of the race that the pace is in the car. Early days, but I think they know something.
Edvaldo
16th March 2025, 14:40
What bugs my mind is that Norris was already on inters by that point and gaining fast on them, then Russell and Max went in too, and still Ferrari let their drivers out.
Hamilton made some 3 or 4 positions very quickly when Leclerc spun and looked set for a top 5 position for a brief moment, then they let both cars out, completely sold on the wet with hard tyres.
Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
16th March 2025, 7:18
Rookies need more tests.
An Sionnach
16th March 2025, 7:21
It’s very hard to start with something like this when you’re not allowed proper testing. The rules are a straightjacket.
Riccard
16th March 2025, 11:36
Agreed. Or at least a bigger tyre allocation at the existing tests, so they can maximise their track time.
David BR (@david-br)
16th March 2025, 17:36
@diezcilindros +1
More tests for everyone in general. It’s absurd really. In any other sport, training is vital.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
16th March 2025, 20:05
@diezcilindros That is a reasonable suggestion. Thankfully that will be the case in 2026.
RH
16th March 2025, 7:30
This McLaren car has a bigger advantage on a shorter track than the RB19 had in Verstappen’s hands on longer tracks. Gonna be a 2020 season for Verstappen.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
16th March 2025, 7:54
Hulk already brought more points for Sauber than both drivers combined last season. That’s why you bring an experienced driver in the team instead of going for these shiny rookies.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th March 2025, 7:59
Yes, in exceptional circumstances ofc, as the car looks too bad to get into the points in a dry race, we had 6 retirements here, which is a lot nowadays.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2025, 8:49
Yeah, last year there were several times Bottas might have had a shot at points but the car failed him. Hulk really didn’t do anything apart from not crashing and being there at the right time and moment to profit from the way the SCs and rain fell.
Given that we saw Bortolettos rear suspension break even before he hit the wall makes you wonder whether maybe that was the reason for losing control before he even spun, but hard to say really. And we saw the Alonso end up in the wall (if we excuse Sainz for possibly having the car doing something weird, otherwise it’s him doing the same as well) exactly the same way Hadjar and Doohan did, showing it can happen to anyone
BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2025, 8:50
Wait, didn’t Sainz crash when they were already behind the SC though, not before it?
MacLeod (@macleod)
17th March 2025, 8:07
He did
MichaelN
16th March 2025, 9:08
The Vasseur honeymoon is now fully over. This is his team 100%. Cars, drivers and personell. And it’s not good enough. What a disappointing start to the season, to not even be a factor on pace and a joke on strategy.
Hopefully this proves a one off.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th March 2025, 5:44
True. He won’t have any excuses for a 2022 or 2023 type season now. He set the bar last year (4 wins and P2 in the WCC) and got in Lewis to improve their chances, so anything lesser than last season will be seen as a step backwards and the first strike in his ability as a team principal.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
17th March 2025, 7:46
2022 wasn’t bad. Not what they wanted to be, but it was better than 2024. They had the 2nd best car overall and finished 2nd in both champs (on merit). Should have had more points, but they had too many DNFs (4 LEC and 4 SAI) compared to the teams that finished behind them in the champs. For example, Mercedes had only 2 DNFs.
It’s just 1 race, the 1st race, but at the moment they look worse than 2023. It doesn’t look at all like they will be title contenders, so I bet they wish this season turns into a 2022-like season.
XM (@xmf1)
17th March 2025, 5:53
As much as I’d like to say the same, I don’t think Fred can run the Ferrari team 100%. The internal politics are too deeply ingrained, would probably need someone like Flavio or Bernie’s caliber to truly get rid of the clownery going on
jhg103 (@joshgeake)
16th March 2025, 10:03
Probably the most frustrating and dull wet races since Spa 2021.
David BR (@david-br)
16th March 2025, 17:37
@joshgeake Have to agree with that assessment, for a wet race it was disappointing. The only real incidents were rookies and Alonso going off and forcing loads of SC laps on a circuit where removing cars is clearly non-optimal.
Osnola
16th March 2025, 11:12
Great drive by Norris and Piastri (untill the embarrasing team order that broke his focus)
Great drive by Max in a way slower car and reacting on the fadt changing conditions.
Nice drive by Lewis, learning his new car and learning ferrari communications.
New meme by lec and engineer: yes water is wet.
David BR (@david-br)
16th March 2025, 17:41
Yes too all, shame about Piastri’s spoiler.
Max was impressive as usual, with Lawson so far out of it this weekend,, difficult to tell where Red Bull might be.
Hamilton was suboptimal in the dry but I was impressed by his handling of the Ferrari in the wet, moving up to second by keeping it on smoothly on track when others including Leclerc failed. He’ll need a fair number of GPs to really start handling all the cars elements naturally though.
knightameer (@knightameer)
16th March 2025, 11:34
Great race for a season opener. Driver errors, changeable conditions. Awesome. Ferrari being the usual LOL providers. And amongst all this chaos, Stroll gets P6
Todfod (@todfod)
17th March 2025, 5:47
This was a perfect race for Stroll.. he can have slow race pace, not engage in any wheel to wheel battles and just focus on keeping the car on the track, while everyone else flounders around him to get him in to the points.
Edvaldo
16th March 2025, 12:46
Piastri already excusing himself out of the title picture, Mercedes and Ferrari far from being the nuisance they were expected to be.
So looks like we’ll have more of Norris vs Max. But at least Norris obviously upped his game. This was his best win.
Doggy
16th March 2025, 13:07
The way things are looking it’s going to be another brawn/Jenson… where Lando runs away with the Championship. That McLaren is at least 0.3 faster than any other car
MichaelN
16th March 2025, 16:05
I get that it’s a close game, but it’s really frustrating to see them get it wrong all the time. The car is never quite good enough, the strategies are never ironed out, the drivers keep making small mistakes. If they can’t outpace the McLaren, can’t outrace Verstappen, and can’t outthink Mercedes, it’s going to be a long and frustrating year.
And come on Vasseur. How hard is it to find some race engineers that don’t make the team look like a clown show?
I hope this was their worst weekend of the season, but if this is what it is, I don’t see much reason to have confidence in this outfit coming up with a strong contender for the 2026 regulations.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th March 2025, 6:06
Agree. Honestly, I wanted to write off Lando as WDC material after last year, but thought it would be good to see how he starts this season before reaching that conclusion. During the race start and the last 5 laps of this race, Lando stepped up his game more than we’ve seen during any race last season. Lets hope he keeps this mindset and progress going.
Regarding Oscar.. I just don’t understand the hype train about this kid –
1) He’s a good wheel to wheel racer – But then again so was Kevin Magnussen
2) He’s a mediocre qualifier – He’s been beaten by Norris pretty consistently (albeit by small margins), but he has had some sessions way below the expected quali pace of the car.
3) His tyre management isn’t great – Generally Norris has the upperhand on race pace on him because he’s kinder on his tyres, especially at the end of the race.
Overall, he isn’t super consistent either. There are occasional weekends where he just doesn’t show up or is just climbing back to where he needs to be. To compare his performance last season, lets look at other drivers who drove for a front running team in their sophomore season – Max at RedBull in 2016 was far more impressive than Oscar. Leclerc at Ferrari in 2019 was more impressive than Oscar as well. Oscar has done better than Albon/Gasly did at Red Bull, but Red Bull has always had a more difficult to drive car during those seasons.
JMDan (@danmar)
16th March 2025, 13:00
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. :)
Leo B
16th March 2025, 15:35
Norris the pitwall Bambi, protected from his team mate by team orders.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
16th March 2025, 16:56
Good job as Bambi kept it going when Oscar binned it
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
16th March 2025, 20:07
@tonymansell They both binned it. Lando’s was simply a (much) smaller binning.
Edvaldo
16th March 2025, 17:37
Would it be better if his team mate was running 18th instead?
Conditions were tricky, they did the right thing, and still Piastri found a way to lose them the 1-2.
David (@nvherman)
16th March 2025, 22:47
We get it, you’re a Piastri super fan.
However, what you are going to have to accept, for your own stress levels at least, is that Norris is just plain faster than Piastri.
Leo B
17th March 2025, 11:43
I approach each race as a neutral.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th March 2025, 6:09
Maybe his teammate needed protection from the weather conditions. Too bad the team can’t help with that.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
16th March 2025, 16:55
I was thinking it may have been the first dull wet race but it came alive thankfully. Norris just has that bit more atm than Oscar but Max could probably podium a Haas and is still the one to beat.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th March 2025, 0:27
Podium with a haas is an exaggeration, but judging by what albon did, it’s not unthinkable he could go on the podium with a midfield car given a crazy race like this.
David BR (@david-br)
16th March 2025, 17:45
Impressed most by Norris – lots of starts he didn’t mess up – and Antonelli on his debut. Also Hamilton’s handling of the Ferrari in the wet when everyone else was struggling to stay on track.
Not impressed by the TV coverage during that period, loads of overtakes, cars going off, spinning, positions swapped and we saw virtually none of it.