As it happened: 2025 Australian Grand Prix

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That concludes our live coverage – the first race of 2025 is in the books! Here’s our report and some reaction from the winner – plus give your verdict here.

Piastri took ninth with a stunning pass on the outside of Hamilton at turn nine.

Antonelli has a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release so he’s fifth behind Russell and Albon. Stroll, Hulkenberg, Leclerc, Piastri and Hamilton complete the points places.

Lando Norris wins the Australian Grand Prix! Max Verstappen is second.

L56 Penultimate lap. DRS has been enabled and Verstappen is within range of Norris.

Gasly gets loose at turn two and the Ferrari drivers pounce for eighth and ninth.

Leclerc passes Hamilton for ninth place.

L52 The race restarts again. Norris leads Verstappen, Russell, Albon and Antonelli.

The Ferrari drivers pit. That promotes Albon to fourth followed by Antonelli, Stroll, Hulkenberg and Gasly. Hamilton rejoins the track in ninth place.

Hamilton: “It’s too dangerous to stay on this tyre. I don’t think this is going to dry out any time soon.”

L47 Lawson and Bortoleto have spun at separate points on the track. Safety Car.

Ferrari are risking it all! Hamilton stays out and takes the lead.

L46 Verstappen finally comes in.

Norris, Russell, Stroll, Antonelli, Hulkenberg and Bortoleto all took intermediates. Verstappen leads Hamilton and Gasly on slicks.

L45 Piastri finally extricates himself from the grass.

L44 Both McLarens spin off at turn 12! Norris rejoins the track but dives into the pits. Verstappen stays out and takes the lead. Russell pits too.

L44 Norris pulls 2.9s clear of Piastri but rain looks imminent. Bortoleto has been given a five-second time penalty after he was released too close to Lawson in the pits.

L42 The race finally restarts. Norris leads Piastri, Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc.

L41 Ocon then pitted for intermediates and came out of the pits between the McLarens and Verstappen. He is now unlapping himself again. And the Safety Car period is ending.

L40 The lapped cars are now being allowed to unlap themselves, including Ocon, who is still on intermediates. The teams are getting concerned about the possibility of a further, intense rain shower in a few laps’ time. Bearman pits for a fresh set of mediums before the race restarts.

L37 The recovery vehicle has only just arrived at the scene of Alonso’s crash so it could be a little while until this race gets going again. Drivers are warned about the vehicle and marshals on the track at turn six.

L35 McLaren fit hards, Verstappen in third takes mediums, Russell and Leclerc behind them take hards.

Verstappen says the track is not ready for slicks. He’s told “most cars fitting slick tyres.” Red Bull put mediums on his car.

Drivers were talking about the track being ready for slick tyres shortly before the Safety Car was deployed.

L34 Alonso crashes! He’s out of the race. He appears to be alright. Safety Car.

McLaren told Piastri to hold position while they were picking their way through backmarkers. The drivers are allowed to race again, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told Sky.

Verstappen looking happier on his tyres now, not quite as quick as the McLarens but has drawn nearly 12 seconds clear of Russell.

L30 McLaren tell Piastri to “hold position.”

L29 Past half-distance and it’s getting tasty at the front. Piastri is now within DRS range of his race-leading team mate.

Russell appears to be picking up the pace relative to Verstappen now, starting to take a bit more out of the Red Bull. However the rain is easing, and it was the onset of rain which the Red Bull appeared to dislike.

L26 Piastri has Norris’s lead down to 1.4 seconds now. Verstappen 12.6s behind, Russell 8.1s off him.

L25 Hamilton beginning to apply pressure to Albon for seventh place.

Hamilton: “Lost gear sync.”

L22 Piastri is told the rain will stop in two laps. He took half a second out of Norris the last time around. Verstappen is dropping back at around a second per lap, Russell barely gaining on him.

Hamilton, Alonso, Tsunoda and Albon have all been cleared by the stewards after they were investigated for potentially failing to leave a 10-car-length gap during the Safety Car period.

L20 Piastri took six tenths of a second out of Norris in the first sector alone on this lap. The gap between them is now 2.6 seconds.

A bit of action at turn 11. Antonelli gets 12th back from Hulkenberg and Lawson takes Ocon for 15th.

L19. One-third distance. Russell says the rain is “intensifying.” He’s now nine seconds behind Verstappen, who has dropped five seconds behind Piastri.

Hamilton has also been noted for a potential Safety Car infringement.

Verstappen: “My tyres are fucked.”

Verstappen runs wide at turn 11, Piastri takes second place off him.

L17 Drivers are reporting the rain has returned.

Antonelli had passed Hulkenberg but he spins at turn four and loses the place again.

L16 Norris, Verstappen and Piastri are running nose-to-tail. Russell is now 10 seconds behind in fourth, Leclerc three seconds off him.

McLaren advise Norris the risk of rain is increasing.

L13 Hamilton: “Let me know where I’m slow. Struggling for drive-ability.”

L12 Verstappen gets his wish – race control has enabled DRS.

L11 Norris starting to cool his tyres off-line on the straight. Verstappen not feeling the need to. Verstappen tells his race engineer: “They can allow DRS.” He wants to attack.

L10 Verstappen looking more comfortable now and closing in on Norris.

Alonso and Tsunoda are under investigation for infringements during the Safety Car period – leaving more than 10 car lengths to the car in front.

Piastri looks a more comfortable than Verstappen through the high-speed turn nine and 10, he gains on the Red Bull there, then drops back by the end of the lap.

L8 The race restarts. Norris leads Verstappen and Piastri.

L7 The Safety Car stays out for another lap.

L6 Three drivers at the back of the field have fitted fresh intermediate tyres: Both Haas drivers and Liam Lawson. They’ve got little to lose by doing that and gives them a bit more purchase and heat for the restart. The fact they’re doing that underlines how little grip there is. They might have been better off waiting one more lap, however, as the Safety Car stays out for another lap.

Lewis Hamilton is still getting used to life with his new race engineer at Ferrari, Ricardo Adami, who was Sainz’s engineer last year. “Just don’t repeat everything,” he says. “Understood,” replies Adami.

Fernando Alonso explained yesterday why racing at Melbourne in the rain is difficult. “I think it will be a challenge for everybody,” he said. “Melbourne is not really a circuit that, in wet conditions, is fun, because the straights are not straight. They’re kind of a corner, always, and visibility will be a challenge.”

The drivers are following the Safety Car through the pit lane to avoid the scene of Sainz’s crash.

Lap two of the season and we’re already down to 17 cars.

Carlos Sainz Jnr is also out! Last year’s winner is in the barrier at the final corner. The FW47 swapped ends on him on the way in.

L1 Jack Doohan has crashed! He’s damaged his Alpine at turn six. The Safety Car is out.

The 2025 Australian Grand Prix is go! Max Verstappen immediately passes Oscar Piastri for second place.

Aston Martin have repaired some damage to Lance Stroll’s rear wing under FIA supervision.

Because of the earlier formation lap, the race distance has now been shortened by one lap to 57 laps. The cars head off on their second formation lap now.

Joseph to Norris: “Rain expected 15:25.” That’s 10 minutes after the next formation lap is due to begin.

Joseph to Norris: “Slight risk of rain after the race start.”

A new formation lap will take place at 3:15pm local time – 10 minutes from now. The track will likely dry out quite a lot between now and then.

Russell: “Is there any rain on the radar?” Dudley: “Negative.”

The start has been aborted. Norris made a mess of this procedure in Brazil last year and the rules have changed since then.

The formation lap begins and Isack Hadjar has crashed! He’s spun into a barrier at the exit of turn two. The Racing Bulls has a broken rear wing.

Lambiase to Verstappen: “That light shower has now completely dissipated.”

All 20 drivers will start the race on the intermediate tyres.

Drivers appear to be switching to intermediates on the grid, though the tyre covers are still on.

Although the track surface is very wet with standing water in places a standing start doesn’t look impossible. The grid awaits race control’s decision. There is only a 40% chance of further rain after the start, so we could well see the track dry out from here on.

Red Bull have changed Liam Lawson’s rear wing specification so he will have to join Bearman in starting the race from the pit lane.

Haas have made changes to Oliver Bearman’s suspension set-up and will therefore have to start from the pit lane. His team mate Esteban Ocon just went off at turn 11 but didn’t hit anything and has got going again.

The drivers are conducting their reconnaissance laps at a very wet Albert Park track. Most of them are on full wets, but Lewis Hamilton has headed out intermediates.

We’re one hour away from the start of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.

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