Chaos Down Under: 2025 Australian Grand Prix Recap

Mar 16

5 min read

G'day, and welcome to the 75th season of Formula One! The season opened in Melbourne, Australia, and certainly set a tone that was nothing like the 2024 opening. It may not have been as chaotic as the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix, but rain in a notoriously treacherous circuit tends to be memorable. Here's a rundown of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.

Qualifying In A Nutshell

Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman (in their race debuts for the team) qualified P19 and P20. In true Haas fashion, Bearman couldn't even participate in the session due to car troubles. Mercedes newbie Kimi Antonelli qualified P16 and took on some floor damage following a brush on the gravel. At the same time, Kick Sauber's Nico Hülkenberg, P17, was outperformed by his teammate rookie Gabriel Borteleto, who qualified P15.

One of the most eyebrow-raising moments of Q3 was Red Bull's Liam Lawson qualifying P18. For context, Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix and subsequently replaced Sergio Perez in the Red Bull seat. The move was an understandable shock as many (and I mean MANY) believed that VCARB's Yuki Tsunoda was more deserving of the seat instead. By the way, Tsunoda made it to Q3 of the session and finished P5.

Q2 saw VCARB's Isack Hadjar in P11, Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in P12 and P13, and Alpine's Jack Doohan in P14. Q3 saw a Papaya takeover - Lando Norris in pole position and Oscar Piastri in P2, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen qualified just behind them in P3. My favorite highlight of the final round was seeing both Williams in the top ten - Alex Albon in P6 and Carlos Sainz in P10. Conversely, Ferrari qualified underwhelmingly with P7 and P8 for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Now, take a deep breath.

The Race

Isack Hadjar, who outqualified his fellow rookies, hit the wall on the Formation Lap and never got actually to start the race. He'll have to wait for the Chinese Grand Prix to start a race next weekend. His disheartened reaction afterward was highly understandable. Please don't blame him for what happened; blame the standing water on the track. In fact, blame the rain for everything that went wrong in this race.

Following an aborted start and another go at the Formation Lap, Doohan and Sainz crashed out in Lap 1, triggering the safety car for the first few laps of the race. Fernando Alonso later DNF'd, as did Liam Lawson and Gabriel Borteleto. Only fourteen drivers went on to finish the race, which is pretty gnarly for any race.

Lando Norris ultimately won the season's first race after facing off against Oscar Piastri (in his home race) and Max Verstappen (the 2024 Drivers' Champion). He was strong, steady, and swift, which this race needed for a winner. My heart does go out for Piastri, who ultimately finished P9. He was close to winning his home race, only to drive over the gravel and ultimately hit the grass, dropping him to the bottom and nearly retiring him from the race. Thankfully, he could get off the grass and finish, albeit a P9 finish. Perhaps the Australian driver, who was one of the favourites for this race, will have better luck next year.

And then there was Scuderia Ferrari. Both drivers had a good start—until a late-race rain shower threw a monkey wrench into their strategy. By that point, most drivers quickly opted for intermediate tires that would have ensured a steady pace in the event of rain manifesting in the middle of a lap. Hamilton and Leclerc, on the other hand, were on hard (AKA dry) tires BUT were briefly 1-2 on the track. In an ideal scenario, Hamilton would have kept his lead and won in his first race for Ferrari with Leclerc in second place.

But Ferrari, wary of the odds of rain, decided to call both drivers into the pitlane a tad bit too late to switch into intermediates. Conditions quickly dried up soon after, and the drivers dropped several places. Leclerc finished P8, and Hamilton finished P10. Had the strategy team called them a few laps earlier for the tire change or, better yet, taken a gamble and let the drivers continue on hard tires while others rushed to pit, the race outcome would have culminated in a Ferrari 1-2 finish.

There's no use in sugarcoating this. Ferrari completely dropped the ball and messed up a critical opportunity to place Hamilton ahead in the rankings. But I suppose the team should make that mistake sooner rather than later. Let's see how the team recovers in the next race.

Despite starting towards the bottom of the grid, Kimi Antonelli outperformed all of his fellow rookies and finished fifth. He was later promoted to fourth place following a post-race penalty removal. He finished behind teammate George Russell, who came in third place. I'd be curious to see if Mercedes is able to maintain similar results in future races that may not prove to be as chaotic.

The standout result to me overall was Alex Albon's P5 (he initially finished P4 but was demoted to P5 due to the Antonelli's post-race result adjustment), as he earned ten points for the season start. I have a feeling that Sainz might have finished close to his teammate had he been able to finish the race. Williams will be one of the teams I will keep an extra close eye on in the coming races.

Championship Standings

Currently, Lando Norris leads the Drivers' Championship ranking with 25 points. Max Verstappen is second with 18th points, and George Russell is just behind with 15 points. If Norris can win consistently or at least finish ahead of Verstappen for the next few races, he may be able to create a gap that might be difficult to close as the months advance. I will be mindful not to get ahead and start deliberating how the rankings could fluctuate. I'll let a few races come by before I start officially analyzing.

McLaren and Mercedes are tied in the Constructors' Championship rankings with 27 points, but because Norris won the race and Antonelli's post-race results were adjusted from fifth to fourth, McLaren is technically in first place. Red Bull is behind them with 18 points. Williams, surprisingly, is in fourth place with 10 points. Aston Martin is in fifth place with eight points, and Kick Sauber has six. Ferrari is shockingly in seventh with five points.

Did I have a feeling that this Grand Prix would be chaotic? Yup. Did I expect this exact outcome? Nope. Is the result shakeup going to spill over into the next few races? I strongly feel it will, but let me say something I've said before and will not hesitate to repeat: This is Formula One - anything can happen.

Buckle up, everyone. This is going to be an interesting season.