The opening race of the 2025 Formula One campaign is over, with Lando Norris converting Saturday’s pole position into victory.
A rain-soaked Australian Grand Prix saw drama from the off, with crashes, spins and strategy gambles making for a compelling 57 laps of racing. Max Verstappen and George Russell completed the podium, with the race marking the first time since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix that the Dutchman hasn’t led the drivers’ championship.
So, following the season’s hectic curtain raiser, here are four things we learnt from the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.
McLaren are the team to beat
After pre-season testing in Bahrain, one thing seemed pretty consistent between most people in the paddock – McLaren were entering 2025 with the fastest package. That was confirmed in qualifying, with the nearest non-Papaya car more than three-tenths back.
Some thought the wet nature of Sunday’s race might allow drivers such as Verstappen or Russell to challenge, however McLaren scampered away immediately, barring a brief period where the reigning world champion managed to hold up Oscar Piastri.
A pace deficit of over six-tenths per lap separated Norris and Verstappen by the end of the race, highlighting just how quick the McLaren really is. There may perhaps be one slight caveat, which is the unique nature of the Albert Park circuit. Characteristics found around that track are unfamiliar elsewhere on the calendar, which may have somewhat disguised their true pace advantage.
Despite that, the McLaren, especially in the hands of Norris, looks a formidable opponent for the rest of the grid to try and topple in the coming races. Piastri also showed great speed at points, but a couple of mistakes – including a costly spin late on – has given Lando first blood in the drivers’ standings.
The rookies showed their age
The 2025 gird is stacked with fresh faces, as six full-season rookies joined the grid. Liam Lawson, Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto all entered the Australian Grand Prix keen to impress – however it proved to be a nightmare debut for most.
Only Antonelli and Bearman would complete the race, with the latter crashing during practice which prevented him from setting a competitive time in qualifying. Hadjar span on the formation lap and was devastated following the incident.
Doohan was next, struggling with the wet conditions at the start of the race, ultimately shunting in a similar fashion to Doohan. Towards the end of the Grand Prix, Lawson and Bortoleto were caught out in the rapidly changing conditions, marking a humbling day for F1’s new recruits.
It was only Antonelli who enjoyed a successful debut, gliding through the field to finish fourth, proving that the hype around the Italian teenager may be correct.
The class of 25 will certainly be hoping for a more successful innings next weekend in China.
Nightmare start for Ferrari
Coming into the new season, no team were surrounded with as much hype as Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton’s career-defining move to the Scuderia had fans dreaming of a record-breaking eighth world championship for the driver. The sport’s most successful pilot and constructor combining to write a new page in the F1 history books.
However, if the Australian Grand Prix is anything to go off, that won’t be happening.
From qualifying onwards, the Prancing Horse just didn’t look up to scratch. Going into the weekend, people thought Ferrari would be fighting with McLaren for pole – instead they were scrapping it out with Williams and Racing Bulls.
All they could manage was P7 and P8, and fell even further back in the race. Charles Leclerc looked to have fifth wrapped up but when the weather hit, fell under pressure and suffered a costly spin. When it came to pit for inters, the Scuderia left their drivers out too long and paid the price.
Leclerc could only finish eighth, with Hamilton scraping 10th. Five points to show for their efforts across the weekend will be severely underwhelming for the Tifosi, who will be expecting a big bounce back in China.
In all honesty, it seems as if the sport’s most iconic team have just been left behind by their competitors over the winter. Ferrari ended 2024 on par with McLaren but appear to have slipped behind both Red Bull and Mercedes.
Time will tell if the Scuderia’s pace was hidden by the unique characteristics of Albert Park – but their opening gambit has left much to be desired.
The midfield battle is tighter than ever
As is often seen in Formula One, the final year before a regulation change has brought the field extremely tight together. A tenth of a second could be the difference between qualifying P5 or P10, making driver error absolutely crucial when setting the grid.
This was evident on Saturday, with Albon and Yuki Tsunoda taking advantage of Ferrari’s lack of execution during Q3. Despite the hectic race that followed, the Williams’ and Racing Bulls’ drivers were still fighting at the sharp end come the climax of the race.
Albon delivered on his promise, coming home fifth and only a costly strategy gamble denied Tsunoda a nice haul of points. Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg also scored well for Aston Martin and Sauber, finishing P6 and P7 respectively.
This has seen Sauber already outscore their 2024 final total – collecting six points in Australia compared to their accumulation of four last term.
As seen in 2021, the midfield battle will intensify as teams switch focus to the regulation change, leading to shock results and swinging performance. This can only spell good things for the sport, who could end up relying on the teams lower down the grid to provide entertainment if McLaren continue to dominate at the front.
Fans won’t have to wait long for the action to continue, as the Formula One circus arrives in China next weekend. It will see the first sprint race of the year, which means the teams will be limited to once practice session. Qualifying for the feature race will start at 7am GMT on Saturday 22 March, with lights out for the main event at the same time on Sunday.