Australia - Race

The first race of the season may have started off a bit slow, but ended up delivering on the excitement Formula 1 promises. Between the safety car, crashes, and bursts of rain, there was little that it was missing. 

As the cars drove around the wet track during the formation lap, Hadjar lost control and crashed, causing the first start to be aborted. It took 15 minutes for his car to be removed. The second attempt at a race start was successful and, after only a slight delay, the five lights went off for the first time in the 2025 season. The two McLarens starting from the front row did everything they could to keep their lead over the rest of the field. Norris managed to stay at the very front, despite his teammate's attacks, but Piastri lost his position to Verstappen. This wasn't the only change in the top 5. Leclerc managed to move up 2 places, overtaking both Tsunoda and Albon. 

The racing conditions didn't last for long. Before the first lap was over, Doohan, one of the home heroes, crashed, bringing out the first safety car of the day. Only a lap later, Sainz also found the wall, ending his Williams debut much earlier than he would have liked. As the marshals cleared the track, some of the drivers pitted, exchanging their slightly used intermediate tires for sets of new ones. With the circuit still covered in water, there was no room for choosing any of the slick compounds. 

The safety car ended in lap 7. Upon restart, Piastri was quick to attack Verstappen, really putting the pace of his McLaren to the test. DRS was enabled on lap 12, helping him get closer to his Red Bull opponent. In the end, he got by on lap 17, after Verstappen went wide and barely avoided going off track entirely. With him out of the way, the young Australian set his sights on his teammate. He crept ever closer to the other McLaren, but when less than a second separated the two, he was told to hold position, instead of attempting an overtake. He obediently backed off, creating a larger gap between P1 and P2. Once he was a few seconds behind, another message came through the radio. He was told that he was allowed to race Norris. 

The safety car made a reappearance on lap 34, after Alonso's Aston Martin found the barrier. With the race being more than halfway done and the conditions getting much better, many drivers decided to pit, with some teams even double-stacking their drivers. This time, the compounds of choice were either hard or medium slick tires.  Multiple cars by the garages at the same exact time wasn't without its issues. When Bortoleto tried to drive onto the pit lane after changing his tires, he impeded Lawson, who was trying to get to the Red Bull mechanics. He was punished for it with a 5-second penalty. 

The second safety car ended on lap 41 and a restart once again prompted Piastri to attack his teammate in front. He couldn't find a way past Norris before lap 44, and that was then a sudden burst of rain completely changed the trajectory of his race. After the sudden change in conditions, both McLarens went off the track at the same time. While Norris managed to rejoin and regain his rhythm without losing position, the same couldn't be said about Piastri. The Australian got caught on the gravel and was promptly passed by most of the remaining drivers. For a while it looked like it would be the end of the road for him, but he was determined to give his home audience the joy of seeing him finish. He did manage to rejoin the race, but by the time he did so, his chances of winning the Grand Prix were all but nonexistent. 

After his unpleasant slip, Norris quickly changed his tires back to intermediates, making Verstappen the leader of the race. The reigning champion dove into the pitlane a lap later, giving the temporary lead to Hamilton, who had found himself so high up after most other teams also bolted on new tires. In the meantime, a third safety car period was announced, after both Bortoleto and Lawson crashed. For a while it was a Ferrari 1-2, but in conditions this tricky, even the most experienced of drivers couldn't last on slick tires. By the time the safety care ended, the order was restored, with Norris, Verstappen, and Russell making up the top 3. 

The top three remained the same until the checkered flag fell, but there were still some shifts among the point scorers. The last laps saw both Ferraris overtaking Gasly after he made a costly mistake, Antonelli overtaking Albon for 4th, and then immediately after being given a 5-second penalty for a previous unsafe release, and Piastri making up enough places to finish the race 8th. In the end, it was Lando Norris who took all the glory, achieving his 5th career victory and breaking Verstappen's 1029-day-long streak of leading the WDC. With the British anthem accompanying the podium, the season began quite well for McLaren. 

UPDATE: After the race, Antonelli's 5-second penalty was overturned, returning him to P4

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. Max Verstappen

3. George Russell

4. Kimi Antonelli

5. Alex Albon

6. Lance Stroll

7. Nico Hulkenberg

8. Charles Leclerc 

9. Oscar Piastri

10. Lewis Hamilton

11. Pierre Gasly

12. Yuki Tsunoda

13. Esteban Ocon

14. Oliver Bearman

DNF: Bortoleto, Lawson, Alonso, Sainz, Doohan

DNS: Hadjar