2025 Formula 1 Melbourne Grand Prix Race Recap

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Lando Norris wins the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen finishing second and George Russell third.

Lando Norris managed to take the win at the chequered flag after a hard-fought victory with mixed conditions, six crashes, multiple safety cars, a late downpour which shook up the grid and pressure from Max Verstappen in the final few laps of the race.

Isack Hadjar, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Jack Doohan, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto all retired from the race, with Isack Hadjar crashing on the formation lap.

Race Facts

• Lando Norris started on pole and won the Australian Grand Prix
• Oscar Piastri ran in second for most of the race but slid off the track on the grass. He got his car working again and finished ninth
• A gamble on slicks and a late call for intermediate tyres ruined the Ferrari race, with Leclerc finishing in eight and Hamilton, on his Ferrari debut, finishing in tenth
• Kimi Antonelli was the highest-placed rookie, finishing in fourth, but received a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane and finished fifth. The penalty was overturned after a petition by Mercedes and he was promoted back to fourth
• Alex Albon finished fourth in his Williams, but his new teammate Carlos Sainz took a spin under the safety car in the opening stages of the race
• Hulkenberg scored and early six points for Kick Sauber after finishing in seventh

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Lando Norris started on pole position for the 2025 season opener, the Melbourne Grand Prix. Conditions were unfavourable, with heavy rain through the morning in and around the city, lots of water on the track, and slippery surfaces.

All drivers started on intermediate tyres except Lance Stroll, who started on wet tyres, as Ollie Bearman and Liam Lawson started from the pit lane after Red Bull changed Lawson's rear wing and rear beam wing spec under parc ferme changes.

As the drivers got underway for the formation lap, Isack Hadjar spun into the wall at Turn 2 and damaged his rear wing, bringing an end to Isack's F1 debut before it even began. The race start was aborted with a new formation lap taking place at 15:15 local time.

All the drivers headed back onto the grid, and Stroll switched to the intermediate tyre compound.

Another formation lap took place at 15:15 local time and the race officially started. Lando Norris managed to stay leading the race into Turn 1, but Oscar Piastri was overtaken by Max Verstappen at Turn 2 and moved into third place.

Running didn't last long as Jack Doohan spun into the wall but was ok and brought out the first safety car of the race.

Carlos Sainz lost it as he turned the final corner and crashed into the wall under the safety car, as his first race with Williams ended before it even began. There were reports that Sainz and Doohan both lost it when touching the painted road markings on the track, according to Bono via Antonelli's radio.

The safety car used the pit straight to avoid Sainz's car, allowing for Lawson and both Haas drivers to pit for new intermediate tyres.

During the safety car, Norris led the Grand Prix, followed by Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Albon, Hamilton, Gasly, Alonso, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Ocon, Lawson and Bearman.

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Racing restarted again on lap 8, with Antonelli, Hulkenberg and Ocon making up the most places at the start of the race.

Norris held the lead over Verstappen at the race restart, but Verstappen found himself in trouble from Piastri.

Alonso, Albon, Hamilton and Tsunoda were all investigated for safety car incidents but were ruled no further investigation.

After the restart, Norris was the slowest of the top three, with just 1.6s covering Norris, Verstappen and Piastri.

Antonelli was straight in with the overtakes, overtaking Hulkenberg for P12 at Turn 11, but stakes a spin after dripping a tyre onto the grass out of Turn 3, manages to keep it out of the wall, but Hulkenberg retakes the place. It doesn't last long as Antonelli does an exact copy of his previous overtaken into Turn 11 and regains P12.

Verstappen turns wide at Turn 11 and touches the gravel, allowing Piastri to move into P2, with huge eruptions from the crowd during the process. Just as Verstappen complains about his tyres, he drops eight seconds behind Piastri as light rain hits again. Piastri quickly catches up to within 2.1s of Norris in the battle for P1.

Piastri quickly closed the gap to 1.2s and then within DRS of his teammate, with Verstappen over 15 seconds behind. Just as Piastri is told to hold position as they move past some back markers and the track continues to dry, which didn't go down well with the Australian driver.

Piastri is soon told he is allowed to race Norris again, but a mistake in Turn 6 drops him 2.7s behind his teammate.

Another safety car is brought out as Alonso heads into the wall - he is ok. Alonso's safety car brings a flurry of pit stops onto slick tyres, with Verstappen, Albon, Hulkenberg and Bortoleto changing onto mediums with everyone else, including both McLaren, opting for the hard tyre compound. Hamilton expressed concerns about difficulty switching on the hard tyres, with Haas drivers being the only two drivers to stick with the intermediate tyres.

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Lapped cars were allowed to unlap themselves, but Haas pitted for slicks after one lap, and Bearman had to unlap himself again from a long way behind.

The safety car came in and racing resumed on lap 42. During the race restart, Tsunoda gets ahead of Leclerc.

There was a threat of heavy rain with a flurry of radio messages from multiple teams to their drivers saying very heavy rain for one or two laps.

The rain arrived in the final sector catching Norris and Piastri out in the final sector, with both drivers going off the track. Norris manages to get his car back on track, but Piastri goes off and spins at the final chicane, getting stuck in the grass. Piastri slowly reverses and manages to get back on track.

All the drivers pit for intermediates except Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton, pushing Verstappen into P1, with Hamilton and Gasly behind him, followed. Still, Tsunoda and Leclerc are rounding out the top five.

Verstappen pits for intermediate tyres as Lewis Hamilton leads the Australian Grand Prix. It nearly worked out on slicks for Ferrari, but the rain started to get really heavy, with Leclerc taking a spin and Norris retaking the lead of the race.

The safety car comes back out after Lawson hits the wall at Turn 2. Hamilton states that the whole track is now wet, and Ferrari finally pits for intermediate tyres.

Bortoleto also goes off just as the race is turned on its head during the safety car. Through all the chaos, Lando Norris leads the race, followed by Max Verstappen, George Russell, Alex Albon, Kimi Antonelli, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, with everyone on intermediate tyres.

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The safety comes in with a six-lap sprint to the finish line, with Norris and Verstappen getting really close. Leclerc manages to overtake Hamilton, and they both overtake Gasly, moving the Ferrari drivers into eighth and ninth.

Verstappen got to within 1.2s of Norris with three laps to go and then within DRS range with two laps to go.

Antonelli was all over the back of Albon, closing up and managing to overtake, moving the Mercedes rookie into fourth. But just as he does his over he is noted, investigated and given a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.

Lando Norris wins the 2025 Melbourne Grand Prix, with Verstappen in second and George Russell in third. Alex Albon moves into fourth with Antonelli's penalty moving him to fifth. Mercedes submitted a petition after the race for Antonelli's penalty, which was reversed by the stewards and he moved back up to fourth with Alex Albon in fifth.  

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Full Race Classification

1) Lando Norris
2) Max Verstappen              +0.895
3) George Russell               +8.481
4) Kimi Antonelli                 +
5) Alex Albon                      +
6) Lance Stroll                     +17.413
7) Nico Hulkenberg             +18.423
8) Charles Leclerc              +19.826
9) Oscar Piastri                   +20.448
10) Lewis Hamilton             +22.473
11) Pierre Gasly                  +26.502
12) Yuki Tsunoda                +29.884
13) Esteban Ocon               +33.161
14) Oliver Bearman            +40.351
DNF) Liam Lawson
DNF) Gabriel Bortoleto
DNF) Fernando Alonso
DNF) Carlos Sainz
DNF) Jack Doohan
​DNF) Isack Hadjar

On the last laps of the race, Lando Norris continued: “Max was quick, I knew I had that good pace but I made one mistake in Turn Six and he got within the DRS and the DRS around here is probably like a second or something so that allowed him to keep staying in that second and allow him to have a couple of looks.

“I had to change my mirror a few more times than I would have liked but I stayed calm and kept it together.”

On his thoughts ahead of the rest of the season: “My weekend has been amazing from the get-go, it’s not easy to put a weekend together like this especially when I got a lot of pressure from Max and Oscar because they are hungry and competitive and they want it just as badly.

​“It was stressful but I know what I’m capable of and I know what I can do. It’s just round one so we need to go and do it next weekend and continue from there. A long season ahead but we’ve just got to keep our head down and keep pushing.”

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Written by Anny Wooldridge