The Australian GP marks the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season with the tricky conditions catching out rookies and veterans alike with Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan and Carlos Sainz all crashing out very early on.
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Early Drama
The conditions of the Albert Park circuit were tricky to say the least with three drivers coming to grief by the end of the first lap.
Racing Bulls rookie, Isak Hadjar was the first victim, losing the rear of the car during the formation lap and sending him into the wall and out of the race.
Hadjar was understandably upset and was seen being supported by Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony on his way back to the Racing Bulls Garage.
Once the stricken Racing Bulls car was removed from the track the racing could begin. Everyone made it through the first few laps with Max Verstappen managing to pass Piastri into second place, however the racing was neutralised after the Alpine of Jack Doohan had lost the rear of the car and hitting the wall, sending out the Safety Car at the end of lap 1.
As the field started settled into the Safety Car period, Carlos Sainz lost the rear of his Williams, exactly the same way as both Hadjar and Doohan ending the Williams drivers’ race.
Finally Some Racing
The race stared again after quite a few laps behind the Safety Car and on a track that was starting to dry at points. Most of the field was still driving quite tentatively with the greasy Albert Park ready to catch out an unsuspecting driver. Kimi Antonelli was a driver on the move passing the Sauber of Hulkenberg, however the Mercedes driver would dip his rear tire on the grass, spinning the Mercedes around in the only area of the track where he would miss a wall. The rookie would continue with no issues.
Max Verstappen would be the next driver to lock up and lose a position, dropping behind the McLaren of Piastri after locking his front wheel and running wide on the exit of the corner, unfortunately for Max and Redbull, the tires were gone and he fell back almost instantly, eventually settling into a gap of around 15 seconds.
Into a Rhythm
As is usual with the Australian GP at Albert Park the GP set into a rhythm with drivers getting used to the conditions. The only drama was when McLaren driver, Oscar Pastri was told to hold position behind Norris, however this was to allow both drivers to pass a couple of backmarkers. The biggest drama at this part of the race was all about tire strategy, when will they go for slick tires and what compound would they use.
Alonso Finds the Wall
Fernando Alonso decided to spice things, losing the rear of the Aston Martin at turn 6, the spin sent the car into the wall and out of the race. The reaction from the rest of the field was immediate, the Safety Car was directed to leave the pits and all cars headed for the pits and onto slick tires, with rain only to make a fleeting return the final 17 laps could be interesting.
Final Countdown
The final 15 laps were raced with slick tires and the changeable conditions due to cause issues but only for a couple of laps. The rain decided to arrive only a couple of laps into the restart, catching out the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris sending him onto the grass and right to the back of the field. Lando Norris dived into the pits to change onto Inters letting Max Verstappen into the lead and dropping Norris into sixth place.
Max Verstappen would pit on the next lap sending the Ferrari pair to the top, however this didn’t last long as the Ferrari pair followed into the pits a lap later dropping them down to the rear of the pack.
While all this was going on, both Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto both lost at different points on the track leading to another Safety Car period with only a few laps remaining.
Six Lap Shootout
With the Safety Car in the pits we had only six laps remaining to sort this out, amazingly, the Mercedes driver of Kimi Antonelli ended up in fifth, and the Sauber of Hulkenberg in seventh. The top three looked settled but the battles were happening further down the order with Oscar Piastri right on the tail of Gasly, looking to grab some points (or a point) after dropping to the back a few laps earlier.
With only two laps remaining, Max Verstappen was only half a second behind Lando Norris. The reigning F1 champion tried to take the fight to the McLaren, however the pace of the Papaya was such that he was able to keep the Redbull in second.
Kimi Antonelli was looking good for a fourth place finish after a poor qualifying, however he was handed a last minute 5 second penalty for an unsafe release dropping him down back behind Albon into fifth.
Oscar Piastri took a couple of points, passing the Ferrari of Hamilton on the outside of turn 9, in an impressive move for the Australian.
Will this race come back to bite Oscar in the Championship later in the season? Only time will tell.
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The Final Results
