Lando holds off Verstappen, Piastri/Ferrari bottle it and Antonelli shines…

By Joe Murphy

Here’s a review of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix you can read in under two minutes!

The weather was a wet on a grey Melbourne morning as the Formula 1 season kicked off with an aborted start. Issac Hadjar lost control on the formation lap meaning he is still yet to start an F1 Gran Prix as we head to race two on the calendar.

Once we got away properly, however, there was much change to the order. Slowly but surely, drivers lost their car and retired from the race. Bortaleto and Lawson, starting their first proper seasons in the elite level of motorsport, both had to retire, as did the Alpine of Jack Doohan, as young heads made mistakes.

However, age wasn’t a crucial factor, with both Fernando Alonso (a rookie in his own way) and Carlos Sainz, also exiting the race.

Verstappen, who had overtaken Piastri on the opening lap, made an uncharacteristic mistake to let the hometown hero back past to breathe down his McLaren teammate’s neck. However, it was then Piastri turn to make an error as Lando, who kept building a healthy lead before Safety Cars wiped it out, had to do it all again.

With different strategies and put stops on show, Norris pitted for intermediate tyres with Ferrari braving the storm temporarily, to put Lewis Hamilton in the lead, after he had been stuck behind the Williams of Alexander Albon for half of the race.

This strategy didn’t work, and Ferrari eventually had to settle for 8th and 10th, the latter of which for debuting Hamilton as both drivers vented radio frustrations.

It had looked so promising for Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, however both also lost out in the late pit stops and even fell behind a resurgent Piastri.

In the end, Norris took the win, less than a second ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull as the two title challengers showed they are just that. George Russell ran a brilliant, albeit lonely race to claim the final spot on the podium, with teammate Kimi Antonelli climbing twelve positions to finish in P4, a position that was reinstated subsequently, with Albon having to settle for 5th. Lance Stroll scored point for Aston Martin, with Nico Hulkenberg also doing the same for Sauber with 6th and 7th respectively. Piastri was sandwiched between the Ferrari pair in 9th after the final lap.

An eventful, stop-start race in Australia to kick off the season. What we have learnt is that Ferrari never change, Rookies will save to learn the hard way and Lando’s battle with Max will be one for the ages.