The McLaren Racing Formula One Team got their 2025 season off to a great start on Sunday in Melbourne as Lando Norris who started the race from pole claimed a dominant victory.
Speaking following the action he said:
“It’s an incredible start to the year and the team have given me an amazing car from the get-go. Whilst it was a tough race due to the unpredictable conditions and the pressure from Oscar and Max, I felt comfortable and confident out there in the package the team have given us.
“It’s been a great weekend. We now need to go to China, do it again, and continue from there. There’s a long season ahead, and we have to keep our heads down and keep pushing.”
There was heartbreak for Oscar Piastri who was running up front all day but in the closing stages of the race in challenging conditions he ran wide going into the second to last corner and lost a number of positions.
The Australian recovered to finish ninth. Defending champion Max Verstappen came home in second just ahead of George Russell.
It was a fantastic day for Alex Albon and the Atlassian Williams Racing team as he finished the race in fifth place.
Speaking following the action he said:
I’m really happy. It was such a crazy race, I’m still trying to get my head around it! It’s fantastic for the team – a P5 is very special and may not come around many times this year. Our strategist did an amazing job. Honestly, it was so difficult out there; these conditions are typically what we hate and, despite all of that, we were still one of the strongest midfield runners out there. Points like today mean a lot and I’m positive about what’s to come. We’re a very bonded team, it was great to have Carlos helping on the pit wall too. This is for everyone at Grove, for all their work.
On his Formula One debut for the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Kimi Antonelli came through the field from 16th to finish fourth.
The Italian was handed a five second penalty which was later overturned.
That was an incredibly eventful race! The conditions were super tricky out there. We had so many different conditions that we had to cope with today, but I think we did a good job as a team. I was happy with how we managed everything from start to finish and to come home P4, having started P16, is really positive. I definitely can’t complain about how my debut race in F1 has gone. It was also great to see George up on the podium for the team. Whilst we didn’t have the pace to challenge the McLarens, it’s always good to pick up silverware.
The whole weekend has been a good learning experience. Being knocked out in Q1 after suffering floor damage yesterday was obviously disappointing. To bounce back today though, and experience so much in one race, is really good for my development as an F1 driver. We’ve had a strong first weekend and I’m looking forward to building on that in China next week.
Lance Stroll came home in sixth place just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who was seventh and speaking following the action he said:
That’s an absolutely positive result for the team. It definitely puts a smile on my face. We didn’t see that coming yesterday after our qualifying performance. Under the challenging conditions today, we didn’t make any mistakes and had a couple of good strategy calls. It was very difficult to keep that car on track and read the conditions. Street circuits under these circumstances are very unforgiving. You are constantly on the edge. On the intermediate tires in the first half of the race I was struggling quite a bit. It was a matter of just staying in the race and waiting for our opportunity. The safety car then obviously put us back in the race for the points, when it started to rain towards the end. We managed to pit exactly in the right moment ahead of others. Sometimes you got to be lucky. With others having some trouble, we stayed clean and rewarded ourselves with this nice six points. I would like to thank the entire team for the hard work to make that happen.”
Charles Leclerc was eighth just ahead of Oscar Piastri while in his first race for Scuderia Ferrari HP Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten.
Speaking following the action he said:
Not the start we wanted, but there’s lots to take away and work on from this one. The start was okay, but I lost momentum out of Turn 1 on the outside of Charles and got stuck behind Albon for most of the race. The rain always mixes things up, and strategy comes down to timing and a bit of luck. We took a gamble and made up places, but then boxing too late for Inters cost us, dropping us to the back of the top 10 with too much ground to recover. I struggled with the balance, but it was an important race for learning more about the car in different weather conditions, as well as gaining more experience working with a new team. McLaren and Red Bull had serious pace, so there’s work to do, but we’ll dig deep. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car next weekend in China.
Pierre Gasly came home in 11th place just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon while Oliver Bearman rounded out the order for the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team.
The weather made conditions extremely treacherous and as a result a number of drivers suffered misfortune.
Carlos Sainz retired from the race, his first with Atlassian Williams Racing.
Fernando Alonso also retired from the race in his Aston Martin. In his first outing for the RB Visa Cash App team, Isaak Hadjar retired from the race on the formation lap after spinning out.
Gabriel Bortoleto also went out of his debut race and speaking following the action the Brazilian said:
“Unfortunately, the race didn’t end as we had hoped – which is a shame, as things were going quite well for me up until that moment. Once the Safety Car period ended, I found myself at the very back, tried to recover, but touched the kerb and ultimately ended up in the wall. We knew anything could happen in conditions like these; we gave it everything but pushed a little too hard. On the other hand, I’m happy for Nico and the team for scoring points today: he did an amazing job, and everyone deserved it, both trackside and back at our HQ in Hinwil. All in all, I think it’s safe to say my debut weekend went well aside from this, especially considering my qualifying result yesterday. It’s been a weekend of learning, getting to know the team and its dynamics even better. Now, I intend to keep working and improving as we look ahead to China next week.”
Jack Doonan also retired from the race. Next up is the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend.