F1 Australian Grand Prix 2025 Review: Lando Norris keeps Max Verstappen at bay to start 2025 win a win

Chaotic start to the season

McLaren’s Lando Norris kicked off the Formula One 2025 in style as the British driver won the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix 2025, seeing off reigning World Champion Max Verstappen in a wet and chaotic race in Melbourne. Verstappen finished second ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell to round out the first podium of the season. 

Norris held off his teammate Oscar Piastri as the lights went out in wet conditions but it was Max Verstappen from P3 with a stellar start, almost putting a move on both the McLaren’s in the opening few corners before zooming past Piastri to move into second place. While one Australian was overtaken on the opening lap, it was even worse for the other Australian on the grid as Jack Doohan along with fellow rookie Isack Hadjar and Carlos Sainz all failed to see the end of lap one. 

Hadjar was the first to crash out after losing his rear at Turn 2 and going into the barriers, which brought out the Safety Car. Things got worse as Jack Doohan soon after lost control of his rear tyres to hit the barriers at Turn 6, ending his race as well while the experienced and new Williams Racing signing Carlos Sainz the hit was the final corner as well the following lap, as the wet conditions were causing a headache for the drivers. 

The Safety Car, which came out following Sainz’s lap, went in as the race got its first full lap on lap 8 with Norris leading a charging Verstappen. With the rain beginning to settle in, it was Verstappen getting too eager and it was the Dutchman’s eagerness that saw him lock up on lap 17, that let the home hero, Piastri, move back into second place while giving Norris some breathing space in front. Inside 10 laps of regaining their 1-2, McLaren were building a big gap to the rest of the field with Verstappen being almost 15 seconds off the lead by lap 27. With the team clearing Piastri after a brief warning, the Australian driver went after Norris’ lead but had a moment on lap 32, going a bit wide, which saw Norris able to build a lead of over 2 seconds.

Lap 34 saw the fourth retiree of the race as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso spun out of the race, bringing out the yellow flags and bringing in a host of cars into the pit for their stops. After seven laps behind the Safety Car, which was deployed once again, racing resumed on lap 41 and the with the rain and wind picking up it was absolute chaos as Norris had a nasty spin but managed to hold on, but Piastri slid off as well which meant, Max Verstappen was leading the race. 

Verstappen led from Hamilton and Pierre Gasly with Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc behind while Norris’ recovery made sure he remained sixth. Just as it looked like we would get a good couple of racing laps, there was another incident as Verstappen’s teammate Liam Lawson spun out, bringing out the yellow flags and eventually Safety Car again. The Safety Car came in on lap 51 as blue skies came out and it was Norris game in the lead thanks to quick thinking during the pit stop under the Safety Car.

Norris held on to take home the win in a dramatic Australian Grand Prix 2025 to kick off the season while Verstappen finished second ahead of George Russell. Williams’ Alex Albon in all the chaos, moved up and finished a brilliant fourth ahead of the rookie Kimi Antonelli, who received a five-second penalty that dropped him down a place. The remaining Aston Martin of Lance Stroll finished sixth with Nico Hülkenberg, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the points places with the Australian making up a couple of places in the final few laps.

McLaren remain at the top of the Constructors’ table, where they ended last season with Mercedes two points behind them with 25 points. Red Bull are in third place with 18 points with Albon’s stellar drive putting Williams in fourth place. Alpine, VCARB and Haas remain the three teams who are yet to get off the mark. 

After a dramatic start to the season, racing will continue next week as well as the grid moves to China for the second race of the Formula One 2025 season.