Sunday showers ensured the race would start under damp conditions. All teams opted to start their drivers on the intermediate tyres except for Lance Stroll on the wet tyres, as the track surface can be quite slippery in the wet.
Isack Hadjar was the first casualty of the conditions, spinning into the barriers during the formation lap. He dipped a tyre into some standing water in turn seven at extremely low speeds. It was not how the Racing Bulls rookie wanted to end his Formula One debut and was visually distraught during the long walk back to the paddock. His debut now needs to wait until next weekend in China.
The second formation lap was delayed by 15 minutes while track marshals worked to clear the debris from the stricken Racing Bulls car. Stroll, who had originally planned to start on the wet tyres, joined the rest of the field on the intermediate tyres for the second start. The delayed start allowed the circuit to dry more but it was still brutally unforgiving.
Max Verstappen had a strong start from the second row of the grid, but Lando Norris moved to block the Red Bull. Verstappen had a slight look to the outside of the first corner but backed out of it. Oscar Piastri struggled for grip in the second corner, allowing Verstappen to promote himself to P2, but the safety car was deployed before the end of the opening lap.
Jack Doohan was the second rookie to suffer an early exit from the race. He spun into the barriers at turn five, seemingly lowing traction when he put his tyre on one of the many white lines around the circuit. But it was not only the rookies getting humbled by the conditions. Carlos Sainz also crashed into the wall in the final corner under safety car conditions, bringing his first race with Williams to a premature end.
Norris bolted very early when the race restarted on lap eight. In the first lap of green flag racing, Verstappen appeared to be under pressure from Piastri behind but regained composure at the end of the lap. The top three drivers quickly pulled away from George Russell in P4.
With the cars now racing at speed, the circuit rapidly began to dry. On lap 13, race control decided the conditions had improved enough to enable DRS. Soon the drivers had to deviate from the dry line to cool their intermediate tyres, in hopes of keeping enough life in them to get them through the brief rain showers still threatening the race.
Piastri was striving in the conditions, putting Verstappen under pressure. The Red Bull driver cracked in turn 11, locking up and running slightly wide. This promoted Piastri to P2 and unleashed him to chase down teammate Norris in the lead. Before long, Verstappen was left in the dust of the McLarens.
With things beginning to heat up between their two drivers, McLaren neutralized the battle with the first team orders of the season. Piastri begrudgingly complied, despite feeling he was the faster car. After losing time to Norris with a couple of small mistakes, McLaren told Piastri he was free to race a few laps later.
Before he could make up ground to his teammate, the race was neutralized by the safety car on lap 34 for the second time. This time it was to clean up Fernando Alonso’s damaged Aston Martin, which he had spun into the barriers on the exit of turn seven.
The safety car triggered a mad dash in the pit lane for slick tyres, despite the risk of a heavy shower before the end of the race. Haas had initially planned to take a gamble on keeping the intermediate tyres but bailed into the pit lane on the final safety car lap to fit slicks.
It was an orderly restart on lap 42 but everything quickly turned to chaos when the forecasted rain arrived at the circuit. Both McLaren drivers were caught out by the slick conditions in turn 12, sending both cars skidding across the gravel. Norris gathered control of the car in time to dive into the pits for intermediate tyres. Piastri was less fortunate, spinning into the grass. With absolutely no traction on the wet grass, the Australian was forced to watch his dreams of winning his home grand prix slip away. He eventually managed to crawl back onto the circuit, seemingly powered by the cheers of his home crowd, but was far out of contention.
While some drivers pitted for intermediate tyres, others gambled on the slicks. Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were two drivers who took the gamble, but neither one was able to cash in. Verstappen pitted for intermediates after a few laps of limping around the circuit. Hamilton pitted for intermediates during the third safety car of the day.
This time the safety car was for two simultaneous incidents. Gabriel Bortoleto crashed his Sauber in the penultimate corner and Liam Lawson spun into the barriers at the second corner.
As the dust settled, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Alex Albon, and Kimi Antonelli made up the top five for the final six-lap dash to the finish. Norris had a good restart, but Verstappen applied full pressure in the closing laps of the race. Lingering in DRS range, Verstappen made every effort to overtake his rival on the final lap but couldn’t take victory.
Lando Norris crossed the finish line to become the first race winner of 2025 to stand on the podium alongside Max Verstappen and George Russell. Kimi Antonelli had an impressive debut to finish P4 but was demoted behind Alex Albon after receiving a five-second penalty for an unsafe release.
The Australian Grand Prix was just the first race weekend that started Formula One on a journey worldwide for a landmark 75th year. Twenty countries from five continents will host twenty-four feature races and six sprint races this year. By the season-finale in Abu Dhabi on December 7, only one driver and team will be crowned champions of the world.
Next up on the calendar is the Chinese Grand Prix, which marks the end of the season’s first back-to-back weekend and the first sprint weekend of the season. The drivers will race their cars around the Shanghai International Circuit on the weekend of March 23.
UPDATE: Mercedes successfully appealed Kimi Antonelli’s five-second penalty for an unsafe release, using video footage to show he had not impeded Nico Hulkenberg. Antonelli’s P4 finish was reinstated, giving him an additional two points and bringing Mercedes level with McLaren for the lead of the World Constructors’ Championship.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 57 | 1:42:06.304 | 25 |  | |
| 2 | 57 | +0.895 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 57 | +8.481 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 57 | +10.135 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 57 | +12.773 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 57 | +17.413 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 57 | +18.423 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 57 | +19.826 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 57 | +20.448 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 57 | +22.473 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 57 | +26.502 | |||
| 12 | 57 | +29.884 | |||
| 13 | 57 | +33.161 | |||
| 14 | 57 | +40.351 | |||
| DNF | 46 | ||||
| DNF | 45 | ||||
| DNF | 32 | ||||
| DNF | 0 | ||||
| DNF | 0 |
| 1 | L. Norris | 25 |  | |
| 2 | M. Verstappen | 18 | -7 | |
| 3 | G. Russell | 15 | -10 | |
| 4 | K. Antonelli | 12 | -13 | |
| 5 | A. Albon | 10 | -15 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 27 | | |
| 2 | Mercedes | 27 | -0 | |
| 3 | Red Bull | 18 | -9 | |
| 4 | Williams | 12 | -15 | |
| 5 | Aston Martin | 8 | -19 | |
