The Formula One season kicked off this past weekend, returning to the Albert Park Street Circuit in Melbourne, Australia for the first time since 2020. The season opener has been held down under a record 23 times in Formula One’s history and finally returned home this weekend.
The race held a plethora of dramatic moments and crucial fights all around the track, with six drivers crashing out due to wet conditions, and a new fastest team compared to previous seasons, it was one of the best openers in recent memory.
Here is how the grid opened for the Sunday race, with Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson starting from the pit lane due to car repairs.
The southernmost city of Australia experienced rain all day Sunday leading up to the race which left all the drivers starting on intermediate tires. As three o’clock local time came around, the drivers started on the track for their formation lap, but for rookie driver Isaak Hadjar, his race ended before it even started.
As he entered turn two he caught some of the greasier parts of the track and his car snapped around too quickly and he was sent into the barriers wrecking his Racing Bull. A tough way to start his F1 career as he was seen visibly upset walking back to the Paddock.
The initial start of the race was aborted to remove Hadjar’s car from the track and clean up debris, but as 3:15 local time hit, it was finally time to go racing. Or so it seemed.
The race did start with five red lights and away the drivers, were but as turn six came it struck bad luck for another rookie. Alpine’s Jack Doohan, an Australian native, spun his car and was left wrecked on the middle of the track resulting in a safety car coming out before the first lap had even finished.
And the chaos wasn’t done. 2 laps later, as new Williams driver Carlos Sainz came to the final corner of the track (under safety car) he said he had a “power surge” entering said corner and spun into the wall putting himself out of the race. Three laps into 2025 and three cars already out of the race.
Thirty-seven minutes after the scheduled start of the race, it was finally time to truly go racing. The safety car was in at the end of lap seven and it was up to leader Lando Norris to get the race back under way. As he approached the final corner and hit the main straight it was foot to the floor and time to race.
The top three entering this lap were Norris, reigning four time world champion Max Verstappen, and Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri. This would be the top three for the beginning stages of this race. Near lap 17, Piastri overtook Verstappen and after the two McLaren drivers left the rest of the field in the dust showing the pure pace they had in the car.
Piastri got very close to Norris, but he was told to hold second position even though he was faster. After a few more laps Piastri was told they could go racing again, but he had dropped a bit too far back from his teammate and wasn’t able to challenge him for the lead.
As lap 37 came, so did Fernando Alonso’s demise. As the wet conditions on the track still persisted, his car was not able to do the same, spinning out which resulted in the end of his race.
This wasn’t the end of the crashes though, as on lap 47 both Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto came victim to mother nature and were the final two cars to spin out during the race.
Four of the six rookies this season out before the end of the race, which could be explained by inexperience in conditions like these.
It wasn’t the only drama near the end of the race though. As sunshine had come and gone and the heavens opened again, the racers were left with the incorrect tires on their cars which spelled disaster for Piastri, as nearing the final few turns he got a little too aggressive and drove straight into the grass ultimately pushing him back into the back of the pack.
The fight for the win was between Lando and Max, and Verstappen didn’t let his friend get anything easily, but in the end Norris was able to take the checkered flag and win the season opener.
