Norris seals first victory of 2025 in wet and wild AusGP

Proving why Melbourne deserves to be the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix was a mix of chaos, heartbreak and pure thrill, with Lando Norris reigning supreme as our home heroes had their campaigns washed away.

Chaotic feels too little of a word to describe the first lap of the 2025 Formula 1 season, with three drivers finding the barriers during both the formation and initial lap.

The first interruption came as the cars launched to set the grid, with rookie Isack Hadjar finding out just how unforgiving wet weather racing can be when he lost traction at Turn 2, spinning into the wall and damaging his RB beyond recovery which prompted an aborted start.

When the #6 car had been cleared, engines fired up on the grid as the five lights went out for the first time in 2025, however, it was short-lived when on Australian debut, Jack Doohan crumbled his Alpine against the barriers on the run to Turn 6. 

The third incident came at the final corner, when Carlos Sainz fell victim to the line of slippery paint, spinning into the wall at the final corner to prolong the Safety Car period.

Backing the pack up the first restart, Lando Norris looked to have jumped the gun prematurely as Max Verstappen, who cleared Piastri on the first start, soon arrived on the pole-sitter’s tail, however, his attack faded as the field made its way around the drying circuit.

On Lap 10, the Red Bull set the fastest lap and edged all the more closer to Norris’ rear thanks to a big slide at Turn 1, however, on the following lap, the #4 hit back.

Piastri didn’t let the 2024 rivals out of his sight, instead stepping it up a notch to reduce the interval between himself and Verstappen from 1.3 seconds to 0.8 seconds.

The second-running McLaren’s pace looked to be enough to eventually get the move done on Verstappen, however, the step up into P2 was fast-tracked when the Red Bull driver locked up into Turn 11.

The only thing standing between Piastri and his dream home victory was his teammate, meaning Norris, over four seconds up the road, was his next target.

While Piastri chased the #4, there was a haul of thrilling duels taking place back down the road.

Kimi Antonelli and Nico Hulkenberg became early rivals, tussling over 12th place for the heart of the first stint. 

The rookie, after an array of failed attempts, finally got the jump on the Sauber driver, however, dipping a wheel onto the grass at Turn 4 meant the positions reset.

Back on the case, the young Italian made lighter work of Hulkenberg, charging by the German before later disposing of Lance Stroll.

As for the other form of Italian representation on the grid, Ferrari’s race didn’t get off to the desired start, especially after claiming the reason for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s poor qualifying pace was because the SF25 was catered to a wet weather setup. 

Leclerc had a positive jump off the line, making up two places on the RB and Williams hopefuls, however, a near coming together between himself and his seven-time world championship-winning teammate ruined Hamilton’s early flow.

After the restart, the new recruit said he was struggling with drivability, asking his race engineer for advice before later requesting less advice as he fought, and failed, to pass Alex Albon.

As the second half of the race kicked off, Piastri found himself running just seven-tenths behind Lando Norris, with the following lap seeing an even smaller margin separate the two hungry teammates.

Piastri seemed to take a look at Norris into the third turn, however, the battle was called off by the McLaren pit wall when the home hero was instructed to “hold position”.

Having dropped back three seconds, McLaren revoked that instruction, giving Piastri the greatest news that he was ”free to race” Norris.

Piastri’s climb was interrupted by a race-resetting Safety Car, with Fernando Alonso losing traction on the kerb at Turn 7 and spinning into the barriers to end his Melbourne campaign there. 

That prompted movement in the pitlane, with slicks now the elected tyre of choice for all drivers.

The McLaren drivers were handed fresh hard tyres, while Verstappen opted for mediums as the race got going again on Lap 42, however, for Oscar Piastri, his competitive race came to a slippery ending at the final corner.

As heavy rain started to fall, Piastri followed Norris onto the gravel trap at Turn 12, but his recovery wasn’t as successful with the Australian sliding across the grass and coming to a stop.

Slowly manoeuvring his way back on track, the Australian found himself at the back of the pack, with the grandstands gasping as they watched the heart-breaking moment unfold in front of their very eyes.

More heartbreak struck the track when two other drivers had offs, however, in the case of Gabriel Bortoleto who crashed in the same spot as Piastri, and Lawson who spun out at the second turn, it was race-ending.

With Norris leading the race restart ahead of Verstappen, and Piastri down in P12, all eyes were locked on the battle of the Ferraris as Leclerc and Hamilton traded position through the first turn. 

As the lead Ferrari, Leclerc set his sights on Gasly, attempting a messy move on the run to Turn 11 before the Frenchman’s mistake at the first turn allowed both Ferraris to pass by.

Piastri, now running behind Gasly, capitalised on the double overtake, drawing closer and passing the #10 for the final points position.

In the lead, the competition was hot with Verstappen six-tenths behind Norris to start the last lap. 

Wringing every last millisecond out of his car, Verstappen’s best just wasn’t enough to close the gap, seeing Norris taking the chequered flag as the first victor of the season by just eight-tenths. 

Coming home in third, George Russell completed the final podium position of the season with Antonelli being relegated from fourth to fifth due to a five-second penalty for an unsafe release.

Thus, Albon was promoted to P4 as the final driver in the top five.

Behind, the order sat as Stroll, Hulkenberg and Leclerc, followed by Piastri who completed a daring last-lap overtake on Hamilton for P9, leaving the Formula 1 legend in the final points-scoring position on his Ferrari debut.

After a short moment of celebration and mourning in the paddock, the Formula 1 circus has a quick turnaround between now and the Chinese Grand Prix, with the first Sprint event of the season kicking off next Friday.

2025 Australian Grand Prix Race Results:

Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images

Grand Prix week signals the launch for Auto Action’s all-new monthly printed magazine – coffee-table reading packed with in-depth features from around the motorsport world. On sale at newsagents from tomorrow.

A full F1 car by car preview can also be found in the LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION DIGITAL HERE

For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.