F1 Australian GP LIVE: Lewis Hamilton makes Ferrari vow after Lando Norris wins season opener
Follow reaction from the first race of the season after Norris wins from Max Verstappen after a dramatic finale
Lando Norris survived a rain shower and late charge from Max Verstappen to open his season in style by winning a wild, wacky and thrilling Australian Grand Prix.
With 13 laps remaining, both Norris and Oscar Piastri, who was running behind his McLaren team-mate in second place, ran off the road and through the gravel in the slippery conditions.
Norris was able to dive into the pits to move back on the intermediate tyres and salvage victory, but Piastri ended up in the grass at the penultimate corner, scuppering McLaren’s dream of a one-two. He would cross the line in ninth.
Norris took the chequered flag just 0.8 seconds clear of world champion Max Verstappen with George Russell third for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton finished a disappointing 10th on his Ferrari debut.
Follow the Australian Grand Prix with The Independent
The 2025 Australian GP final order
1. Lando Norris
2. Max Verstappen
3. George Russell
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. Alex Albon
6. Lance Stroll
7. Nico Hulkenberg
8. Charles Leclerc
9. Oscar Piastri
10. Lewis Hamilton
11. Pierre Gasly
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Esteban Ocon
14. Oliver Bearman
Who didn’t finish: Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Jack Doohan and Isack Hadjar
Haas on the race weekend: "It's quite unexpected."
Ahead of lights out on Sunday, Aayo Komatsu was blunt about Haas’ issues: “It’s not going to be a quick fix.”
But despite finishing last: in 13th and 14th, both drivers remain positive: “The aim of today was to get the laps in and collect data,” Oliver Bearman said.
“It’s really the performance we missed out on this race, if we had a little bit more we would’ve been in the mix for points. The cars were fighting in front and I was just there, there was no position for me to get inside the top 10, I just couldn’t keep up unfortunately,” Esteban Ocon added. “We need to give it a good look – it’s not what we’ve seen, so it’s quite unexpected to be where we are this weekend – but I’m sure we’ll turn it around.”
Carlos Sainz pinpoints reason for Australian Grand Prix crash
“I’ve had a chance to look at the data and we could clearly spot what happened – and that leaves me a bit more calm about the whole situation,” Carlos Sainz said after the Australian Grand Prix.
“Because obviously I wasn’t even going on throttle at the exit of the Safety Car in a Safety Car situation, and I know having experience for these kind of things, but it’s what it is.
“We haven’t got our season started yet. We will need to wait one more race to properly kick it off.
“At the same time, being out of the car has helped Alex bring this P4 [later demoted to P5, ed.], given that I could sit down with the strategy team and pick the perfect lap to pit him.
“It’s still a good result, a good outcome for the team, and we can now focus on getting my season started in China.”
F1 2025 season predictions: World champion, Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc and biggest shock
Roll up, roll up – it’s predictions time!
The 2025 F1 season has all the foundations to be one of the most action-packed in the sport’s 75-year history, with a title race set to be extremely close and Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari certain to attract even more eyeballs to the sport.
Lando Norris is the favourite, given McLaren’s constructors’ triumph last year, with four-time world champion Max Verstappen his closest contender, chasing a fifth title in a row.
Read more about this season’s predictions: F1 2025 season predictions
McLaren reflects on complex Australian GP
McLaren’s Andrea Stella on Sunday’s result:
"Oscar and Lando were driving brilliantly, both, and effectively Oscar just paid a bigger price than Lando with going off-track and then not being able to come out of the grass.
“I think Oscar today was deserving to be in contention for the victory until the last moment, and he drove exceptionally well. And when I use the verb 'driving,' that's not only driving the car around the track, but it's also the kind of assessment of the conditions and the decisions that we should have taken."
Sky F1 commentators criticise race control after Norris forced to drive past truck
Sky commentators Martin Brundle and David Croft were critical of FIA race control for allowing a truck on track and not throwing a red flag to stop the Australian Grand Prix.
In the middle of the race, after Fernando Alonso crashed his Aston Martin, Norris was seen leading the pack around behind the safety car.
Bafflingly, Norris was forced to drive past a moving lorry at turn 10, while the safety car even went off-line to avoid the vehicle.
Sky F1 commentators criticise race control after Norris forced to drive past truck
Max Verstappen on the last lap battle:
“It was fun, those last laps, pushing. At least you know when you’re fighting for the win.”
Verstappen’s last spin around the Australian circuit in 2024 came to a sudden and sour ending: a right rear brake failure caused the world champ to retire early. This year, the driver best known for dominating a wet race managed to claim second.
Stroll reflects on P6 result: "I had nothing to do with it."
More strategy than speed is what set Stroll apart.
“They were looking at the forecast and saw that it had started raining already on the other side of the track. They called me in, so I had nothing to do with it.
“I saw everyone spinning and saw a lot of rain on my visor, so it was about staying on the track and then being on the right tyre at the right time.”
The 2025 F1 driver standings
It may be too early to tell who is in the championship fight, but Norris is leading the driver standings after a wet Australian Grand Prix.
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