Australian Grand Prix 2025: Chaos reigns in Melbourne to open the F1 season

After months of speculation, the 2025 Formula 1 season is here.

And the season-opening Australian Grand Prix may deliver pure chaos.

Rain and showers in Melbourne have lingered into the afternoon, and the wet conditions even forced the cancellation of the F2 race that was scheduled for earlier in the day. Rather than seeing cars on the track, fans instead saw ducks swimming in puddles along the Albert Park Circuit.

Even during a formation lap for the F2 race, the ducks were not far away:

While the rain has eased in Melbourne, during the formation lap for the F1 race most of the field had a set of full wet tires bolted on. Only Lewis Hamilton, on the cusp of his Ferrari debut, had a set of the green-walled intermediates bolted on to his SF-25.

We’ll be following every lap of the Australian Grand Prix, so follow along as the 2025 F1 season gets underway

All updates are in Eastern Time (pre-race) or according to Laps.

2025 Australian Grand Prix Race Coverage

Here are the provisional results from the Australian Grand Prix:

Lap 57: It’s Norris! He holds off Verstappen to take the Australian Grand Prix. Russell rounds out the podium, and while Antonelli finishes fourth, the five-second penalty he was just assessed for the unsafe release will drop him to fifth, promoting Albon to P4.

Incredible stuff.

The rest of the points go to Stroll in P6, Hülkenberg in P7, Leclerc in P8, Piastri in P9, and Hamilton in P10.

Lap 57: Antonelli gets by Albon for P4, but is under investigation for an unsafe release that could result in a five-second penalty.

Lap 57: Final lap of the Australian Grand Prix is underway, and Norris is just 0.549 seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Lap 55: Piastri gets by Gasly, who went through the grass earlier and opened the door for Leclerc, Hamilton, and eventually Piastri to get by him.

Antonelli is within DRS range of Albon in front of him.

And at the front, Verstappen is within DRS range of Norris.

Lap 54: DRS has been enabled by race officials.

Piastri is still in P11, but within DRS range of Gasly in P10.

Lap 53: Five laps to go, the current top ten stands as: Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Albon, Antonelli, Stroll, Hülkenberg, Gasly, Leclerc, and Hamilton.

Piastri is in P11, 1.4 seconds behind Hamilton.

Lap 52: The green flag is back out in Melbourne. Norris has pulled 1.185 seconds ahead of Verstappen, and Russell is all over Verstappen for P2.

Lap 51: The Safety Car is ending on this lap. Norris will lead Verstappen at the restart.

Lap 50: The Safety Car remains out, but lapped cars are now unlapping, so we should be back to green momentarily.

Lap 48: Ferrari brings both Hamilton and Leclerc in for a double-stack, and they switch to the intermediates.

Lap 47: Both Lawson and Bortoleto have spun into the wall.

Absolute chaos in Melbourne. The Safety Car is out.

Lap 46: Verstappen peels in for the intermediates. Norris is in P6 on the intermediates, everyone in front of him has a set of slicks on.

Hamilton stays out! He charges into the lead on his Ferrari debut on a set of hards, but can he manage it?

Lap 46: Verstappen stays out again. He is betting on the mediums. Piastri gets into the pits and comes out with a set of intermediates.

Lap 45: Piastri spins into the grass, and might be out of the race. Verstappen stays out and is on the medium compound. Norris pits for a set of intermediates.

Lap 44: The rain has arrived. “How you respond to the deluge that is coming is going to decide who is going to win the opening race of the year,” said Alex Jacques on F1TV.

Gabriel Bortoleto has been given a five-second penalty for an unsafe release out of the pits.

Lap 42: Ferrari tells Leclerc that “Class 3” rain is coming. Leclerc says that is “a lot.”

Norris maintains a lead over Piastri, with Verstappen in P3.

Lap 41: The Safety Car is ending on this lap. Probably some nerves on pit wall for a few different teams.

Lap 40: McLaren tells Norris that the rain might even be heavier than they were thinking, and Norris raises the prospect of pitting now for a set of intermediates, while the Safety Car is still out.

Meanwhile Haas has brought both Bearman and Ocon in for medium tires, giving up on their plan with the intermediates.

Lap 38: F1TV currently debating whether a “sprinkling” or a “smattering” of rain is coming.

Ocon radios in to Haas that “we know why we’re doing this,” as both Ocon and Bearman are the only two drivers still on the intermediates. Haas seems to be betting on the rain being harder, which is a decent bet to make when you are running in P14 and P15, as Ocon and Bearman both are.

Lap 37: The Safety Car remains out here on Lap 37. McLaren tells both Piastri and Norris that there may be “one lap of rain up to Class 2 to 3,” somewhere from Lap 45 to 50.

The sky looks pretty dark as well.

Norris sounds less than confident at the report from his team.

Lap 35: Piastri and Norris both pit, and take on hards. Verstappen opts for mediums.

Lap 34: Everyone from sixth on back comes into the pits. Albon takes a set of mediums, as does Hülkenberg. Hamilton, Gasly, Antonelli, and Stroll opt for hards.

Lap 34: Alonso hits the wall at Turn 6, and the Safety Car is out. Will be fascinating who makes the call for slicks here.

Lap 33: Piastri runs into the gravel at Turn 6, and slides back more than two seconds behind Norris.

McLaren then tells him that he is “free to race.”

So, yeah.

Lap 30: Piastri is told to “hold position” despite closing in on Norris for P1.

Lap 28: Hadjar has made it to the VCARB pit wall to be greeted by hugs from his team members. Good to see given how the young driver was so emotional after his spin on the formation lap .

On the track, Hamilton seems a bit frustrated with his engineer, asking again that they “please leave me to it.”

A few spots behind Hamilton the driver who replaced him, Antonelli, is closing in on Alonso in front of him for P10.

Lap 26: Piastri has closed to within 1.285 seconds of Norris at the front of the field. The gap from Piastri to Verstappen is over 14 seconds.

Lap 25: Hamilton tries to shape a move on Albon at Turn 11, but the Williams driver closes the door.

Leclerc radios in that he must have a leakage because has a seat “full of water.” When he’s told that it must be water, he replies “let’s add that to the words of wisdom.”

Leclerc working on his tight five for the Chuckle Hut while he’s driving in an F1 race. Incredible.

Lap 23: The best battle on the track right now might be the battle between Albon and Hamilton for P7. Hamilton radios into Ferrari that he lost “gear sync,” however, which could be something to monitor.

Lap 22: Alex Jacques on F1TV notes that rain is falling and umbrellas are going up at the track. McLaren tells Piastri that the rain will go away in “three laps.”

Lap 21: Hamilton, Tsunoda, and Alonso have also been cleared of potential Safety Car Infringements.

Lap 20: Race officials have cleared Albon of a potential Safety Car Infringement.

Lap 20: The gap from Piastri in P2 to Verstappen to P3 is now 5.750 seconds. The McLarens are pulling away from the field right now.

Lap 18: The McLaren’s are back at the front, with Norris running ahead of Piastri.

Both Albon and Hamilton have been noted for possible Safety Car Infringements. Race officials are also now investigating Alonso and Tsunoda for potentially the same violation.

Verstappen radios in that if there is “any rain we might need to pit for new tires.”

Lap 17: Verstappen goes wide and opens the door for Piastri to take second away.

Lap 17: Antonelli goes through a big spin at Turn 4, but manages to keep his W16 out of the wall and only loses a single position to Nico Hülkenberg. Antonelli is now in P13 in his first F1 race.

Lap 14: Both Verstappen and Norris have dipped off the main racing line at various points, either to cool their intermediate tires, or to test different lines.

Lap 14: McLaren tells Norris the risk of rain is “increasing.” Behind him this has turned into a three-car race. The gap from Piastri in P3 to Russell in P4 is already over six seconds.

Lap 12: Race officials have declared that DRS is now enabled, with conditions drying. While Norris is over a second ahead of Verstappen, Piastri is just 0.495 seconds behind the Red Bull driver for P2.

Lap 11: After Verstappen closed to within 0.311 seconds of him, Norris has extended his lead over the Red Bull driver to over a second. Currently the gap between the two is 1.145 seconds.

Ferrari tells Leclerc to cool down the front left tire, but Leclerc radios back that he “appreciates” the information but that he’s taking care of it.

Lap 9: Verstappen has closed to within 0.311 seconds of Norris for the race lead.

Both Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda have been noted by race officials for a possible Safety Car Infringement.

Lap 8: The green flag is out, and they are racing again in Melbourne. At least for now.

Lap 7: The Safety Car is ending this lap. Norris tells McLaren that the intermediates are still the right tire right now, but that slicks will be the call eventually, unless the rain comes.

Lap 6: The Safety Car remains on the track. Norris almost seems to be racing it at the front of the field.

Lap 5: Both Ocon and Lawson pit for new sets of green-walled intermediates.

Lap 4: Mercedes advises Andrea Kimi Antonelli over the radio that replays of Doohan’s spin seem to show that he spun after putting a wheel on one of the painted lines. Antonelli suggests he almost did something similar, noting that “they’re slippery.”

Lap 2: The safety car is out after Doohan’s incident. Replays show Doohan’s incident. But F1TV cuts away from a replay of Doohan’s incident to find Carlos Sainz Jr. in the wall, as a spin at Turn 14 sees him slide into the wall.

Lap 1: Jack Doohan finds the wall between Turn 5 and Turn 6, and another rookie is out of the race.

12:19: Lando Norris holds onto the lead off the line, as Verstappen tries to go wide around him. Verstappen eventually gets by Piastri and settles into second, with Piastri third, Russel fourth, and Leclerc in fifth.

12:15: Formation Lap 2.0 is underway.

12:12: Ferrari tells Charles Leclerc over the radio that there will be two quick bursts of “Class 1” rain after the start. Former strategist Ruth Buscombe Divey on F1TV relays that “Class 1” rain is typically defined as rain that “wets the track” by F1 teams.

12:08: F1TV continues to show images of a demoralized Hadjar making the walk back to the VCARB hospitality space, but then Anthony Hamilton — Lewis’ father — comes over to console the young driver. An incredible scene.

12:06: According to race control, the formation lap will start at 3:15 p.m. local time (12:15 a.m. for those on the East Coast).

12:04: Prior to the spin from Hadjar, 19 of the 20 drivers were on intermediate tires. Only Lance Stroll was on the full wet compound.

12:03: Race control has just issued an aborted start.

12:01: Isack Hadjar spins on the formation lap and hits the wall. There is damage to his rear wing and he is likely out of the race before it starts.

12:00: The formation lap is underway in Melbourne.

11:51: Speaking with F1TV Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner is uncertain if the race will have a grid start, or a safety car start, due to the wet conditions.

11:45: Due to changes made to his RB21 during parc ferme, Liam Lawson will start from pit lane. He will join rookie Oliver Bearman, as Haas made suspension changes to Bearman’s VF-25 under parc ferme conditions.