F1. Australia 2025 Review

By Gavin Huet, Aiden McLaughlin, Graeme Woolf , Chelsea Wintle and Scott MacLean

Driver of the Weekend

Scott: Hands down its Kimi Antonelli. Stepping into Lewis Hamilton’s old seat, sixteenth in qualifying was perhaps a bit of a disappointment but come race day showed his undoubted talent with the weather levelling the field. Benefitted a bit from the chaos 10 laps from the end, but fourth on debut is a standout performance. And don’t forget the Italian is only 18.

Aiden: On a weekend where so many rookies literally slipped up, three cheers for the boy wonder Kimi Antonelli. That crash last year in free practice last year can officially be forgotten. The Italian kept it together beautifully to finish fourth. With chaos all around, he did the most important thing  – keep the car on the track – and also showed pace when he had the chance. He’s now the second youngest points scorer in F1 history.

Chelsea: Lando Norris took out the first win of the season, beating Max Verstappen to the line by almost 0.9 of a second. It was a chaotic race with six drivers failing to finish, including four of our six rookies, so Norris holding steady in the lead was no mean feat. Starting off the line was a weakness of Norris in 2024 but he did well in Melbourne, though Verstappen was even more impressive, overtaking Piastri and challenging Norris to the finish. Still, Norris takes the prize for a consistent, steady performance that demonstrates he’s mentally prepared for the long season ahead.

Graeme: Lando Norris. Coming into this season, the pressure is well and truly on this young man and throughout the weekend he delivered. From being at the top or close by in all practice sessions, topping qualifying & carrying that on to the race win in very tricky conditions, he’s certainly not showing signs of any pressure early on.

Gavin: Alex Albon. Now hear me out. This is a driver who for the past two seasons has crashed out on turn 6 at Albert Park. To end the race in P5 without so much as a scare during the race, keeping out of trouble, keeping out the spotlight, in a Williams for goodness sake! I think Williams may be the best of the middle of the pack at this very early stage of the season, it will be interesting to see how they progress.

 

Talking Point

Scott: Coming in, how would the six rookies fare? Well aside from Antonelli (see above) it was a baptism by fire. Isack Hadjer was the best in qualifying, landing in 11th, but binned it on the formation lap (massive respect to Anthony  Hamilton for seeking out and consoling the devastated young Frenchman), while Jack Doohan only lasted a few corners before coming to grief. Gabriel Bortoleto largely kept his nose clean until the late rain caught him out, and Ollie Bearman endured a tortuous weekend with a couple of offs but was at least running at the end. As for our Liam, the Red Bull isn’t the beast it was 18 months ago and the struggles were obvious before he also got caught on slicks when the heavens opened

Aiden: The lack of points for the fastest lap crept up on me; I suppose it wasn’t the sexiest headline in the off season but I went back and looked and it was actually signed off last October, so I guess that explains that. Anyway, no clear reason was given but as so often in sport, it seems it’s to prevent those sneaky dark arts. When the bonus point was in place, you could only get it if you scored points, but if you finished outside the points, you weren’t eligible. So, you could pit, change tyres, finish outside the points and then deny someone else/everyone else that bonus point. Why not just say that the bonus point went to the fastest lap for the top 10 drivers rather than remove it completely? It won’t keep me awake at night but it seems like it was a rule to be altered rather than removed completely.

Chelsea: Racing Bulls whaaat? In a move that only makes Liam Lawson’s weekend more agonising, the Red Bull junior team put in some truly impressive performances. Yuki Tsunoda threw a massive middle finger at Dr Helmut Marko by qualifying fifth at a blistering pace. Isack Hadjar qualified at 11, the pick of the rookies, before a heartbreaking spin in the pre-race formation lap that at least earned him a cuddle from Lewis Hamilton’s dad. Remember Yuki was all about eating pies and sleeping in?

Graeme: I alluded to this in my season preview last week, but having 6 rookies new to F1 starting the season, makes for an interesting dynamic. There’s been a lot of hype (both positive and negative) around the rookies and Melbourne’s wet weather on Sunday got 4 of them. I really felt for Isack Hadjar in particular, after he crashed out in the warm up lap. Early signs from his team looked like he’d been hung out to dry as Lewis Hamilton’s father was the first we saw consoling him on the TV footage. I hope he comes back stronger from this.

Gavin: Rookies yakkety yak rookies… Nope, let’s look at Ferrari who are meant to be constructors contenders. They had pace on Friday that fell away on Saturday. We were told it was because they were being set up for the wet. Well it was wet, so what happened apart from the water, which is wet, getting into the seat of Charles Leclerc? A very rude introduction to life at Scuderia for Sir Lewis Hamilton. The pressure will be on the team this coming weekend in China.

 

Gossip Time

Scott: Max Verstappen is a racing robot, but without the weather it’s doubtful he’d have dragged the Red Bull onto the podium. No one has won a title after seeing Adrian Newey leave their team and if the team can’t give him a car he thinks can match his talents, the whispers that he’ll be looking around the paddock will only grow louder.

Aiden: The weird gossip is that the gossip about Jack Doohan being replaced at Alpine is gossip started by…Alpine! Team Principal Oliver Oakes admitted at the weekend that they (Alpine) should have done a better job at keeping him out of the headlines and making his position look so insecure. Good honesty. But will it save his seat? Only time will tell.

Chelsea: Liam Lawson had a tough run on an unfamiliar circuit. He qualified well down the grid, and while he put in some decent laps in the race, he did ultimately spin out and ended with a DNF. The memes have already begun; podcasts already talking about who will replace him mid-season. Lawson’s quiet confidence has always endeared me to him, but he’ll need it in spades with 23 more races to get through… if he’s lucky.

Graeme: Speaking of rookies, Liam Lawson (he’s a rookie isn’t he?) struggled this weekend. In P1 & P2, he was near the rear of the field and didn’t see any of P3. His qualifying was also poor and he started from pit lane in the race before crashing out. The young man seems to not let too much bother him, but some strong performances need to be incoming otherwise half of Mexico will be hunting him down, considering who he replaced. And that’s without even mentioning his team bosses.

Gavin: Liam Lawson drove and crashed out like the Hastings-born boy racer he is. He was all over the place over the weekend. That second Red Bull car is cursed, and to be fair he would have known that going into that seat. The car is built around the unstoppable force that is Max Verstappen and if you do not have the same attributes then you will struggle as successive team mates have discovered. The question to ask Red Bull and Christian Horner is how they have let this happen.

 

Looking Ahead

Scott: McLaren have hit the ground running and laid down a very large marker for the season. They should have had a 1-2 on Sunday, and if the next few races through Asia are dry we could be in for a series of processions. The pressure is already on the rest to catch up.

Aiden: It’s so important Liam Lawson makes a huge improvement this weekend in China. Yes, there were some mitigates in Melbourne (lack of track time in free practice three, first time he’d raced there) but ultimately they are excuses and the fact is he qualified much lower than expected and also crashed out. For me, it’s not about his ability, it’s about his mental strength, and when you’re in the garage next to Max, that takes on a whole different level to anything he’s experienced before.

Chelsea: What about that Williams team? After years of watching them flounder at the rear of the grid, both Albon and Sainz found themselves qualifying in the top ten, with Albon finishing the race in fourth before being demoted to 5th by Kimi Antonelli. Sainz was also promising, only to spin out behind the safety car early in the race like a flaming galah. Sainz has been open about his desire to escort Williams back to its glory days, and it’s certainly looking exciting.

Graeme: Signs are good for a more closely fought season in 2025 if this weekend’s results are a good indication. Seven teams scored points in Melbourne. With the likes of Kick Sauber & Williams banking points after scoring very few if any last season, signs are promising that some of the so-called lesser teams could be on the rise.

Gavin: The rookies have a good opportunity to bounce right back this weekend and they will all be hoping for a dry track after the introduction to F1 they just endured. The pressure is on the Ferrari team, while Williams and Sauber will be hoping for more of the same albeit with all the drivers finishing the race. After this weekend we will have a clearer indication of how this season is shaping up. And at an Aotearoa friendly time too.

 

Bonus Picture

Isack Hadjar being consoled by Anthony Hamilton after crashing out on the formation lap on debut.

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