@LandoNorris fends-off @Max33Verstappen to take victory in dramatic #AustralianGP. #AusGP

Norris Australian GP Victory – McLaren’s Lando Norris survived the rain, safety cars and a late excursion across the grass to score victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Beginning in the wet and with changeable conditions throughout the afternoon, Norris crossed the line as McLaren – when able – showcased its dominance over the entire field.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was second for Red Bull, pushing Norris to the very end of the Grand Prix as last campaign’s top two were the pick of the field.

The curse of the home drivers continued on the streets of Albert Park as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished a low ninth after suffering dropping into the grass, having followed team-mate Norris off circuit on the 44^th tour.

A satisfying day for Mercedes, with George Russell reaching the final place on the podium and kept himself out of trouble for the majority of the race.

Russell’s new team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli reached the chequered flag in fourth place and ahead of Alexander Albon’s Williams who scored an impressive fifth. Antonelli was demoted to fifth after a five-second-time-penalty, but the race stewards overturned the decision after Mercedes filed in a “Right of Review” request over the incident, which sparked the penalty.

Ferrari underperformed in yesterday’s qualifying and endured a difficult Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc finishing in eighth whilst Sir Lewis Hamilton took tenth after a risk with the wet weather went wayward.

There were also solid performances for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who was sixth and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg who followed in an excellent seventh.

The wild conditions saw four of the five rookies get caught out with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson all crashing out of the race.

Wet weather throughout the day meant no decision whether to start the season-opener behind the safety car was taken until the very last moment, with a traditional standing start in order as the rain kept away and all 20 drivers opted to run the green-branded Intermediates.

Hadjar failed to make the race before it began after suffering a spin in his Racing Bulls VCARB02 entry at turn two, damaging his rear wing against the barrier, leading to an aborted race start and leaving the Frenchman upset.

Once the delayed race went green, Doohan lost his A525 entry into the wall as his hopes of performing well at his home Grand Prix were dashed, bringing out a safety car as a result of it.

It was not only the rookie drivers who were suffering, as Carlos Sainz, the defending Australian GP race winner, crashed his Williams at the last corner behind the safety car, forcing the Spaniard to end his race early.

By that part of proceedings, Verstappen had already overtaken Piastri in the opening corners to split the McLaren pairing, with Norris pulling away without incident to lead the field as the two accidents were cleared.

Racing returned to green on the seventh tour with the circuit continuing to dry and very rapidly as the drivers were having to run off-line to find wet patches to keep their intermediates in optimum working range.

Piastri fought his way back up to second as he closed in on Verstappen before the Red Bull driver made a rare error in the wet, running straight on at turn 11 and just avoided the gravel.

Verstappen was unhappy with his tyres and fell off the back of the McLaren drivers, when Piastri began to eat into team-mate Norris’s lead out-front.

The removal of Papaya Rules meant both Norris and Piastri were free to battle each other, but as the latter began to get closer, the Australian was told by his team to maintain position as both drivers started working through the first lot of backmarkers.

“Time to go racing,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said to Sky Sports F1 after the Haas duo of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon had been lapped, although Piastri ran wide to give Norris some breathing space as the track entered the window for a consideration of slick tyres to be used.

The pit-stops were triggered as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the next driver to end up in the wall; the Spaniard spun at turn six with Antonelli charging in, bringing out the safety car once more.

Norris and Piastri went straight for the C3 white side-walled harder compound whist Verstappen, who was nowhere near the top two runners before the Alonso shunt, put on a set of the C4 yellow-marked mediums ahead of the restart.

As Alonso’s wrecked AMR25 entry was cleared, everyone turned their attention to the skies as the threat of rain returned, although the 16 runners left were all on the slick tyre by the time the safety car returned to the pits.

Amazingly, those decisions were undermined instantly as heavy rain hit the Albert Park Circuit, with both McLaren drivers running off, Norris holding on to pit whilst Piastri ran onto the grass.

As Norris pitted, Verstappen claimed the lead for the first time in the Grand Prix and Hamilton moved up to second place after overtaking Ferrari team-mate Leclerc, Williams’ Albon and Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda.

With the rain intensifying, Ferrari opted to stay out as Sauber’s Bortoleto and Red Bull’s Lawson spin and deployed the safety car for a third time – ending the chances of Hamilton and Leclerc achieving a surprise result as they were both forced to pit for a set of intermediates.

Once again, Norris was leading a safety car restart with five tours left and the Briton was able to keep in-front of the field, whilst Leclerc got past team-mate Hamilton as the Ferrari drivers fought for the final points on offer.

Verstappen was charging in on Norris for the win in the closing stages of proceedings, but the Red Bull driver was unable to find his way by with Norris clinching the Australian GP victory by 0.895 seconds as Russell completed the podium for the Silver Arrows whilst Piastri put in a solid late pass on Hamilton to move up into ninth on the final lap.

2025 Australian GP – The Top Three

2025 Australian GP Winner – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39:

“It was amazing, a top race, especially with Max behind me. I was pushing, especially the last two laps – it was a little bit stressful, not going to lie. Tricky conditions, but there are the ones that are enjoyable, and we ended up on top so I’m happy. We got it wrong a lot last year, so I guess we learned from our mistakes – we lost out in Silverstone and Canada in similar conditions. Dealing with the pressure, dealing with Max, with Oscar behind me. I was pushing the whole way through. A challenging race but for McLaren I need to give thanks as they have given me a brilliant car.”

2^nd Place – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21 – +0.895s:

“It was a difficult race, but at the end it was fun. Lando had a little moment in Turn 6 which is why I got close. It was fun, pushing, fighting for the win but I’m just happy to bring it home, score good points and this is a good start for us. [When] I stayed out, the first lap was alright, but the weather continued. At the end of the day if we had boxed one lap earlier, we would have been P2 anyway, so it was worth a gamble. It was quite spicy on the slick tyres. This is where I expected to be, it is 18 points more than I had here last year, so I’ll take that.”

3^rd Place – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W16 – +8.481s:

“It was a great race to come home in P3. And well done to Lando, a race like that when you are leading is probably your worst nightmare. Well done to Kimi too. Not our strongest race, but let’s come back next weekend. It was good fun, I was quite enjoying it to be honest, hoping the two guys ahead made a mistake and I could slip through. Hope everyone enjoyed it at home!”

Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025 Race Results Classification (57 Laps)

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1254/australia/race-result

Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.

Round 2 of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China for the Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2025 from Friday March 21-Sunday March 23.