Race Report: Lando Norris wins Australian GP

Lando Norris opened his world championship account with a confident win in treacherous conditions at the Australian Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen and George Russell. Many believed that McLaren were going to be the team to beat heading into 2025 and Sunday’s result may support that notion.

Lando and teammate Oscar Piastri had the race in hand but a late-race rain caught both off guard as they careened off track handing Max Verstappen P2 while Piastri dropped to the back of the field. Lando was able to execute the team’s strategy, stay ahead of a charging Verstappen to take the win while George Russell quietly brought his Mercedes home in P3.

The race was an epic case of changing conditions throughout the race with Wets, Inters and slicks back to Inters. Ollie Bearman and Kimi Antonelli were the only rookies to bring it home.

Win

A win for Lando Norris and McLaren for delivering what appears to be the fastest car in the field and Lando needed the win to start his championship campaign on the right foot. Lando had a tremendous drive in very complicated conditions deserving the fan’s “Driver of the day” vote.

Not a literal win for Max Verstappen but a figurative victory for a P2 in a car that just wasn’t a quick as the McLaren this weekend. The team gambled and kept him out a lap too long and I believe he may have taken the lead of the race had they boxed him earlier but the rain was a moving target and I understand the gamble they took. Even had they boxed him, I am not sure he could have held on to the lead given Lando’s overall pace.

A win for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes for a 3rd and 4th place finish. Unfortunately Kimi was given a 5s penalty for unsafe release with dropped him to fifth but a review reversed that penalty. With attrition on track, George managed to quietly claim the podium while Kimi engaged heroics to be the only rookie left standing in the points as he fought back from 16th. Sure, attrition ahead of him helped but he delivered.

A win for Alex Albon and Williams for finishing P5 with the team seemingly reversing their recent poor performance seasons and suggesting they are bidding for best-of-the-rest on the grid. Perfect strategy, driving and execution from Alex and the team.

A win for Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg who finished in P6 and P7 respectively. Both teams needed the points with Sauber feeling they would be at the back of the grid so the attrition was a very welcome friend for both Lance and Nico. Nico scored more points Sunday than the team did for the entire 2024 season so that’s good.

Fail

A fail for four rookies. Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan and Isaac Hadjar. All of them spun and hit the wall but they weren’t alone as veterans Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz also hit the walls.

A fail for Haas F1 who struggled for pace and were lapped early on. Ollie Bearman stubbed his toe on Friday and Saturday but managed to finish the race in last place.

A fail for Ferrari who gambled by staying out on slicks and dropped down the field with Charles Leclerc spinning a couple times to finish in P8 and Lewis Hamilton down in P10. Ferrari underperformed on Saturday and I thought maybe they favored a wet weather setup but that didn’t really play out on Sunday. Lewis was struggling with communication with the team while Charles was equally not impressed with the team’s strategy and communication. Very uncharacteristic performance down under for Ferrari.

WTH

I am not sure what amped up our Australian friends but what an amazing attendance at 465,000 people through the gates over the weekend!! Well done Australia!

I understand Isack Hadjar’s embarrassment and disappointment about his spin on the formation lap but he’ll need to get over the emotions quicker than that if he wants to compete in F1. These things can happen and his idol, Lewis Hamilton, once drove into the back of Kimi Raikkonen in pit lane so things happen. If it take the press, Anthony Hamilton and Stefano Domencali to try to console him, he may struggle with the mental toughness F1 requires.

Pirelli Report:

With light rain falling but gradually easing off, all drivers lined up for the formation lap on the intermediates, apart from Lance Stroll who opted for a set of extreme wets on his Aston Martin. However, Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) went off the track so the start was aborted and by the time the race resumed after around ten minutes or so, the Canadian driver had changed to the same rubber as his colleagues. For the first seven laps, another Aston Martin was in the lead, but it was the DB9 Safety Car driven by Bernd Maylander, called out immediately following crashes for Jack Doohan (Alpine) and Carlos Sainz (Williams).

In between that first restart and a second Safety Car, prompted by Fernando Alonso who hit the barriers in his Aston Martin, all drivers had used the same set of intermediates.

This time, the appearance of the Safety Car triggered a switch to slicks, with the remaining 16 drivers going for either Medium or Hard. However, the rain returned which made it impossible to judge the relative performance of the two compounds, because the entire field, either sooner or later, had to pit again for intermediates, which they then kept to the chequered flag.

Australian GP Results: