Key events
If Verstappen is to take out his fifth title in 2025, it may just prove to be his most hard-fought yet.
Pre-season testing showed that the Red Bull will be challenged by the cars of McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes this season, and that Christian Horner’s team are still trying to nail down their best approach.
This bore out in qualifying, as the McLaren’s of Norris and Piastri looked to have that extra edge of their rivals and duly qualified one-two.
After some in-depth work by Red Bull engineers, Verstappen found an extra level of pace after a sluggish Friday and to secure third place on the grid but teammate Liam Lawson had no such luck – qualifying all the way back in 18th.
Today marks the start of the 2025 F1 campaign and Max Verstappen, who qualified in third, once again enters as the hunted.
The Dutchman took out his fourth consecutive world title in 2024, arguably his most hardly fought since his first back in 2021. But there are 19 other drivers on the grid, eager to hunt him down and make their own piece of history. To get you up to speed, here’s Giles Richards’ team-by-team preview.
The Grid Down Under
1. Lando Norris – McLaren
2. Oscar Piastri – McLaren
3. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
4. George Russell – Mercedes
5. Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls
6. Alexander Albon – Williams
7. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
8. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
9. Pierre Gasly – Alpine
10. Carlos Sainz – Williams
11. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls
12. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
13. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
14. Jack Doohan – Alpine
15. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber
16. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
17. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber
18. Liam Lawson – Red Bull
19. Esteban Ocon – Haas
20. Oliver Bearman – Haas
Preamble
Howdy one and all, my name is Joey Lynch and it’s great to have your company for The Guardian’s live coverage of the first race of the 2025 Formula 1 season. And we’re coming to you from a grey, wet, and windy Melbourne.
The aphorism in motorsport, not just F1, is that rain is the great equaliser and if that bears true then today’s race might be staged on one of the most level playing fields we’ve seen for quite a while. In contrast to the scorching temperatures of yesterday, the temperatures are in the mid teens in the Australian sporting capital (low 60s in freedom units) and could drop even further in the afternoon. In addition, rain has already buffeted Melbourne across the morning and the forecast is projecting further, spotty showers over the course of the race.
Already today, race organisers, doing what they can to ensure the main event is put in the best position to go ahead, have been forced to cancel today’s V8 Supercars race after just two laps and the scheduled Formula 2 race before it could complete its formation lap.
What does that mean? In theory, it means the technological advantages enjoyed by the grids heavyweights – while still there – will be lessened by the conditions. That means that the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri atop the grid, who have possessed a clear edge in pace throughout this weekend, won’t glean the same kind of boon they otherwise might have in dry conditions.
For the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in seventh and eighth, conversely, whose cars haven’t shown the same kind of speed as their rivals thus far but are expected to show better pace once the race gets underway, the conditions could serve to give them a leg up in their attempts to move through the pack in front of them.
Lights Out: 9pm PST/4am GMT/3pm AEDT