A tough race for the rookies as F1 starts 2025 in Australia
Williams’ Alex Albon scored a fine fifth for the storied team. The preseason vibes for Williams were correct—after a few years of being one of—if not the—slowest, it now looks to be leading the midfield. And Racing Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda demonstrated that he probably should have been promoted to the Red Bull team with a fine 5th place in qualifying that sadly did not translate to points in the race.
The Sauber team, which becomes Audi next year, appeared dreadful in Bahrain but arrived in Oz with some new bodywork, including a revised front wing. That helped Nico Hulkenberg finish seventh, scoring more points in the process than the Swiss-based team managed across all 24 races last year.
Albon drove a great race to fifth place.
Credit:
James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Better luck in China
It was a much harder day for some, including most of the rookies. Racing Bull’s new driver, Isack Hadjar, was caught out on the formation lap by differing grip conditions between the asphalt and painted lines on what are public roads for most of the year. Cleaning up the crash delayed the start by 15 minutes as a distraught Hadjar made his way back to the pits to watch the race unfold without him. After he barely lost out on the F2 title at the end of last year when his car stalled at the start, one hopes he can put his last couple of races behind him.
Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto (who beat Hadjar to the F2 championship last year), and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson (who sort of still counts as a rookie) also each ended their days prematurely after crashing out, but so too did former world champion Fernando Alonso and last year’s race winner Carlos Sainz. That two such experienced drivers also got caught out should bring some comfort to the four youngsters.
It was also a rough start to Lewis Hamilton’s tenure at Ferrari. The seven-time world champion and his new race engineer were developing their working relationship in real time, and Hamilton bristled at the constant suggestions from the pit wall. It was an underwhelming day in general for Ferrari, which only finished 8th (Leclerc) and 10th (Hamilton).
Isack Hadjar crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix before it even happened.
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Isack Hadjar crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix before it even happened.
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Carlos Sainz’s debut for Williams did not go smoothly, as he ended in the wall, too.
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Carlos Sainz’s debut for Williams did not go smoothly, as he ended in the wall, too.
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Jack Doohan was similarly caught out by the slippery track.
James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Jack Doohan was similarly caught out by the slippery track.
James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Carlos Sainz’s debut for Williams did not go smoothly, as he ended in the wall, too.
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Jack Doohan was similarly caught out by the slippery track.
James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Even the mighty Fernando Alonso was in trouble in Melbourne.
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Liam Lawson did not do much to dispel the idea that Yuki Tsunoda should have been promoted to Red Bull.
James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
The safety car got quite a few laps in this weekend.
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Lewis says he and the team have work to do after this weekend.
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This lot was busy.
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A much more confident Lando Norris.
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The sport returns next weekend in China.