After months of speculation, the 2025 Formula 1 season is here.
And the season-opening Australian Grand Prix may deliver pure chaos.
Rain and showers in Melbourne have lingered into the afternoon, and the wet conditions even forced the cancellation of the F2 race that was scheduled for earlier in the day. Rather than seeing cars on the track, fans instead saw ducks swimming in puddles along the Albert Park Circuit.
Even during a formation lap for the F2 race, the ducks were not far away:
While the rain has eased in Melbourne, during the formation lap for the F1 race most of the field had a set of full wet tires bolted on. Only Lewis Hamilton, on the cusp of his Ferrari debut, had a set of the green-walled intermediates bolted on to his SF-25.
We’ll be following every lap of the Australian Grand Prix, so follow along as the 2025 F1 season gets underway
All updates are in Eastern Time (pre-race) or according to Laps.
2025 Australian Grand Prix Race Coverage
Lap 22: Alex Jacques on F1TV notes that rain is falling and umbrellas are going up at the track. McLaren tells Piastri that the rain will go away in “three laps.”
Lap 21: Hamilton, Tsunoda, and Alonso have also been cleared of potential Safety Car Infringements.
Lap 20: Race officials have cleared Albon of a potential Safety Car Infringement.
Lap 20: The gap from Piastri in P2 to Verstappen to P3 is now 5.750 seconds. The McLarens are pulling away from the field right now.
Lap 18: The McLaren’s are back at the front, with Norris running ahead of Piastri.
Both Albon and Hamilton have been noted for possible Safety Car Infringements. Race officials are also now investigating Alonso and Tsunoda for potentially the same violation.
Verstappen radios in that if there is “any rain we might need to pit for new tires.”
Lap 17: Verstappen goes wide and opens the door for Piastri to take second away.
Lap 17: Antonelli goes through a big spin at Turn 4, but manages to keep his W16 out of the wall and only loses a single position to Nico Hülkenberg. Antonelli is now in P13 in his first F1 race.
Lap 14: Both Verstappen and Norris have dipped off the main racing line at various points, either to cool their intermediate tires, or to test different lines.
Lap 14: McLaren tells Norris the risk of rain is “increasing.” Behind him this has turned into a three-car race. The gap from Piastri in P3 to Russell in P4 is already over six seconds.
Lap 12: Race officials have declared that DRS is now enabled, with conditions drying. While Norris is over a second ahead of Verstappen, Piastri is just 0.495 seconds behind the Red Bull driver for P2.
Lap 11: After Verstappen closed to within 0.311 seconds of him, Norris has extended his lead over the Red Bull driver to over a second. Currently the gap between the two is 1.145 seconds.
Ferrari tells Leclerc to cool down the front left tire, but Leclerc radios back that he “appreciates” the information but that he’s taking care of it.
Lap 9: Verstappen has closed to within 0.311 seconds of Norris for the race lead.
Both Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda have been noted by race officials for a possible Safety Car Infringement.
Lap 8: The green flag is out, and they are racing again in Melbourne. At least for now.
Lap 7: The Safety Car is ending this lap. Norris tells McLaren that the intermediates are still the right tire right now, but that slicks will be the call eventually, unless the rain comes.
Lap 6: The Safety Car remains on the track. Norris almost seems to be racing it at the front of the field.
Lap 5: Both Ocon and Lawson pit for new sets of green-walled intermediates.
Lap 4: Mercedes advises Andrea Kimi Antonelli over the radio that replays of Doohan’s spin seem to show that he spun after putting a wheel on one of the painted lines. Antonelli suggests he almost did something similar, noting that “they’re slippery.”
Lap 2: The safety car is out after Doohan’s incident. Replays show Doohan’s incident. But F1TV cuts away from a replay of Doohan’s incident to find Carlos Sainz Jr. in the wall, as a spin at Turn 14 sees him slide into the wall.
Lap 1: Jack Doohan finds the wall between Turn 5 and Turn 6, and another rookie is out of the race.
12:19: Lando Norris holds onto the lead off the line, as Verstappen tries to go wide around him. Verstappen eventually gets by Piastri and settles into second, with Piastri third, Russel fourth, and Leclerc in fifth.
12:15: Formation Lap 2.0 is underway.
12:12: Ferrari tells Charles Leclerc over the radio that there will be two quick bursts of “Class 1” rain after the start. Former strategist Ruth Buscombe Divey on F1TV relays that “Class 1” rain is typically defined as rain that “wets the track” by F1 teams.
12:08: F1TV continues to show images of a demoralized Hadjar making the walk back to the VCARB hospitality space, but then Anthony Hamilton — Lewis’ father — comes over to console the young driver. An incredible scene.
12:06: According to race control, the formation lap will start at 3:15 p.m. local time (12:15 a.m. for those on the East Coast).
12:04: Prior to the spin from Hadjar, 19 of the 20 drivers were on intermediate tires. Only Lance Stroll was on the full wet compound.
12:03: Race control has just issued an aborted start.
12:01: Isack Hadjar spins on the formation lap and hits the wall. There is damage to his rear wing and he is likely out of the race before it starts.
12:00: The formation lap is underway in Melbourne.
11:51: Speaking with F1TV Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner is uncertain if the race will have a grid start, or a safety car start, due to the wet conditions.
11:45: Due to changes made to his RB21 during parc ferme, Liam Lawson will start from pit lane. He will join rookie Oliver Bearman, as Haas made suspension changes to Bearman’s VF-25 under parc ferme conditions.
