The 2025 Formula 1 season kicked off with the March 16th Australian Grand Prix, marking the sport’s highly anticipated return. The following weekend, on March 23rd, audiences tuned in again to watch the Shanghai Grand Prix. Both races proved to be an exciting watch for fans and the perfect introduction to this F1 season.
The Australian Grand Prix was a messy start to the Formula 1 season. During the qualifiers for the race, where drivers vie to gain the best starting positions, the McLaren F1 team was dominant with a one-two finish. Ultimately, Lando Norris, last year’s runner-up in the Drivers Championship, edged out teammate Oscar Piastri for first place. Red Bull Driver and F1 powerhouse Max Verstappen came in third but still had high hopes, as forecasts called for rainy race conditions, in which he typically excels.
Sure enough, there was intermittent rain during the actual race on March 5, which led to numerous crashes; five of the twenty racers did not finish the race (DNF). Lando Norris converted his first-place pole position (the race’s starting position) into the season’s first win. The victory gave him an early lead in the driver’s championship, where he will look to unseat Max Verstappen, the four-time consecutive champion.
Unfortunately, Aussie Native and fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri could not recapture his momentum from qualifying, as during the race, he went off the track and got stuck in a patch of grass. Even though many believed this would give him a DNF, Piastri miraculously managed to back up his car onto the track (though he unfortunately lost crucial time in the process and ultimately finished 9th).
The race also proved to be an excellent showing for the Mercedes F1 team. Veteran racer George Russel snagged 3rd place, and rookie Kimi Antonelli finished 4th. The rankings tied them with the McLaren F1 team in the constructors’ championship race, as each team received 27 points for their respective finishes. The race was not a good showing for the Ferrari team, which entered the season with high hopes after trading one of their former drivers, Carlos Sainz, for Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished in eighth place, while Hamilton finished in tenth, giving the team only five points in the constructor’s race.
The Chinese Grand Prix weekend brought about the first sprint of the F1 season. A sprint is a shortened race (only about ⅓ the length of a regular GP), which occurs on the same weekend as a Grand Prix. Only the top ten drivers, selected via qualifiers, compete in the sprint to gain extra points. Sprints aren’t extremely common in F1; only six of the twenty-four races during the F1 season will have an accompanying sprint.
Lewis Hamilton returned from his disappointing Australia finish and won the sprint, an event made even more special as it was his first F1 victory in Ferrari red. Like Hamilton, Oscar Piastri returned from his Australian woes with a vengeance and snagged second place. Max Verstappen came in third, George Russel fourth, and Charles Leclerc fifth. The Australian Grand Prix champion, Lando Norris, struggled during the sprint and finished in eighth place.
During the Grand Prix, the McLaren team dominated and received the one-two finish they failed to accomplish in Australia. Piastri beat out Norris, who was struggling with a “nightmare” brake issue that made it more difficult for him to stop his car. Despite this frightening issue, he clinched second place and stopped his vehicle without incident.
The disqualification of both Ferrari drivers overshadowed all of this. Initially, the duo seemed to have had a successful race, finishing in 5th and 6th place. It was only after the race, when all the cars were examined, that the issues were discovered. Leclerc’s car was 1kg below the 800kg minimum weight, and Hamilton’s underbody plank was 0.1mm below the 9mm minimum. The Ferraris weren’t the only ones to be disqualified; Alpine Driver and initial 11th-place finisher Pierre Gasly was also removed for a similar weight issue.
While both races did have various mishaps, they still provided an exciting opening for what promises to be a special F1 season. Fans worldwide are looking forward to the first weekend in April when the next race will happen in Suzuka, Japan.
