Norris records consecutive wins for the first time, Hamilton is out-qualified and out-raced by a new team-mate for the first time since his debut and Piastri misses out on recording the first podium finish for a home driver in Australia. Here’s a statistic from each driver’s 2025 Australian Grand Prix weekend!
🇳🇱 Max VERSTAPPEN
Finishing as runner-up in the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s record-breaking 1,029-day, 63-race reign at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings came to an end.
Max Verstappen was McLaren’s closest challenger at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. With McLaren locking out the front row, this was the first time since 2019 that Verstappen did not qualify on the front row at Albert Park. He continued his Albert Park Q3 appearance streak, qualifying in the top ten for an eighth consecutive appearance – the longest streak at the circuit of any current driver.
On Sunday, Verstappen recorded his third podium finish at Albert Park. He has now stood on every step of the podium in Melbourne, having finished third in 2019 and won in 2023. Having started third, this was only the second time in his nine Albert Park appearances that Verstappen finished in a better position than where he started. He also gained a single position in the 2019 race. Verstappen scored points for a 22nd consecutive race weekend, equalling the seventh longest scoring streak in Formula 1.
🇳🇿 Liam LAWSON
Setting the 18th fastest time in qualifying for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix in his first race at Red Bull, Liam Lawson recorded the team’s third Q1 exit in the last five Albert Park race weekends. Lawson equalled the second-worst qualifying result of his career, having last qualified 18th at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
On Sunday, Lawson became the fifth and final retiree of the race. Having recorded the first retirement of his career last time out in Abu Dhabi, Lawson recorded successive retirements for the first time. Lawson recorded Red Bull’s third DNF in the last four Albert Park races.
🇬🇧 Lando NORRIS
Lando Norris won the season-opening 2025 Australian Grand Prix from pole position.
Norris took pole position by 0.084 seconds, marking the first time since 2004 that pole position at Albert Park was decided by under a tenth of a second. He recorded the tenth pole position of his Formula 1 career, becoming the 37th driver to have taken as many as ten poles. This was the third time in his career that Norris took pole position at consecutive races. He remains yet to be out-qualified by a team-mate in his five appearances at Albert Park.
Norris claimed victory on Sunday, with the McLaren driver navigating the wet weather conditions to claim the fifth win of his Formula 1 career. Norris became the 56th driver to have won as many as five Grands Prix and – having won the last race of 2024 in Abu Dhabi – he recorded back-to-back wins for the first time in his career.
Norris’ win at the season-opening race meant that he led the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career. It marked the first time since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix that a driver other than Max Verstappen led the championship. Norris became the first McLaren driver to lead the Drivers’ Championship since Lewis Hamilton after the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix.
This was only the fourth time in the last 12 Australian Grands Prix that the polesitter won the race. Norris won by 0.895 seconds – which is the fourth smallest winning margin in Albert Park’s history. Of races which did not finish behind the Safety Car, only the 1998 Australian Grand Prix had a smaller winning margin (0.702 seconds).
Norris maintained his 100% finish rate at Albert Park, having not retired in any of his five appearances at the track. He holds the record for the most appearances in Melbourne without recording a DNF. His drive saw him voted Driver of the Day for the 18th time in his career.
🇦🇺 Oscar PIASTRI
With Oscar Piastri setting the second fastest time to his team-mate in qualifying for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, McLaren became the first team to record five front row lockouts at Albert Park, overtaking Ferrari at the top of the list. Piastri became the third Australian driver to start his home race from the front row of the grid, after Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo was the last Australian to do so before Piastri, in 2014. This was Piastri’s first top five qualifying result at his home race.
Piastri was well within podium contention, running second to his team-mate until the closing stages of the race. After spinning out late on, Piastri dropped from what was set to be the first home podium finish for an Australian driver to the back of the field. He recovered some positions in the closing stages and finished ninth, maintaining his 100% points-scoring rate at Albert Park, having scored on all three appearances.
This was the second race in a row that Piastri finished outside of the top eight, having finished inside the top eight at all of the previous 17 Grands Prix.
🇬🇧 Lewis HAMILTON
Lewis Hamilton made his Ferrari debut at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. In 2025, he became the fifth driver – after Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen – to compete in 19 different seasons, overtaking both Graham Hill and Jenson Button as the British driver to have raced in the most F1 seasons.
For the first time since his 2007 debut, Hamilton was out-qualified and out-raced by a new team-mate. Hamilton finished tenth in the race, recording his 14th points-scoring appearance at Albert Park and equalling Fernando Alonso at the top of the list. Hamilton’s tenth place made him the fourth driver – after Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso – to have scored a point in as many as 19 different Formula 1 seasons. Hamilton failed to win for the 11th race in a row, making this the second-longest win-less streak of his F1 career to date.
🇲🇨 Charles LECLERC
In his first race as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate, Charles Leclerc became the first driver since Fernando Alonso in 2007 to out-qualify and out-race Hamilton in their first race at the same team. 2025 was only the second time, after 2022, that Leclerc out-qualified his team-mate at the Australian Grand Prix.
Finishing eighth in the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Leclerc finished outside of the top five for the first time since the 2024 British Grand Prix. This was the first time Leclerc finished the Australian Grand Prix in a worse position than where he started.
🇬🇧 George RUSSELL
George Russell recorded his best-ever start to a Formula 1 season with third place in the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. This was the first time since 2022 that Russell reached the chequered flag at Albert Park. He also finished third that year, which is the only other time he has picked up a point at the track. This was the ninth time in the last ten races at Albert Park that at least one Mercedes driver finished on the podium and with both Russell and Lando Norris on the podium, it was the tenth consecutive race at the track in which a British driver finished in the top three.
🇮🇹 Kimi ANTONELLI
Kimi Antonelli became the third youngest driver to have ever raced in Formula 1 at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, behind only Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll.
Antonelli’s maiden weekend got off to a difficult start, with him exiting in Q1, recording Mercedes’ first-ever Q1 exit at Albert Park and marking the first time that a Mercedes driver had qualified outside of the top 11 positions at the track.
Antonelli turned things around on Sunday, becoming the second-youngest points scorer in F1 history, at 18 years, 6 months and 19 days old – 13 months older than Max Verstappen was when he scored the first points of his career at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Having started 16th, Antonelli finished fourth before a time penalty dropped him to fifth. The penalty was later overturned and he was classified fourth, recording the best finish for a debutant since Kevin Magnussen finished as runner-up in the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.
Discounting drivers who competed only in the Indianapolis 500 from 1950 to 1960, this was the 32nd time in F1 history that a driver finished in the top four on their Grand Prix debut. It was only the tenth time it had happened since 1970.
Making up 12 places, Antonelli gained the most positions of any driver in the race. He recorded the best-ever result for the driver starting 16th at Albert Park, with the previous best being sixth for Ricardo Zonta in 2000.
🇪🇸 Fernando ALONSO
Fernando Alonso became the first driver to compete in 22 different Formula 1 seasons at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix and extended his record as the driver with the longest time between his first and last Grand Prix appearances to over 24 years. Alonso also became the first driver to make 20 appearances at Albert Park.
Qualifying 12th, Alonso failed to reach Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix for the first time since 2018. He crashed out of Sunday’s race, recording his first DNF at Albert Park since 2017.
🇨🇦 Lance STROLL
Finishing in sixth place at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Lance Stroll scored points for the first time since the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix. This was Stroll’s first top six finish since last year’s Australian Grand Prix, when he also finished sixth. The Albert Park race has been the one at which Stroll has recorded his best result of the season in each of the previous two seasons. This was the third time Stroll gained seven positions from where he started at Albert Park.
🇫🇷 Pierre GASLY
Ninth place for Pierre Gasly in qualifying for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix saw him equal his best Albert Park qualifying result to date. He had reached Q3 at Albert Park only once prior to 2025. That was in 2023, when he also qualified ninth.
In the race, Gasly moved down the order and finished 11th. From the four times he has crossed the finish line at Albert Park, this was the first time he did so in a position worse than where he started.
🇦🇺 Jack DOOHAN
Jack Doohan was the first driver to retire from the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, crashing out on the opening lap. Doohan made 2025 the second year in a row that an Alpine driver has recorded the first DNF of the season. This was the first time since 2021 that the first DNF of the year happened on the first racing lap.
🇫🇷 Esteban OCON
Qualifying on the back row for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon recorded his first Q1 exit from his six appearances at Albert Park. He had never previously qualified outside of the top 15.
With his new team-mate Ollie Bearman failing to set a lap time, this was Haas’ first double Q1 exit since the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix and only their third double Q1 elimination in the last 41 races. Setting the two slowest lap times, the team equalled their worst-ever Australian Grand Prix qualifying performance. Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez qualified 19th and 20th in a 22 car field when the team made their debut at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.
🇬🇧 Ollie BEARMAN
After crashing out and failing to complete laps in both Free Practice 2 and Free Practice 3, Ollie Bearman suffered gearbox issues at the start of Q1 which once again prevented him from completing a lap in the session.
Finishing 14th and last of the drivers still running at the end of the race, Bearman recorded the worst result of his four Formula 1 appearances to date.
🇯🇵 Yuki TSUNODA
Qualifying fifth for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda equalled the Red Bull junior team’s best-ever qualifying result at Albert Park. Max Verstappen previously qualified fifth fifth the team here in 2016. This marked the second time that Tsunoda qualified in the top five in his F1 career. He last did so at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Tsunoda lost positions and finished 12th in the race. With new team-mate Isack Hadjar failing to make the start, this was the first time since 2018 that the Red Bull junior team failed to score a point at the Australian Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Isack HADJAR
Isack Hadjar recorded the best qualifying result of the three debutants at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, qualifying 11th and missing out on a place in Q3 by just 0.063 seconds. It means that Lando Norris remains the last driver to reach Q3 on their F1 debut.
The tricky weather conditions on Sunday caught out Hadjar on the formation lap. He crashed out and failed to start the race. He became the first driver to crash out before completing a lap on his F1 debut since Nikita Mazepin at the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix. Hadjar became the first driver to record a DNS at the first race of the season since Daniil Kvyat at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix and made this the third year in a row that the driver starting 11th failed to finish the Australian Grand Prix.
Hadjar’s crash brought about a second formation lap, which saw the race distance drop from the scheduled 58 laps to 57. This was the first race to not reach full distance since the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, when Lance Stroll spun out on the formation lap, as well as the sixth Albert Park race not to reach full distance. The 2017 Australian Grand Prix was the last Melbourne race to fall short of its scheduled distance.
🇪🇸 Carlos SAINZ
Carlos Sainz qualified in the top ten on his first appearance with Williams at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. Tenth place marked Sainz’s second worst qualifying result at Albert Park in his nine appearances at the track. 2019, when he qualified 18th, is the only time he has not reached Q3 here.
At the last corner on the first lap of the race, Sainz hit the barriers and brought an early end to his afternoon. He became the first driver to retire from tenth on the grid at Albert Park since Adrian Sutil in 2010. This was the third year in a row that the winner of the previous Australian Grand Prix retired within the first four laps of the race.
🇹🇭 Alex ALBON
Qualifying sixth for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Alex Albon recorded the best qualifying result for a Williams driver at Albert Park since Felipe Massa qualified sixth in 2016. Albon recorded his best qualifying result since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he also qualified sixth. This was Albon’s best Albert Park qualifying result to date and his first Q3 appearance in Australia since 2023.
Albon finished the race in fifth place, recording his best result to date in his time at Williams. This was Albon’s best result since finishing fourth with Red Bull at the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Albon recorded Williams’ first top five result at the Australian Grand Prix since Massa finished fifth in 2016. This was Williams’ best result in any race since George Russell finished on the podium at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. It was Albon’s first points-scoring race since the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the second time he scored points at Albert Park, having finished tenth in 2022.
🇩🇪 Nico HULKENBERG
A weekend of two halves for Nico Hulkenberg at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. With 17th place, Hulkenberg recorded his worst qualifying result of his 12 appearances at Albert Park. This was his second Q1 exit at Albert Park, having recorded his first in 2024.
Hulkenberg finished seventh in his first race with the Sauber team since 2013. His result meant that Sauber scored more points in a single race in 2025 than they did in the entire 2024 season. Seventh place marked the Sauber team’s best result at Albert Park since Felipe Nasr finished fifth in 2015.
This was Hulkenberg’s sixth seventh place finish in his last eight appearances at Albert Park. He recorded his best Grand Prix result since finishing sixth in the 2024 British Grand Prix. Gaining ten positions in the race, this was the most places Hulkenberg gained in a race since making up 12 places in the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix. Hulkenberg’s points made Germany the second nation to have scored as many as 8,000 points in F1.
🇧🇷 Gabriel BORTOLETO
Of the three drivers making their Formula 1 debut, Gabriel Bortoleto was the only one to out-qualify his team-mate. While experienced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was out in Q1, Bortoleto made it through to Q2. Bortoleto failed to finish on his F1 debut, crashing out 12 laps from the end.
