10 things we learned from the F1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park
Oscar Piastri has the skills, and the car, to challenge teammate Lando Norris. There’s just one thing missing. Here’s 10 things we learned from a wild F1 season-opener in Melbourne.
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As good as he is during races, Oscar Piastri’s championship chances still depend on him beating Lando Norris in qualifying.
The Englishman got all the lucky breaks in Sunday’s race but he earned them because he started on pole position.
Piastri is yet to claim a pole position in his career but it won’t be far away because he is rapidly closing the gap with the pair separated by just 0.084sec in Melbourne.
LANDO’S TIME
Lando Norris might never have a better shot at winning a world championship than this year.
Runner-up in the title fight to Max Verstappen last season, all the pre-season hype has centred around the McLaren star and he backed it up with his opening-race win in Melbourne.
The stars are aligning perfectly for the Brit.
At the moment, he is in the best car and, at the age 25 with six years behind him now in F1, is coming into the peak of his powers as a driver with a strong teammate pushing him.
This is the final season before new regulations are introduced in 2026 and who knows how they will shake up the order. He needs to strike now.
AUSSIE OPENER
The Australian Grand Prix needs to be restored as the first race of every year because it just has so much more energy and excitement than any of the soulless rounds held at the Middle East tracks.
Melbourne is far and away the best place to launch the season.
Although it is yet to be publicly confirmed, F1 sources are saying Albert Park will be awarded the season opener again in 2026 but what happens from 2027 onwards remains up in the air.
DON’T DISCOUNT MAX
Max Verstappen spent the pre-season talking down Red Bull’s form and his chances in Melbourne and then he comes out and steals P2.
If anyone had any doubts that the Dutch star was going to be firmly in the title fight again, they were quickly dispelled at Albert Park.
His quest for a fifth straight world championship is alive.
Verstappen says Red Bull still has work to do to fight for a win, but even if his car is lacking, he is not going to die wondering. How he hunted down Norris in the closing laps was a timely reminder of that.
FERRARI FACTOR
Ferrari are much better than they showed in Melbourne but their inability to adapt in changing conditions remains a concern.
On the days when the Albert Park track was hot and dry, the Ferraris looked to be travelling great with Charles Leclerc posting some of the fastest lap times and Lewis Hamilton just a heartbeat behind while he was still adjusting to his new car.
But as soon as the weather changed, Ferrari lost the plot, messing up their strategies, and finishing well back. They are better than that but will need to be.
ROOKIE REGRET
Six rookies on the starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix, only two left standing at the end of the race.
While the wet conditions were challenging – even claiming a seasoned pro like Fernando Alonso – the season-opening battle in Melbourne delivered a brutal reminder of how tough and cruel the world of Formula 1 can be.
Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar was left devastated after he crashed out on the formation lap, Alpine’s Aussie Jack Doohan followed on the opening lap and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto both made exits late in the race.
It was a testing initiation for the rookies in horrible conditions, but they’ll all learn from the experience.
DOOHAN OK
Jack Doohan had been forced to fend off questions about his seat being under pressure for weeks leading into the season-opener after the signing of reserve driver Franco Colapinto.
He didn’t need a first-lap exit to add to the mix.
But until that point, the weekend had looked promising for the Gold Coast racer.
His pace relative to Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly had been encouraging and he could have been in the mix for Q3 had he not been caught up in traffic following a Lewis Hamilton spin.
Like many others, including former world champions and Grand Prix winners, he was caught out in conditions that had been so bad two earlier support categories had been cancelled.
KIMI CLASS AND MERCEDES MASTERCLASS
While many of his fellow rookies were caught out, Kimi Antonelli delivered one of the drives of the day to rise from 16th to fourth on the grid to underline the talent that saw him land a Mercedes seat.
Antonelli’s result completed an impressive day for the Silver Arrows, who also had George Russell finish third.
But the decisions in the garage played a key role in helping deliver the strong points haul in the wet with the team’s strategy going as far as to have a staff member at St Kilda beach – the direction the weather was coming in from – to help them make the right strategy calls.
LIAM LOST
Things could get very testy at Red Bull quickly if Liam Lawson doesn’t quickly improve.
Red Bull’s senior management rolled the dice when they picked the New Zealander ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda as Max Verstappen’s number two, but he made a shocking start to the new season, struggling in qualifying and the race.
With a point to prove, Tsunoda made his by qualifying fifth for Racing Bulls.
DTS DOWNER
Drive to Survive is losing its way. The F1 drivers are openly critical about it, with Lando Norris describing it as ‘fabricated nonsense’ and Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri saying they don’t watch it. The Netflix show has been great in bringing a new audience to the sport but it doesn’t come close to matching the thrills and spills of live racing.
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Originally published as 10 things we learned from the F1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park
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