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'Being stupid'? What's behind Lawson's nightmare Red Bull start
Liam Lawson’s first Formula 1 qualifying session with Red Bull couldn’t have gone much worse.On Friday he described himself as “comfortable, just too slow” behind the wheel but in Saturday qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix he didn’t look particularly comfortable either - and was certainly still not fast.There are obvious caveats, as his team boss Christian Horner pointed out. “Unlucky with L...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/being-stupid-whats-behind-lawsons-nightmare-red-bull-start/
McLaren blows away F1 rivals in ominous first 2025 qualifying
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri recovered from a messy start to Q3 to qualify 1-2 for Formula 1’s 2025 Australian Grand Prix, as Ferrari's pole challenge fell away spectacularly.Having set the pace in Q1 and Q2 in Melbourne, albeit by a close margin, McLaren suddenly looked vulnerable when Norris and Piastri both ran wide on their first laps in Q3.That left Piastri fourth and Norris...
Russell: McLaren so dominant it can focus on 2026 already
George Russell thinks McLaren is so far ahead of everyone that it can already switch development fully to 2026 and still win the 2025 Formula 1 titles.With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locking out the front row at the Australian Grand Prix and their closest challenger Max Verstappen 0.385 seconds off pole for Red Bull, fourth fastest Russell reckons the championship destiny is already settled.Th...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/russell-mclaren-so-dominant-it-can-focus-on-2026-already/
Australian Grand Prix 2025 F1 starting grid
Lando Norris led team-mate Oscar Piastri in a McLaren 1-2 in Australian Grand Prix qualifying, ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull and George Russell's Mercedes.This page will be updated as any penalties are applied after qualifying.Though none were incurred during the session, the likelihood of teams who had poor sessions breaking parc ferme conditions to take extra components or make set-up chang...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/australian-grand-prix-2025-f1-starting-grid/
Gary Anderson's verdict on surprise hit Sauber's upgrades
Sauber was really struggling in Bahrain pre-season testing, or at least that is what the laptimes and trackside impressions told us, so early improvements were critical for that team to get its 2025 Formula 1 season off to a reasonable start.There are a couple of visual changes, but I’m pretty sure there will be more under the ‘bonnet’ of this revised car, which looked much more competitive in the...
Piastri tops final practice, more woe for Bearman and Lawson
Home favourite Oscar Piastri led an extremely tight top three for McLaren in final Australian Grand Prix practice in Melbourne.George Russell's Mercedes and Max Verstappen's Red Bull were within 0.081 seconds of Piastri's 1m15.921s benchmark.Leading positions1 Piastri2 Russell3 Verstappen4 Leclerc5 AntonelliFull results at bottom of pageBut two of Formula 1's least experienced drivers go into qual...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/australian-gp-final-practice-piastri-leads-close-top-three/
What could stop Williams fulfilling giant-killing potential
Carlos Sainz says Williams's hopes of building on a giant-killing start to Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix weekend rest on him unlocking something he does not know how to get yet.Williams's 2025 signing raised eyebrows in first practice in Melbourne as he ended the session second quickest behind McLaren's Lando Norris.He then made an equally strong start to FP2, mixing it with the frontrunners d...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/williams-australian-gp-f1-giant-killing-potential-barrier/
Red Bull struggles deepen after 'too slow' Friday
Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Formula 1 team have had a habit of bouncing back from difficult Fridays in the past.Whenever all seemed to be lost on track, time and again some strong overnight work back at its factory and simulator would help cure the balance issues that became a particular problem with last year’s RB20.
So what happened on Friday in Melbourne, as Verstappen ended up fifth and...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/too-slow-red-bull-australia-friday-struggles-explained/
Haas denies testing tactics to blame for nightmare F1 Friday
Haas had arrived at Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix off the back of a long-run focused pre-season test that left question marks over its ultimate form.But, despite Ollie Bearman also bemoaning his lack of low-fuel efforts at the time, team boss Ayao Komatsu pushed back on any suggestion that he or his drivers needed any extra knowledge about the potential of the VF-25 before the start of the cam...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/haas-denies-testing-tactics-to-blame-for-nightmare-f1-friday/
What we learned from the first proper day of F1 2025
The first real day of the 2025 Formula 1 season has already thrown up some surprises compared to testing, and made qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix an even more exciting prospect.Ferrari set the pace ahead of McLaren on day one in Melbourne but an unusual second practice sessions meant some teams were left really scratching their heads.Here's what we learned from a fascinating Friday at Al...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what-we-learned-from-the-first-proper-day-of-f1-2025/
Edd Straw's trackside verdict on every car at F1 2025 opener
Watching trackside in Friday practice for the first round of the 2025 Formula 1 season can't tell the whole story, but it's a significant step in the process of zeroing in on the car characteristics and therefore the most meaningly tale weaved on track so far.The usual caveats about fuel loads and engine modes apply but, with everyone running similar programmes across the two one-hour sessions on ...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/every-f1-2025-car-australian-gp-trackside-verdict-edd-straw/
Who's really fastest in Australia? Mark Hughes' early analysis
The competitive tension has only increased after the first day of Australian Grand Prix practice for the first Formula 1 race of 2025.There were fears from Bahrain testing that this was going to be a McLaren cakewalk. Well, it still might be - but the evidence from Friday suggested that Ferrari at least is a close match for the papaya cars.
Picking them apart is not straightforward because of t...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/who-fastest-australian-grand-prix-friday-analysis-mark-hughes/
What happened in second 2025 Australian GP F1 practice
Charles Leclerc laid down a marker in second practice for the 2025 Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix by setting the fastest time for Ferrari ahead of McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.Leading positions1 Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m16.439s2 Piastri (McLaren) 1m16.563s3 Norris (McLaren) 1m16.580s4 Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) 1m16.784s5 Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m16.859sLeclerc was fastest on bot...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what-happened-australian-gp-f1-practice-day/
Norris leads Sainz in first 2025 F1 practice, big crash for Bearman
Pre-season Formula 1 favourite Lando Norris put McLaren on top right at the end of first practice for the Australian Grand Prix, deposing Carlos Sainz's Williams.Leading positions1 Norris (McLaren)2 Sainz (Williams)3 Leclerc (Ferrari)4 Piastri (McLaren)5 Verstappen (Red Bull)Full results at bottom of pageThe session was disrupted by a long red flag for Haas's Ollie Bearman crashing on his first at...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/australian-grand-prix-f1-practice-one-results-2025/
Five new things we learned from latest F1 movie trailer
The Formula 1 movie may not be released until June 27, but we are slowly discovering more and more details about the film before its premiere.Now, with the official trailer having just dropped courtesy of F1 and Apple Films on Thursday evening, we've got more of a taste of what things are going to be like beyond the action scenes that we have been spoiled with so far.Following the trailer release,...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-move-trailer-five-things-we-learned/
Red Bull will now use AI for its F1 protest decisions
The march of AI is happening in all industries, and Formula 1 has not been immune as teams try to make the most of the benefits it can offer.But while we have heard plenty in the past of AI being used to improve strategy decisions or help sift through data quickly to arrive at better set-up decisions, Red Bull says it is piloting something a bit different this year.The squad has just revealed that...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/red-bull-f1-protests-oracle-ai-tech/
Mercedes and Russell's stance over next F1 contract
After Mercedes openly flirted with Max Verstappen last year in a bid to sign him, and it's not yet impossible he becomes available, incumbent George Russell could be forgiven for thinking that getting an early 2026 Formula 1 contract sorted would be in his best interests.There are not many seats available elsewhere - short of uncertainty over Verstappen and any other unseen contract clauses, Merce...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes-and-russells-stance-over-next-f1-contract/
Red Bull commits to new floor despite testing problems
Red Bull is committing to its new floor for Formula 1's season opening Australian Grand Prix, despite the doubts it had with it in Bahrain testing.The squad is coming off the back of a pre-season test that did not match expectations – with its new RB21 not responding to set-up and balance changes in the way that it had hoped.
This has left world champion Max Verstappen doubting his team is in a...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/red-bull-commits-to-new-floor-despite-testing-problems/
What we've learned at F1's Australian GP already
Australian Grand Prix media day kicked off the first official activity of the 2025 Formula 1 season and has thrown up some early lessons from Melbourne already.
While we wait for the all-important track sessions on Friday to fill in the crucial blanks, hearing from all 20 drivers and several team bosses - plus mingling in the F1 paddock properly once again - has unearthed plenty of nuggets.Here...
Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/australian-gp-2025-f1-day-one-what-we-have-already-learned/
Bortoleto's perfect Marko rebuttal is a great first F1 impression
A firm response from Gabriel Bortoleto to Red Bull’s Helmut Marko appraisal of him means the Formula 1 rookie has already made a strong first impression at the Australian Grand Prix.As Sauber finished last in 2024 and is widely tipped to start this year with the weakest car, Bortoleto may not have competitive enough machinery to make big waves in his rookie season.Off-track, though, the Formula 2 ...