After two days of sunshine, the Australian Grand Prix was held in treacherous conditions. How did the field cope? Here are RaceFans’ ratings.
Lando Norris
Qualified: 1st (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.084s)
Grid: 1st (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 1st (+8 places ahead of team mate)
▼ Lost first flying lap in Q3 due to exceeding track limits
▲ Clean and fully committed second lap in Q3 secured pole
▲ Withstood pressure from Verstappen and Piastri throughout race and restarts
▶ Team told Piastri to hold position behind him
8/10: Classy performance in tricky conditions undermined by qualifying wobble and turn 12 excursion
Oscar Piastri
Qualified: 2nd (-1 place behind team mate, +0.084s)
Grid: 2nd (1 place behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 9th (-8 places behind team mate)
▼ Mistake on first lap in Q3
▲ Came very close to beating team mate to pole
▶ Team forbade him to attack Norris
▶ Went off when rain hit and became briefly stuck on wet grass
▲ Passed Ocon, Tsunoda, Gasly and – brilliantly – Hamilton to recover ninth
7/10: Was a serious threat to Norris aside from one costly error
Charles Leclerc
Qualified: 7th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.218s)
Grid: 7th (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 8th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
▼ Abandoned final Q3 lap after pushing too hard and making several minor errors
▲ Gained two places at the start from Tsunoda and Albon
▼ Spun off and lost several places
▲ Re-passed Hamilton and Gasly
6/10: Ferrari lost their way on Friday but Leclerc amplified their trouble with errors
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Lewis Hamilton
Qualified: 8th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.218s)
Grid: 8th (1 place behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 10th (-2 places behind team mate)
▼ Spun in Q2
▶ Decent start but boxed in behind team mate
▶ Cleared of driving more than 10 car lengths behind leading car in Safety Car period due to mitigating circumstances
▼ Stayed out too long on slicks
▲ Picked up a place from Gasly after final restart
▼ Passed by Leclerc and Piastri, falling to 10th
5/10: Logged laps and improved his pace but unfamiliarity excuses will wear off quickly
Max Verstappen
Qualified: 3rd (+15 places ahead of team mate, -1.076s)
Grid: 3rd (16 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-M-I)
Finished: 2nd
▶ Said he ‘ran out of tyres again in the final sector’ on his last lap in Q3.
▲ Started strongly, passing Piastri
▼ Ran wide at turn 11 when rain returned, then fell back
▶ Briefly led as he tried to avoid switching to intermediates when final shower hit
▶ Was within striking distance of Norris as race ended
8/10: Rapid and combative as ever, Safety Car helped him benefit from Piastri error
Liam Lawson
Qualified: 18th (-15 places behind team mate, +1.076s)
Grid: 19th (16 places behind team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Stopped in third practice due to a power unit problem
▼ Far from Verstappen’s pace on Friday
▶ Missed final practice with a power unit problem
▼ Error in Q1 led to elimination
▼ Struggled with ‘tyre issues’ early in race and was well off Verstappen’s pace
▲ Passed Ocon
▼ Tried to avoid pitting for intermediates when rain returned in race but crashed out
2/10: Has been saying for months his lack of experience at Albert Park could hurt him, and it did. Needs this to be a one-off
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Qualified: 16th (-12 places behind team mate, +0.554s)
Grid: 16th (12 places behind team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 4th (-1 place behind team mate)
▼ Damaged floor on kerb at turn six during Q1 and was eliminated
▼ Spun at turn four but didn’t hit anything
▲ Recovered lost place and more with passes on Hulkenberg and Stroll
▲ Race pace was often a match for Russell’s in clear air
▲ Got the late call to switch back to intermediates spot-on
▲ Passed Albon for fourth
▶ Stewards withdrew erroneous ‘unsafe release’ penalty which originally cost him fourth
7/10: Great raw speed and racecraft, turn four error could have been costlier than it was
George Russell
Qualified: 4th (+12 places ahead of team mate, -0.554s)
Grid: 4th (12 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 3rd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▼ Had the pace to beat Verstappen to third on the grid but came fourth
▲ Intentionally conservative approach to the race paid off
▲ Got back onto intermediates as soon as the rain returned late in the race, which secured a podium finish
8/10: Composed and mature performance in the race but there was more in the car on Saturday
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Lance Stroll
Qualified: 13th (-1 place behind team mate, +0.03s)
Grid: 13th (1 place behind team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 6th
▼ Out-qualified by Alonso despite his floor damage
▼ Pace dipped badly in laps before switching to slicks
▲ Pitted immediately when final shower hit which lifted him into the points
▲ Stayed out of trouble to score valuable points
6/10: Strategy call looked like a case of ‘failing upwards’ but Stroll again showed his affinity for low-grip conditions
Fernando Alonso
Qualified: 12th (+1 place ahead of team mate, -0.03s)
Grid: 12th (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: +2 places
Finished: Not classified
▼ Damaged floor during Q2 and was eliminated
▲ Out-qualified team mate despite broken floor
▶ Cleared of driving more than 10 car lengths behind leading car in Safety Car period due to mitigating circumstances
▲ Far faster than Stroll after lap 28
▼ Crashed out at the exit of turn on lap 34
4/10: Clearly the quicker of the two Aston Martin drivers but appeared to leave too little margin in qualifying and the race
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Jack Doohan
Qualified: 14th (-5 places behind team mate, +0.751s)
Grid: 14th (5 places behind team mate)
Start: + places
Finished: Not classified
▶ Stopped in the grand prix due to an accident and was not classified
▶ Unable to use DRS at end of final lap in Q2 due to yellow flags for Hamilton’s spin
▼ Crashed out on first lap
3/10: No rookie can afford this kind of error, least of all Doohan
Pierre Gasly
Qualified: 9th (+5 places ahead of team mate, -0.751s)
Grid: 9th (5 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (I-H-I)
Finished: 11th
▲ Solid qualifying performance netted ninth on grid
▼ Went off at turn one, then lost three places at the end as he struggled with his front-right brake
6/10: Generally solid but a points score slipped away from him at the end
Esteban Ocon
Qualified: 19th
Grid: 18th (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Three-stop (I-I-M-I)
Finished: 13th (+1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Stunned by car’s lack of performance in practice
▶ Gathered vital data for team as the other car hardly ran in practice
▶ Said the car didn’t have the pace to score points, which certainly seemed to be the case
6/10: Kept his cool amid disappointment of discovering Haas’s pace was poor
Oliver Bearman
Grid: 20th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Three-stop (I-I-M-I)
Finished: 14th (-1 place behind team mate)
▼ Crashed in first practice, damage meant he missed second session
▼ Spun on second lap of final practice
▶ Stayed out of trouble in the race to reach finish
▲ Race pace looked strong compared to Ocon’s
4/10: Composed race performance redeemed him after an awful start to his weekend
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Isack Hadjar
Qualified: 11th (-6 places behind team mate, +0.166s)
Grid: 11th (6 places behind team mate)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Strong Q2 lap not quite enough to reach Q3
▼ Crashed on formation lap
3/10: Looked in good shape through practice but his formation lap error was mortifying
Yuki Tsunoda
Qualified: 5th (+6 places ahead of team mate, -0.166s)
Grid: 5th (6 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-M-I)
Finished: 12th
▲ Superb Q3 performance – only non-McLaren driver to combine his three best sectors in one lap
▶ Cleared of driving more than 10 car lengths behind leading car in Safety Car period due to mitigating circumstances
▼ Spun when rain returned
▼ Pitted too late and fell out of points
7/10: Seriously impressive in qualifying but failed to capitalise in the race
Alexander Albon
Qualified: 6th (+4 places ahead of team mate, -0.325s)
Grid: 6th (4 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-M-I)
Finished: 5th
▶ Revelled in more drive-able and predictable Williams chassis
▲ Q3 lap was almost as impressive as Tsunoda’s (and he didn’t get a tow)
▶ Cleared of driving more than 10 car lengths behind leading car in Safety Car period due to mitigating circumstances
8/10: Unfazed by pressure from Hamilton, secured great result for Williams
Carlos Sainz Jnr
Qualified: 10th (-4 places behind team mate, +0.325s)
Grid: 10th (4 places behind team mate)
Start: + places
Finished: Not classified
▶ Stopped in the grand prix due to an accident and was not classified
▶ A close match for Albon on pace until end of qualifying
▼ Error in turn 13 on first lap in Q3
▶ Team said they didn’t maximise his track position in Q3
▼ Crashed at last corner on first lap
4/10: Showed potential in practice but race error was exactly what Williams don’t need after last year
Nico Hulkenberg
Qualified: 17th (-2 places behind team mate, +0.063s)
Grid: 17th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: +5 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-M-I)
Finished: 7th
▶ Said he wasn’t fully comfortable in his car in Q1
▶ Blamed traffic for Q1 elimination
▲ Passed Bortoleto and Antonelli at the start
▶ Made the most of excellent strategy to claim seventh
7/10: Underperformed on Saturday but made his experience count on Sunday
Gabriel Bortoleto
Qualified: 15th (+2 places ahead of team mate, -0.063s)
Grid: 15th (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-M-I)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Stopped in the grand prix due to an accident and was not classified
▲ Only rookie to out-qualify his team mate
▶ Fell behind Hulkenberg at start
▲ Decent race pace, only 4s behind Hulkenberg by lap 32 before Safety Car reappeared
▶ Safety Car timing compromised his race
▼ Took blame for ‘pushing too hard’ and crashing out on first lap after switching back to intermediates in rain
▼ Received a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release in front of Lawson, which was the team’s fault
4/10: Demonstrated clear potential in practice and the race but crash undid that good work
Over to you
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2025 Australian Grand Prix
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