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2025 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Qualifying results

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Verstappen shines again in Miami to take pole ahead of Norris; surging Antonelli finds pace to claim P3 ahead of Piastri

Top 10 qualifiers for the Miami GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:26.870

1:26.643

1:26.204

18

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:26.955

1:26.499

1:26.269

21

3

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:27.077

1:26.606

1:26.271

20

4

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.006

1:26.269

1:26.375

16

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:27.014

1:26.575

1:26.385

20

6

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:27.098

1:26.847

1:26.569

20

7

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:27.042

1:26.855

1:26.682

20

8

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:27.417

1:26.948

1:26.754

20

9

31

Esteban Ocon

Haas Ferrari

1:27.450

1:26.967

1:26.824

21

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:27.298

1:26.959

1:26.943

21

Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live on ABC beginning at 4 PM here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Verstappen can hold off Norris steaming into Turn 1 or if both potentially clash to open the door for another contender!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia — Results & aftermath

Piastri romps to victory after first-lap penalty to Verstappen, assumes championship lead; Leclerc holds of Norris for P3

Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix all came down to the opening lap, when pole-sitter Max Verstappen ran his Red Bull off track at Turn 1 in an effort to avoid the surging McLaren of Oscar Piastri and then rejoined ahead of the young Aussie still retaining P1. After a Safety Car neutralized the race for two-laps as a result of a crash between Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, the stewards adjudged that Verstappen had gained an unfair advantage and the Dutchman was handed a 5-second time penalty for not previously handing over the position to Piastri. While the top two continued to hold station at the front when the race resumed on Lap 3, Piastri and the McLaren braintrust were confident the 5-seconds that Verstappen would serve on his first pit stop would redound to their benefit. They also played the undercut, boxing Piastri on Lap 20 of this 50-lap contest at the Jeddah Corniche street circuit, while Verstappen ran to Lap 22 before following the preferred strategy by doffing his opening stint Medium Pirellis in favor of the Hards, while also serving his penalty. When Verstappen reemerged, he found himself in fifth place, while Piastri had assumed P3, behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and teammate Lando Norris, both of whom had yet to pit.

While Leclerc eventually came in on Lap 30 after getting the most out of his Mediums, Norris continued on with his Hard tires, looking to maximize a long run strategy gambit after crashing out of qualifying and starting from P10 on the grid. When Norris finally did pit, Piastri assumed the lead of the race for the first time and, with the entirety of the field running a one-stopper, he would not relinquish the point en route to his second win on the trot and third out of five rounds run so far in 2025. The excellent result also gave Piastri the lead of Drivers’ Championship for the first time, 10 points clear of his teammate Norris. Verstappen held on to P2 easily and ended up only two points adrift of Norris in the Drivers’, although he and the team will likely rue not immediately handing Piastri the lead after that Lap 1 contretemps. And, while Norris made a valiant comeback drive from that unfortunate P10 starting spot, he could never really get onto Leclerc’s gearbox to execute a pass for the final podium position, the Monegasque heading him P3 to P4. This was also Ferrari’s first Grand Prix podium of the season, although Lewis Hamilton did win the Sprint in China in Round 2. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli took the checkers in P5 and P6 respectively, while the second Ferrari of Hamilton settled for P7 after some spirited battles with the McLarens earlier in the race. Of the midfield runners, Williams had the best day, with an increasingly confident Carlos Sainz slotting in at P8 and teammate Alex Albon holding off the hard charging Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, P9 to P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Saudi GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

50

1:21:06.758

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

50

+2.843s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

50

+8.104s

15

4

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

50

+9.196s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

50

+27.236s

10

6

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

50

+34.688s

8

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

50

+39.073s

6

8

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

50

+64.630s

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

50

+66.515s

2

10

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

50

+67.091s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, as the teams get a breather after a grueling three weekends in a row,  F1’s first of three visits to the United States for the Miami Grand Prix. Can Piastri keep up his remarkable run of form at yet another challenging street circuit or will Norris eliminate the errors that have cost him and find a way to regain his championship momentum after a breakthrough win in Miami last year? Or will Verstappen spoil the McLaren party at a track he dominated in 2022 & 2023? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia — Qualifying results

Verstappen nabs pole from Piastri as Norris crashes out; Russell P3, Leclerc P4 foreshadowing hyper-competitive race

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again showed that he’s not ready to cede his current championship crown to McLaren or anyone else, as the flying Dutchman laid down a blistering lap on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to secure pole for Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. In a hyper-competitive Saturday Qualifying under the lights of the tight and twisty Jeddah street track, Verstappen’s final flier in Q3 was good enough to pip McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for P1 by a slim .01-seconds. Earlier in that final quali session, Piastri’s teammate and current point leader Lando Norris lost control running over the curbs exiting Turn 4 and binned his car in the walls  across from that the exit. Under pressure from not only his teammate Piastri, the dominant winner last week in Bahrain, but also the stubbornly excellent Verstappen, Norris will be forced to start from P10 on the grid at a track where overtaking is extremely difficult.

Once again, Mercedes’ George Russell capitalized by keeping it clean and putting in a very solid effort good enough for P3. While the Silver Arrows may not quite be ready to take a win on pure pace, Russell certainly shows all the signs of earning one should one or more of the top two come to grief in the race. His rookie Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli also acquitted himself well in P5. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc spilt the Silver Arrows in P4 but teammate Lewis Hamilton was out qualified by the Williams of Carlos Sainz, P6 to P7. Sainz seems to really be getting to grips with his new mount for this season, while Hamilton continues to suffer from inconsistency in the Prancing Horse. The second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda completed qualifying in P8 and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P9, both ahead of the stricken McLaren of Norris, which will certainly require some overnight repairs.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Saudi Arabian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:27.778

1:27.529

1:27.294

19

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.901

1:27.545

1:27.304

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:28.282

1:27.599

1:27.407

16

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:28.552

1:27.866

1:27.670

19

5

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:28.128

1:27.798

1:27.866

17

6

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:28.354

1:28.024

1:28.164

23

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:28.372

1:28.102

1:28.201

20

8

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:28.226

1:27.990

1:28.204

16

9

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:28.421

1:28.025

1:28.367

22

10

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.805

1:27.481

DNF

11

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 1PM Eastern here in the States. Expect a real street fight between at least the top four players and it wouldn’t be surprising if an accident-induced Red Flag jumbled things up. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

McLaren’s Piastri rockets to dominant pole in Bahrain but teammate Norris fumbles final effort en route to P6; Mercedes’ Russell and Antonelli qualify P2 & P4 but penalized one spot each for pit infractions; Leclerc elevated to second on grid; Verstappen and Red Bull nowhere

A week after being thoroughly outperformed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Japanese Grand Prix, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were keen to reassert their dominance during Saturday Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. But it ended up only Piastri who flew the Papaya flag by laying down a stunning marker here at the very tricky and twisty 5.4 kilometer Bahrain International Circuit, blasting his way to a dominant pole position, some two-tenths ahead of his closest pursuer, Mercedes’ George Russell. Meanwhile, Piastri’s normally superlative McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, failed to get the best out of his MCL39 and to come to grips with the windy conditions in the desert and could only manage P6 on his final flier in Q3, over four-tenths behind his pole-sitting teammate. While it is certainly more possible to pass here than at what ended up a stagnant Suzuka circuit last week, Piastri will have a major advantage getting away from the point while Norris has to fight his way through a quartet of fairly fast drivers to get back on terms for a win. Piastri will certainly be looking to maximize that advantage and take a victory that would vault him ahead of Norris for the points lead. Game on.

Mercedes were impressive and were definitely the next best team on pace here, just ahead of Ferrari and well ahead of the struggling Red Bull duo. But, while Russell was hyper-competitive with a P2 effort and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli excelled to slot in at P4, the team were penalized for a pit lane infraction under Red Flag conditions after Haas’s Esteban Ocon had a major crash earlier in Q2. Both drivers were docked a grid place for the team’s error in sending them info the fast lane prematurely while the medical car was still driving to the front of the pits after Ocon had been dropped off for examination, big no-no. That elevated Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to second on the grid and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who had a genuinely superb qualifying effort regardless, up to the second row and P4. Meanwhile, a week after their surprise victory in Japan, Red Bull were nowhere in Bahrain, with both Verstappen and Tsunoda struggling mightily with balance and breaking. It all ended up with a humbling P7 effort for last week’s winner Verstappen, with Tsunoda at least making it to Q3 for the first time in tow tries, albeit with only the tenth fastest time.

Carlos Sainz appeared to finally get the handle on his Williams with a very solid P8 result, but Lewis Hamilton again struggled in his Prancing Horse and could manage no better than an underwhelming P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.392

1:30.454

1:29.841

15

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:31.494

1:30.664

1:30.009

20

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:31.454

1:30.724

1:30.175

16

4

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:31.415

1:30.716

1:30.213

20

5

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:31.462

1:30.643

1:30.216

19

6

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.107

1:30.560

1:30.267

18

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.303

1:31.019

1:30.423

17

8

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:31.591

1:30.844

1:30.680

19

9

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:31.219

1:31.009

1:30.772

18

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.751

1:31.228

1:31.303

17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The adjusted grid after Mercedes’ penalties are factored in is here. 

After a raft of overnighters to start the season, tomorrow’s race airs at the perfectly decent time of 11AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. With a supreme advantage over his teammate and the rest of the field, Piastri will be looking to both stamp his authority on the race from the get go and then vault himself ahead of Norris in the Championship by dint of the victory. But do the Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli have anything to spring an upset when the lights go out, even from their slightly demoted positions? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Results & aftermath

Verstappen delivers vintage performance at Suzuka to hold off McLarens for victory; Norris P2, Piastri P3 as team indecision rears its head

Despite not having the fastest car on the grid, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen converted his outstanding pole effort on Saturday, and the benefit of the clean air that came with it, into a comfortable victory at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. In what turned into an unusually processional affair at the normally unpredictable Suzuka Circuit, perhaps due to earlier rain showers cleaning the track and cooler temperatures limiting tire degradation, Verstappen was able to easily parry the best efforts of the trailing McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who started from P2 and P3 on the grid respectively. And when it became clear over the course of the Grand Prix’s 53 laps that Verstappen would not be able to be passed from behind on raw pace alone, McLaren declined to split their one and only pit stop strategies, thereby possibly delivering an advantage to either Norris or Piastri in their personal hunt for a Drivers’ Championship and the day’s win. Piastri was the first to pit from third on Lap 21 but then Norris followed Verstappen in a lap later, when there was also the option of running Norris one or two more laps longer in clean air to try and reap the benefits of an overcut strategy. But, with all three drivers making the switch from Medium to Hard Pirellis for their final stint and tire degradation much lower than expected, the McLaren braintrust decided that the risks to Norris from such a potential play on aging Mediums were too great, as the pace of Mercedes’ George Russell, who had come in a lap earlier than Piastri on Lap 20, proved formidable on the Hard tires right out of the box.

The closest thing to a real contretemps between contenders in what ended up being an unusually static race was Verstappen’s and Norris’s side-by-side exit from the pits, when Norris tried to shove his way past the Red Bull but Verstappen, of course, gave no ground, forcing the McLaren onto the grass verge and nearly into a spin. Norris lost valuable momentum with wheel spin and dirty tires but, while both drivers complained about the other vociferously, no penalties were handed down and the race resumed as it had before, with Verstappen at the point, Norris trailing him and the arguably fastest car of Piastri up on his teammate’s gearbox in P3. Obviously, McLaren were never going to make the move to swap the two, as that would have handed Piastri the championship points lead. And so, as the laps wound down, Norris and Piastri had to hold station behind a Red Bull that proved impossible to close up on no matter the efforts of the McLaren duo. While it was a relatively close finish, with Verstappen taking victory ahead of Norris by some 1.42 seconds, the outcome was really never in doubt, proving once again that a Red Bull in Verstappen’s hands out front in clean air is still a strong contender to win any race on the calendar, even in 2025 when their other advantages seem to have dissipated in the final year of the current formula.

Behind the elite three, Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari some much needed good news a fortnight after their double DQ in Shanghai with a P4 finish. Teammate Lewis Hamilton managed to gain one position over his starting spot by passing rookie Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar for P7 but it was still another less than comfortable run from the seven-time champ in only his third race with the Scuderia. In truth, Ferrari have got a lot of work to do to catch up with McLaren on pace, or even the Red Bull in Verstappen’s magical hands. One wonders how much energy and resources the fabled team from Maranello will be putting into improving the SF-25 with an entirely new car and engine needed for next year’s formula change. Mercedes’ young duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli also finished where they started on the grid, in P5 and P6 respectively, although the rookie Antonelli impressed by becoming the youngest F1 driver to lead a race and set the GP’s fastest lap.

Despite the early overtake by Hamilton, Hadjar acquitted himself well and kept his car clean en route to a P8 finish, the first F1 points of the young Frenchman’s career. Williams’ Alexander Albon also scored in P9, despite some testy exchanges over strategy with the pit wall during the race, and Haas’s Oliver Bearman continued to impress by picking up the final point in P10, making him the third rookie to score on the day.

Interestingly, newly promoted Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda was voted driver of the day by the fans despite finishing outside the points in P12. This was largely due to Tsunoda being the darling at his home Grand Prix and to be fair, the young Japanese driver did make the most overtakes during the race. But with Verstappen earning the win and Tsunoda finishing eleven places in arrears in ostensibly the same equipment, one wonders how long this particular honeymoon phase with the big team is really going to last.

Top 10 finishers of the Japanese GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

1:22:06.983

25

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

53

+1.423s

18

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

53

+2.129s

15

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

53

+16.097s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

53

+17.362s

10

6

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

53

+18.671s

8

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

53

+29.182s

6

8

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

53

+37.134s

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

53

+40.367s

2

10

87

Oliver Bearman

Haas Ferrari

53

+54.529s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as F1 heads to the Bahrain International Circuit. Can Verstappen build on his momentum and exploit the tensions starting to simmer within McLaren to make this a genuine three-driver championship hunt? Or will McLaren’s dynamic duo of Norris and Piastri regain their mojo at the desert circuit, where more overtaking should be on offer? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Verstappen stuns McLaren duo at Suzuka with surprise pole; Norris out-duels teammate Piastri for P2; Tsunoda fails to impress after promotion to Red Bull for home race

Saturday qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix at the storied Suzuka Circuit looked for all the world like a battle for pole between McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. With Norris taking victory in Piastri’s backyard to open the season in Melbourne and Piastri getting the better of Norris for the win in China two weeks ago, all eyes were on the Papaya duo to see who would emerge as the fastest qualifier. But all eyes were on the wrong team and drivers. Reigning champion Max Verstappen proved he is not ready to go gently into that good night this early in 2025, with a blistering final lap that knocked a stunned Norris off the pole and relegated Piastri to P3 and the second row. With Verstappen’s Red Bull trimmed to the limit for maximum straight line speed even though Suzuka has many more twisty bits than straights, the Flying Dutchman was able to hustle his RB21 to the tune of a track record 1:26.983, a mere one hundredth ahead of Norris. It was not only a nice moment for Verstappen after a challenging first two rounds of the season but also for Red Bull engine supplier Honda at their home circuit. However, new Red Bull Number Two Yuki Tsunoda did not fare much better on the day than most of Verstappen’s other wingman of recent vintage. The young Japanese driver, opting for a much more downforce heavy setup, ended up a desultory P15 despite the enthusiastic urgings of his countrymen in the stands. Liam Lawson, the driver Tsunoda replaced at the big team just three races into the season, out-qualified him in P14 driving his own former Racing Bull. That was probably not what Tsunoda or Red Bull had envisaged when they made the switch and this race weekend began.

Behind the elite top three, Charles Leclerc bettered by some margin his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, P4 to P8.  Mercedes’ George Russell had a fairly ragged final effort in Q3 and could not improve his P5 position when the scoring was over, while rookie Silver Arrows teammate Kimi Antonelli made impressive leaps throughout the three difficult sessions to wind up a surprisingly strong P6. Fellow rookie Isack Hadjar was able to overcome a persistently painful too-tight lap belt situation to pull himself all the way up to an quite solid  P7, while Williams’ Alexander Albon and Haas’s Oliver Bearman, yet another rookie, filled out the rest of the top ten in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Japanese Grand Prix:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:27.943

1:27.502

1:26.983

17

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.845

1:27.146

1:26.995

15

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.687

1:27.507

1:27.027

18

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:27.920

1:27.555

1:27.299

21

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:27.843

1:27.400

1:27.318

17

6

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:27.968

1:27.639

1:27.555

18

7

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:28.278

1:27.775

1:27.569

18

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:27.942

1:27.610

1:27.610

23

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:28.218

1:27.783

1:27.615

20

10

87

Oliver Bearman

Haas Ferrari

1:28.228

1:27.711

1:27.867

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.,com.

Tomorrow’s race airs overnight here in the States beginning at 1 AM Eastern Sunday morning on ESPN. With Verstappen in his preferred spot — up front and in clean air — we’ll have to see if McLaren’s long run pace can pull the Red Bull back into their clutches of if the four-time Champ is only beginning to show that he’s a serious contender to earn his fifth on the trot despite all predictions to the contrary. Hope to see you then to find out how it all plays out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of China — Qualifying results

Piastri earns first F1 pole with blistering lap in Shanghai; Russell splits McLarens at the death with stunning P2 effort, relegating Norris to P3, Verstappen to P4

McLaren’s second of two young phenoms, Oscar Piastri, got the better of his ostensible team number one, Lando Norris, during Saturday qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit, earning the young Aussie his first career Formula 1 pole position. In what is shaping up to be an intrateam battle for the ages, Piastri earned the top starting spot ahead of a competitive Norris and regained some momentum for his own championship aspirations a week after Norris’s spectacular win in a rain-soaked Melbourne, where Piastri could do no better than P9. Adding insult to injury for Lando, he was pipped for P2 at very death of Q3, when Mercedes’ George Russell put in a stonking lap to nab second on the grid. Russell’s excellent effort also dropped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to P4, extending the Dutch Master’s pole-less streak in Grand Prix to 15 races dating back Austria last year.

After an exhilarating and redemptive win in the Sprint race earlier on Saturday, Ferrari’s new signing,  seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton, was brought back down to earth a bit and could only record the fifth fastest time in Quali. Still, he was faster than teammate Charles Leclerc and the Monegasque could only muster a fast lap good enough for P6. The two young Racing Bulls showed excellent pace, with rookie Isack Hadjar putting the heartbreak of his formation lap crashout in Australia behind hime with an outstanding effort good enough for P7 on the grid and his senior teammate Yuki Tsunoda taking P8. They sandwiched the second Merc of Kimi Antonelli in P8, while Alex Albon rounded out the top ten starters in P10 for Williams. Worth noting, the second Red Bull of Liam Lawson had a torrid time once again in his second race weekend with the big team and was plum last in Q1. He’s fated to start from the rear in P20 tomorrow if no one else has any woes prior. The curse of Max Verstappen’s wingman seems to be fully upon the Kiwi and one has to wonder how long Dr. Helmut Marko and the Red Bull braintrust will stick with the rookie, especially with Tsunoda looking very racy and more than ready in the junior team.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Chinese GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.591

1:31.200

1:30.641

20

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:31.295

1:31.307

1:30.723

22

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:30.983

1:30.787

1:30.793

17

4

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.424

1:31.142

1:30.817

15

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:31.690

1:31.501

1:30.927

21

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:31.579

1:31.450

1:31.021

21

7

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:31.162

1:31.253

1:31.079

20

8

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:31.676

1:31.590

1:31.103

22

9

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:31.238

1:31.260

1:31.638

19

10

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:31.503

1:31.595

1:31.706

20

Complete qualifying results available via  Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race from Shanghai International Circuit airs live beginning at 3 AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. So set your DVR or brew some coffee to find out if Piastri can convert pole into victory or if someone else in the mega-talented top six can beat him to the checkered flag!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

McLaren and Norris begin championship hunt with impressive win at tricky, rain-affected Aussie GP; Red Bull’s Verstappen stays calm amidst carnage to salvage P2, Russell earns final podium position with solid effort; Piastri and Ferrari lose out

Round 1 of the 2025 season kicked off in chaotic fashion on Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix from the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, where persistent rain caused havoc throughout the field. In a true drive to survive, McLaren’s Lando Norris kept his cool throughout the race long carnage, including a late mistake by teammate Oscar Piastri amidst a renewed downpour, converting pole position into his first win of the year in what the young Briton hopes will be his first World Championship-winning campaign. With his car obviously slightly inferior to the McLarens coming out of the offseason, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made the best of a bad hand and put himself in position to pounce on P2 when Piastri slid off the track and into some very wet grass late in the going. The unlucky Aussie elicited cries of dismay from his countrymen in the stands but was at least able to salvage P9 after determinedly — and very slowly! — backing onto the tarmac when he looked to be stranded and en route to an embarrassing DNF. And Mercedes, who have been flying somewhat under the radar amidst all the McLaren-Red Bull-Ferrari hype leading into this opening round, made the right strategy calls when it counted most to boost their drivers, veteran George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, to P3 and P4 respectively. Both Silver Arrows pilots were impressive in the wet, with Russell bettering his P4 starting position to reach the podium after many other cars around him crashed out — there were a whopping six DNFs by the time the checkers flew — and Antonelli using a bit of luck, skill and good strategy to overcome  a clearly out of position P16 start after the young Italian damaged his car by clouting one too many curbs in Saturday qualifying. 

Williams Alexander Albon was another standout driver on the day, surviving and thriving to take an impressive fifth place. Others scoring improbably good points by dint of keeping their cars on the black stuff and staying steady during the frequently  very greasy conditions were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Kick Sauber’s wise old hand Nico Hulkenberg, who placed P6 and P7 respectively. But there was not much to cheer for Ferrari after they gambled and lost by keeping Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton out on slick tires a lap too long and then bringing the duo in for the much needed Inters after the other contenders had already made the much needed switch. The Prancing Horses went from a potential 1-2 finish to Leclerc holding on for P8 and the game but forlorn Piastri relegating Hamilton to P10 on the last lap of this eventful 57-lap contest.

What does such a rain-affected contest really tell us about who’s got the pace overall in 2025? Not much except that McLaren and Verstappen looked quick in any and all conditions. And Mercedes could be further along in their development than initially suspected, especially with new Red Bull number two Liam Lawson having a horror show weekend the ended with him crashing out and scoring zero points in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Antonelli acquitted himself admirably on his debut drive for Mercedes in highly challenging circumstances. As for Ferrari, they’ll be looking forward to the quick turnaround in China next weekend to be able to hopefully show their true pace under more predictable conditions. Hamilton, in particular, seemed to struggle to fully get to grips on the technical side with his new mount after so many years with Mercedes, and his relationship with his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami, is clearly still a work in progress after working hand in glove with Pete Bonnington over the course of the prior dozen years.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

57

1:42:06.304

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+0.895s

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

57

+8.481s

15

4

12

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

57

+10.135s

12

5

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

57

+12.773s

10

6

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

57

+17.413s

8

7

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber Ferrari

57

+18.423s

6

8

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+19.826s

4

9

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

57

+20.448s

2

10

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

57

+22.473s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as F1 hits the ground running for the Round 2 Chinese Grand Prix from the Shanghai International Circuit. It’ll also be the first Sprint weekend of the season, with all the extra angst that entails for the teams, especially with such a short turnaround. Norris will be looking to make it two in a row, Verstappen will be looking to take him down a peg, and Piastri will be seeking redemption, as will so many other drivers who had disappointing or even disastrous days in Australia. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

McLaren lay down marker in Melbourne to start season, as Norris grabs pole, Piastri P2; Verstappen settles for P3; Ferrari underwhelm

The highly anticipated 75th season of Formula kicked off properly during Saturday Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park GP Circuit in Melbourne when McLaren picked up were they left off in 2024 by locking out the front row ahead of Red Bull’s peerless ace Max Verstappen. Lando Norris bested his teammate and home race hero Oscar Piastri to take pole with a final do or die flying lap after having his only earlier Q3 time deleted for a track limits violation. The dynamic Papaya duo exceeded Verstappen’s best effort, relegating the Dutchman and reigning four-time consecutive champ to the second row and P3 on the grid. Mercedes’ George Russell put in a superlative effort to nail down P4 and, with some serious rain predicted for tomorrow’s race despite dry conditions to start the weekend, put himself in position to contend with the elite three ahead of him. Both Yuki Tsunoda, who was passed over for promotion to the senior Red Bull team and is inexplicably fighting for his F1 life, and the massively improved Williams of Alexander Albon, outperformed the much more heralded Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and new Scuderia recruit Lewis Hamilton. Tsunoda qualified P5 and Albon P6, while Leclerc could do no better than set the seventh fastest lap and Hamilton, who struggled mightily with the balance of his Prancing Horse and spun in Q2, was only good enough for P8 on the grid in his Ferrari debut. Pierre Gasly got the most out his Alpine in P9 and the second Williams of Carlos Sainz secured P10 on his first real effort in anger with his new team.

What all that will really mean if the heavy rains that are predicted to soak Albert Park on Sunday is anyone’s guess. But there were some less than promising signs for several young drivers at this tricky track. Verstappen’s latest wingman, New Zealander Liam Lawson, replacemnt for the long suffering Sergio Perez, struggled mightily with both mechanical issues and a shaky feel for the pointy dynamics of the RB21 and was unceremoniously bounced out in Q1 with only the eighteenth fastest lap. Likewise, Mercedes’ pick to replace seven-time champ Hamilton, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, damaged his car by running over too many curbs and qualified down in P16. And while Haas’s new pilot Oliver Bearman had a miserable start to the year and was unable to get a lap in quali due to numerous crashes and the resulting mechanical issues those caused, the rookies Jack Doohan of Alpine and Gabriel Bortoleto of Kick Sauber fared somewhat better in P14 and P15 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:15.912

1:15.415

1:15.096

20

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:16.062

1:15.468

1:15.180

18

3

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:16.018

1:15.565

1:15.481

17

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:15.971

1:15.798

1:15.546

21

5

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:16.225

1:16.009

1:15.670

18

6

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:16.245

1:16.017

1:15.737

21

7

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:16.029

1:15.827

1:15.755

20

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:16.213

1:15.919

1:15.973

23

9

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:16.328

1:16.112

1:15.980

21

10

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:16.360

1:15.931

1:16.062

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs on ESPN beginning  at midnight Eastern Sunday here in the States. With rain predicted, expect a wet a wild mashup of a race after only dry running so far this weekend. Can McLaren prevail against the modern Rain Meister Verstappen or will a dark horse from further down the grid spring a surprise? Hope to see you the to find out how it all shakes out in Round 1 Down Under!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Results & aftermath

Verstappen cruises to victory while chaos envelopes rest of field; Leclerc earns P2 ahead of Piastri as Ferrari close the gap to McLaren

A week after clinching his fourth consecutive Drivers’ title in Las Vegas, Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen showed no signs of resting on his laurels at Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. Peeved about being penalized one grid spot for an incident with Mercedes’ George Russell during Saturday qualifying, Verstappen launched off the line like a man possessed when the lights went out to start the race. He quickly made short work of the pole-sitting Russell, exacting his desert vengeance swiftly while steaming into Turn 1. Russell also lost a position to McLaren’s Lando Norris, dropping the lead Silver Arrow down to P3 with less than a third of lap yet run. Meanwhile, there was carnage at the back of the pack, with Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg losing traction and ping-ponging off Esteban Ocon’s Alpine and rookie Franco Colapinto’s Williams. While Hulkenberg was able to drive away from the accident from the large runoff area at the apex of Turn 1 with only a puncture, Ocon and Colapinto were not as fortunate and a Safety Car was deployed to retrieve both stricken cars.

It was a quick clean up and the race restarted towards the end of Lap 4, Verstappen quickly pulling a decent gap over the pursuing P2 McLaren of Norris. Once again, there was contact towards the rear, with the RBs of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson and the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas all making contact with one another but all three also able to continue. Lawson was eventually penalized 10-seconds for causing that collision and then the stewards also busted Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for jumping the start, earning the seven-time champ a 5-second penalty. With all of the top contenders running slightly longer on their starting sets of Medium Pirelli tires due to that early Safety Car period, Russell became the first of the top ten to pit for fresh rubber on Lap 24, perhaps feeling the heat from the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri behind him and angling for an undercut advantage. But that gambit came to less than nothing when the Silver Arrows mechanics uncharacteristically botched the stop with a sticky rear right tire, leaving Russell helplessly stationary for an excruciating 7-seconds. When Russell rejoined on his new set of Hard compound tires, he found himself down in P11, behind several ostensibly slower cars and with a lot of work to do to pull himself back into the serious points.

The race began to get downright bizarre on Lap 30 of the 57-Lap contest from Losail International Circuit when a wing mirror from Alexander Albon’s Williams fell off and lay stationary just before the end of the start-finish straight. While double yellow flags were deployed in that sector, the race director inexplicably did not deploy a Safety Car to retrieve the errant mirror and lap after lap the cars had to try and tiptoe around that dangerous bit of debris. On Lap 33, however, Bottas ran over it, sending shards of glass and carbon fiber across the track surface. On Lap 34, Hamilton and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz both sustained punctured tires as a result of running over that debris. On Lap 35, the Safety Car was finally deployed to clean up the jagged mess but it was far too late for those already disadvantaged by it. To make matters worse, Norris had failed to lift for the double yellows in that area while in hot pursuit of Verstappen a little earlier. The Dutchman immediately took notice and so too did the stewards, who soon announced they were investigating the McLaren man’s potential infraction.

When things had been cleaned up and the race restarted on Lap 39, it was once again Verstappen and Norris battling it out at the front, the Englishman getting much closer this time and running side by side with the Red Bull before backing out of the effort and living to fight another day, But once again there was trouble at the back, as the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez spun violently and ended up unable to continue, as did Hulkenberg, who got beached in one of the gravel traps. It was another terrible day for Perez, who seems more than likely to lose his Red Bull seat due to his horrid drop in form in the second half of the season, which has cost the team dearly in their hopes of repeating as Constructors’ champs. When the race restarted once more on Lap 42, Verstappen swanned away this time, while Norris found himself under attack by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. While Norris was able to hold the Prancing Horse off to maintain second place, on Lap 45 the hammer dropped and Norris was assessed a race altering 10-second stop/go penalty, which relegated him to last of the runners in P15 when he emerged from the pits. Hamilton also received a second penalty, this time a drive through for speeding in the pits earlier, adding insult to injury for the proud Englishman on a day where nothing went right for him and he would score no points.

As for Norris, he desperately tried to get back into the points, his indiscretion costing the McLaren team in their fight against Ferrari for the all-important Constructors’ Championship. Leclerc was now firmly ensconced in P2 and ended up 6-seconds behind  the victorious Verstappen when the checkered flag flew, making it a very good day for the Scuderia and the Monegasque. Russell had seemingly recovered from his disastrous pit stop when he crossed the line in P3 but was assessed a 5-second time penalty for dropping back too far from the Safety Car during its final deployment. That promoted Piastri to the podium in P3, Russell being relegated to P4 on a frustrating day for the Briton. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly had a superb drive to finish a very valuable P5, making the most of the rash of retirements and woes to other points contenders. Carlos Sainz further helped close Ferrari’s gap to McLaren to an eminently manageable 21-point deficit, while Norris clawed his back in the points with a late race pass on Bottas for P10 and also set the fastest lap en route to make it a pair on a day where much more seemed to be on the cards for him. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso gave a vintage effort to finish an impressive P7 in a car that was nowhere on the straights; Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu scored his and the team’s first points of the year with an excellent drive to finish P8; and the  lone surviving Haas of Kevin Magnussen also took valuable points in P9

Top 10 finishers of the Qatar GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

1:31:05.323

25

2

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+6.031s

18

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

57

+6.819s

15

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

57

+14.104s

12

5

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

57

+16.782s

10

6

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

57

+17.476s

8

7

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

57

+19.867s

6

8

24

Zhou Guanyu

Kick Sauber Ferrari

57

+25.360s

4

9

20

Kevin Magnussen

Haas Ferrari

57

+32.177s

2

10

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

57

+35.762s

2

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The 2024 season F1 finale is but a week away, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the visually stunning Yas Marina Circuit. Hope to see you then for yet more fireworks before we draw the curtains on what has been an enthralling season of motor racing at the sport’s highest level!