2025 F1 Australian GP: Winners and Losers

The 2025 F1 Australian GP ended with Lando Norris winning the race while Max Verstappen and George Russell came second and third, respectively. The race featured multiple stoppages as the tricky conditions induced a lot of crashes and mistakes from the drivers.

It also saw a lot of teams go horrifically wrong on their strategic gambles. Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were compromised during the race, and so were Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly.

As the first race of the season comes to an end, who would be happy with how everything went and who would be a bit disappointed? Let's take a look.

2025 F1 Australian GP

Winner

Lando Norris and McLaren

Lando Norris more or less didn't put a foot wrong throughout the F1 Australian GP race weekend. Other than, of course, the excursion into the gravel as the rain first made an appearance.

Was the driver the fastest on the grid? Well, there were moments where one could argue that he wasn't. When Verstappen challenged him early in the race, the driver held him off brilliantly and then did so again with Oscar. Most importantly, in case many don't remember this, Lando Norris did not lose the lead at the start of the race. All in all, it could not have gone better for the driver.

McLaren, on its part, might have produced a rocket ship of a car. The confirmation would come soon as we go to tracks like Shanghai in the next week, but it's safe to say that as things stand, Lando Norris and his team have the widest smile on their faces.

Loser

Ferrari

In case people forgot, Ferrari fought for the title in 2024 and lost in the last race of the season. This was a team that was right on the verge of clinching what would have been a brilliant win last year. To rub salt on the wounds even further, this team won the F1 Australian GP last season.

The fact that the team has gone from that point to being not even a close competition to McLaren is disappointing. 2025 was expected to be the best chance for Ferrari, and the team has once again faltered.

What's worse? The fact that this just cannot make the right calls under pressure. In our race prediction, we specifically mentioned that Ferrari would have a disappointing run on Sunday, and it was specifically because of the lack of operational prowess. Lewis Hamilton has moved into the team this season, hoping to fight and win titles.

The F1 Australian GP would have been an eye-opener for him.

Winner

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen came into the F1 Australian GP being very blunt and almost next about Red Bull's prospects. There's a reality to what he said for sure because it does appear that McLaren has something in the pocket over everyone else.

With that being said, this was brilliance from the driver. He's doing all he can with what he has, and a P2 was almost a perfect scenario for him.

Loser

The rookies (most of them)

Except for Kimi Antonelli, it's hard to see any of the rookies being very happy with how the F1 Australian GP has gone. There have been crashes by almost every one of them, and that's not ideal in any which way.

There is promise for sure when it comes to these drivers, but leaving Australia, it's hard to see if any of them would be happy.

Winner

Williams and Sauber

The smile on James Vowles' face is something that shows the kind of toll the last year or so took on him. Williams' boss has been very definitive and assertive in his comments about what he thinks the team can achieve. The P4 is a just reward for it, and the fact that it came with Alex Albon is an even bigger positive because it shows that it's not all down to the new driver. A battle for P5 in the championship has well and truly begun now.

Loser

Haas

No one knows what went wrong with Haas at the moment. It even appears that the team itself has been caught off-guard with the result. It's safe to say, however, that at the moment, Haas is the slowest car in F1, and that is the case by a massive margin.