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Put your visors down. Get ready and gear up. It’s lights out and away we go. After months of anticipated waiting, a brand new Formula 1 season is back and this time around, the season opener is Melbourne, the home of the Australian Grand Prix. Which is unlike how Formula 1 usually starts. Not Bahrain, but Melbourne’s Albert Park!
It’s here at the multicultural Australian city where twenty cars and drivers of the ten teams will get a first taste of how Grand Prix racing will feel in a new season.
In what was an utterly arresting maiden qualifying session of the 2025 F1 season, McLaren came out on top with Verstappen, last year’s pole sitter, in their mirrors.
That said, in what looks to be a belter of a race, SportsTiger present you the top predictions for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix:
Australia won’t be an easy race for Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is a great of the sport. That is an undisputed fact. Lewis Hamilton is also the sport’s most statistically successful driver. There’s no doubt about that as well.
But Sir Lewis Hamilton isn’t immediately the fastest in a Ferrari in the same fashion as his more-experienced teammate in red, Charles Leclerc.
There’s little doubt about this, something that was clearly evidenced in the final run of the third practice session prior to the qualifying. While Leclerc bagged an impressive third, Hamilton, brand new in Ferrari gear, was able to notch a low-key twelfth.
His initial struggles became evidently clear when at the end of the qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, the sport’s icon bagged eighth. This was just behind teammate Leclerc. In what is a lukewarm start to the season for the two Ferraris, it is up to Sir Lewis to produce some magic in what lies ahead.
Williams look set for a surprise
The FW 47 might not seem to be the rapidest machine out there, but it can surely pack a punch.
This is something that was evident when Williams newcomer Carlos Sainz Jr. topped the time sheets in a single session during the winter testing infusing hopes that while it may be a midfield car, it might not be a slouch after all.
But the Spaniard finishing sixth in the final practice run for Australia followed by teammate Alex Albon (in seventh) in the Williams machine did impress earlier on Saturday offering hope for a fine performance in the qualifying that was to follow.
What was impressive, however, was Alex Albon’s rapid P6 in the end of Q3. In so doing, the young Thai driver outperformed both the Ferraris. Moreover with Spanish teammate managing a tenth, Williams have delivered a strong opening qualifying round of 2025. Now that both Williams machines begin the maiden race of the season in the top ten, which isn’t a bad place to start the race at all, Sunday could well see both cars scoring points.
McLaren will likely ace F1’s debut race for 2025
There is no denying how desperately McLaren’s top draw Lando Norris wants a world title triumph under his belt. As a matter of fact, if one were to rewind the clocks back to the closing ceremony of 2024’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, then Lando Norris did mention-and quite clearly so- about his heartiest desire to become a world champion “next year” (hinting of 2025).
After all, being second best isn’t what the Briton is here for- is he?
This time around McLaren definitely have a strong machine, arguably speaking, even faster than the Red Bull, which will inspire a lot of confidence from the battling duo of Piastri and Norris.
After Lando Norris displayed great pace during each of the practice sessions of the Australian Grand Prix’s free practice runs, it became evidently clear that McLaren means business.
Something that became evidently clear the moment Lando Norris clocked the fastest time in the first of the three qualifying runs. While Lando scored a belter of a lap at 1:15:096, his Australian teammate begins the race from second in a McLaren front Joe lockout. Should all go well in the race, it’ll hardly be a surprise to see both McLarens on the podium in the next few hours with one of them winning the Grand Prix.
Melbourne likely to be a lukewarm race for Kimi
A Mercedes seat in the current annals of the sport with Toto Wolff at the helm of affairs means a big deal for any driver out there. It signals a massive thrust in one’s career. But it surely comes with a fair bit of challenge. There can be nerves.
It could well overwhelm the most talented young drivers out there, as was the case on Saturday, March 15 with Mercedes newcomer, Kimi Antonelli.
Poised to dominate the sport in the course of its future, Antonelli is among the most recognisable faces out there on the F1 grid.
But his arrival at Mercedes for racing duty seems to be riddled with challenges. In the very first opening run of qualifying, i.e., Q1, Antonelli bagged a sixteenth while his teammate was dominating the front row out there. As Kimi begins his maiden F1 race from far behind the front runners, it can be said for certain that the Italian youngster will likely struggle out there on Sunday.
Will he be able to even score a point- it looks uncertain.
