Max Verstappen finishes second behind Lando Norris in first F1 race of the 2025 season

Max Verstappen finished second in the first Grand Prix of the 2025 F1 season on Sunday morning. The reigning champion finished just behind Lando Norris at the Albert Park Circuit in Australia. It was a chaotic race, with the wet weather conditions resulting in five drivers failing to finish the race and three safety cars.

Verstappen started the race in third after the qualifying session on Saturday. The two McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, started the race in first and second position, respectively.

The weather was proving tricky from the start. The race was delayed for 15 minutes after Isak Hadjar spun out during the formation lap in his first race in F1.

It did not take Verstappen long to climb a spot during the race. The 27-year-old got past Piastri in the first lap. But this was soon followed by a safety car due to Jack Doohan and Carlos Sainz, driving in his first F1 race for Williams, crashing out of the race.

The safety car lasted for around six laps before the race restarted. A rare error by Verstappen resulted in Piastri re-taking the second spot in his home race after 17 laps. This proved extra costly as the reigning champion then saw the McLarens bridge a significant gap. The two cars were around 18 seconds ahead of Verstappen by lap 25.

The first pit stops came at the same time for all drivers after Fernando Alonso became the fourth driver to fail to win the race, resulting in another safety car in the 34th lap. Both McLaren’s went for hard tires, with Red Bull and Verstappen deciding to go for the mediums.

Verstappen led the race for a short time in the 45th lap after Piastri had slipped on the track and Norris went for a pitstop. However, this came due to Red Bull initially deciding to keep Verstappen out as opposed to changing his tires with more rain being forecast. This proved to be an error as Verstappen went into the pits a lap later.

The third and final safety car came when rookies Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) and Verstappen’s new teammate Liam Lawson crashed out of the race.

This led to an incredibly exciting and tense finish to the race. Norris was defending his lead against Verstappen, who pushed him right to the end but came up just short to take the victory.

It was Norris’ fifth win in F1. George Russell of Mercedes picked up the final podium spot.