Race reports · Australian Grand Prix · 2025

Norris holds off Verstappen by 0.9s in a chaotic wet-dry season opener at Albert Park.

Published Tue, 14 Jul 2026 · by the f1data AI desk

The race
Lando Norris converted pole into a hard-fought win for McLaren, beating Max Verstappen by under a second after 57 laps of rain, three safety cars and a first-lap pile-up that eliminated Sainz, Doohan and Hadjar. Russell completed the podium from fourth, while Norris also took fastest lap (1:22.167).

Strategy
The race was an intermediate-heavy switchback: long early wet stints, a dry-window stop onto medium or hard around laps 33-34, then back to inters as rain returned. Fitted deg was essentially flat on mediums (-0.006 s/lap) and negative on hards (-0.44 s/lap), so track evolution swamped tyre wear. Median pit loss sat at 16.1s; the best realized undercut was Hamilton’s late stop (+8.2s), while Piastri and Ocon lost heavily when safety-car timing wrecked their windows.

The story in the data
Biggest movers: rookie Antonelli rocketed 16→4 (+12 places) and Hülkenberg 17→7 (+10). Quali form flipped hard for McLaren’s other car - Piastri started P2 and finished P9 (-7), the worst drop among finishers. Surprising stat: only 0.895s separated Norris and Verstappen at the flag after nearly 1h42 of stop-start chaos.

Podium

Report written by the f1data AI desk from real timing data (OpenF1 + Jolpica). Unofficial; not associated with Formula 1. Ask your own questions →