Rain, Crashes, and Glory: Norris Wins Season Opener in Melbourne!

Lando Norris begins his season well, winning the Australian Grand Prix with a 0.895-second advantage over the runner-up, Max Verstappen. The chaotic race in Melbourne had a constantly shuffling leaderboard, with six drivers out, heavy rainfall, and three safety cars! 

The race started off with rookie Isack Hadjar, who spun out on the first corner of the formation lap. Clearly disappointed and emotional after his Formula 1 debut, he was quickly consoled by his hero’s dad, Anthony Hamilton. Hence, the race start was aborted and delayed by ten minutes. For which only on turn 6 of the restart, another rookie, Jack Doohan crashed, followed by a crash from Carlos Sainz on turn 13. After the first safety car ended, Norris, Verstappen, and Piastri had a close three-car battle for the lead until Verstappen went deep and made way for Piastri to go through. 

Piastri was told to hold the position in second place at his home race after racing skilfully to hunt down Norris. After dropping back, his race engineer announced that he was free to race again but mentioned, “You know the rules,” possibly referring to the well-known Papaya Rules that created unnecessary trouble for the team during the 2024 season. 

On the 34th lap, Alonso found the wall, causing a second safety car, which ended with only fifteen laps left, alongside incoming heavy rain, with most drivers on hard and medium tires. When out of the blue, a huge leaderboard change! Both McLaren drivers have gone off track, with Norris being able to get back quickly. However Piastri remained stuck in the grass, with all hope gone, until his motivation to finish the race took over as he made his way back on track. Verstappen led the race but had to pit due to the heavy rainfall, handing the lead over to Hamilton on hard tires, who quickly lost his position to Norris. Shortly after, Lawson went into the wall, followed by Bortoleto who spun and hit the wall; another safety car was brought out! 

Norris restarted the race on lap 52 out of 57, with Verstappen, Russel, and Albon behind. Rookie Kimi Antonelli was in fifth place, fighting for fourth, but received a five-second penalty for an unsafe release. Until the very end, Verstappen put immense pressure on Norris, racing with a gap of less than one second, but Norris managed to stay focused and race until the end, winning with only a 0.895-second advantage. 

What a beginning to the 2025 season that was! A variety of emotions, incredible battles, and plot twists. Everyone will be excited to see what the Chinese Grand Prix will bring to the table next weekend!