Norris holds off Verstappen for season-opening win in Aussie GP

The 2025 Formula 1 campaign is officially underway.

McLaren's Lando Norris won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, converting his pole position at a rainy Albert Park.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen crossed the line for Red Bull less than 1 second behind Norris.

Mercedes' George Russell rounded out the podium in third.

The race was not without incident, with Oscar Piastri sliding off track late while in second due to wet conditions and costing himself a podium finish. The Australian impressively made it back onto the track despite appearing beached on wet grass but wound up finishing ninth in his home race.

The chaos started immediately with rookie Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls crashing on the formation lap. On restart, fellow first-year Jack Doohan also went off track and was forced to retire his Alpine on Lap 1. During the ensuing safety car, 2024 Australian GP winner Carlos Sainz became the third retirement in his Williams debut.

Inexperience wasn't the only cause of accidents, though, with 43-year-old two-time champion Fernando Alonso putting his Aston Martin into the wall on Lap 34.

Lewis Hamilton finished 10th, claiming one point for his efforts in his long-awaited Ferrari debut. His teammate Charles Leclerc placed eighth.

Kimi Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes, incredibly battled back from qualifying 16th to crossing the line in fourth. A late 5-second penalty officially placed him in fifth. Antonelli was one of two rookies to actually complete the race.

The other was Haas' Ollie Bearman, finishing as the backmarker in 14th to end a trying weekend for him that featured multiple crashes during practice.

Thanks to the late Antonelli penalty, Williams' Alex Albon placed fourth.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll finished sixth and Kick Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, who started 17th on the grid, took seventh.