Formula One—the highest level open-wheel racing circuit in the world—started its new season over the weekend with the Australian Grand Prix.
There were some big shakeups going into the season, namely the six rookie drivers joining the grid. In a competition of just twenty drivers and ten teams, six means a lot. Some had a bit of Formula One experience: Aussie Jack Doohan drove in the last race of the season in 2024 after Alpine driver Ocon left early. Brit Ollie Bearman drove in two races last season, once for Ferrari after their driver was diagnosed with appendicitis, and once for Haas after their driver was temporarily banned from racing. Liam Lawson, though there are disputes over his rookie status, stepped in for multiple races last year in the place of an injured Daniel Riccardo.
The other rookies, like Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto and French Isaac Hadjar, held their own on Sunday with only their skills from Formula 2, the racing tier right below. In fact, the pair were first and second, respectively, in the F2 championship last year.
The race started out with heartbreak, first with rookie Hadjar driving into the wall during the formation lap—the “setup” lap before the race starts—due to the slick conditions. It only got worse from there, with fellow rookie Jack Doohan crashing on the first lap, right before veteran driver Carlos Sainz crashed on one of the final turns.
The race was then uneventful for a while until lap 34 of 57, when the oldest driver on the grid, World Champion Fernando Alonso spun out and had to retire from the race.
Despite all this, The race was led by McLarens Lando Norris, until his Australian teammate, Oscar Piastri, started tailing him. After some back and forth, the team agreed to let Oscar and Lando “race it out” to see who would win. Unfortunately it began to rain, and Oscar, with unprepared tires, slid out and fell to the back of the pack. He then slid out once again, but managed to fight his way up to finishing in ninth place.
In that rainy period, the two rookies, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoletto, also slid out, making Ollie Bearman and Kimi Antonelli the only rookies to finish the race.
The race was won by Lando Norris after some difficult driving and smart team decisions. He was followed by last year’s world champion, Max Verstappen, in second, and Mercedes driver, George Russel, in third.
Overall the race showed a good start to the season, proving that much of the machinery is well matched, as well as many drivers abilities. This year should prove an interesting one, with competing teammates and many former champions anxious to regain lost glory.
