F1 Opener Sets Stage for the competitive season 2025

The 2025 season of Formula one is officially underway since Lando Norris beat the current champion of the Max Verstappen pilots in the Australian Grand Prix last weekend. The first game established McLaren as the clear favorite of the early season, but with 23 remaining races, many could change between December and the end of December in Abu Dhabi.

Illustrated sports Photographer Erick Rasco was on the site in Melbourne to capture moments of the rainy Australian Grand Prix. These are some of the lasting images of the weekend of the race, and what vision could yield to the rest of the season.

McLaren captured his first construction championship since 1998 last season, preparing the stage for the British team to reach 2025 with the expectations of being in charge of the network. Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri impressed in the preseason tests in Bahrain, so much that the director of the Mercedes team, Toto Wolff, commented that McLaren was “on a different planet.”

Verstappen has the opportunity to become the third pilot to win five consecutive pilot championships if to overcome the classification at the end of 2025. However, there was a remarkable fall in the performance of Red Bull in the second half of last season, which threatens to continue this year next to the new teammate Liam Lawson.

Speaking of world champions, Hamilton made his first great beginning of the Grand Prix for Ferrari during the weekend, since he pursues what would be an eighth record title. Unfortunately, for the seven -time champion, the Prancing horse did not have as much rhythm as expected, particularly in the qualification, where Hamilton ended in eighth.

Much of the middle of the 2024 season was defined by the McLaren pilot couple chasing after Verstappen in the driver’s classification. That became a family view during Sunday’s career when Red Bull pilot divided Norris and Piastri at the beginning of the Grand Prize, just to be quickly pressured from Piesti in the McLaren apparently faster.

Norris faced a good criticism for not being able to convert the victories of the pole position during the 2024 season, particularly due to the bad beginnings outside the line. However, in Rainy Melbourne, the 25 -year -old escaped and led during most of the race, ultimately, delaying Verstappen for 0.895 seconds for victory.

Amid the battle between the McLarens and Verstappen, the Mercedes pilot continued to show his consistency in putting together a clean race and ending thirdly. Russell’s rookie teammate, Kimi Antonelli, impressed in his F1 debut, going up from the initial position 16 to end in the fourth.

Throughout the weekend, the native of Melbourne seemed ready for a massive result in his Grand Prix of origin, only for his career to unravel during a late Sunday Sunday. Piastri turned to turn from the track, hitting him to the back of the pack and derailing his search for leadership. He managed to get his car out of the grass and return to the ninth place, but left the weekend feeling that he left points at the table.

Difficult conditions in Melbourne put many teams on a link at the end of the race, but no more than Ferrari. The team chose to keep both drivers a return longer than the rest of the friends and, as the weather worsened, so did Ferrari’s return times. After another strategy error, Hamilton settlen with the tenth place, with his teammate Charles Leclerc ending in eighth.

One of the biggest surprises of the early season has been Williams, directed by a line of drivers by Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. The couple were the only teammates who are not those of McLaren and Ferrari in finishing in the top 10 in the qualification, preparing the stage for a fifth place in the Sunday Grand Prix for Albon. Although Sainz crashed into the treacherous conditions, the team director, James Vowles, said that the four -time race winner played a fundamental role in the garage to help make Albon’s calls to strategy.

McLaren leaves the first weekend tied with Mercedes at the top of the team classification, while Norris became the first McLaren driver since 2012 to lead the driver’s classification. The Paddock will return to the track at the Shanghai International Circuit this Sunday, March 23 for the Chinese Grand Prix.

More F1 in Sports Illustrated