After qualifying yesterday, which saw McLaren lock out the front row, the Formula One world woke up to predictions of rain. This rain caused the Formula 2 Feature Race to be cancelled, and led to a delayed start to the main grand prix race. After a 15 minute delay, the stewards signalled that the race could now go ahead.
During the Formation Lap, the Visa Cashapp Racing Bull of Isaac Hadjar crashed after skidding on a road marking. Due to this, before he even started his first race as a Formula One driver, he was forced to retire from the grand prix.
At the start, Max Verstappen made the lunge to second place, overtaking the McLaren of home favourite Oscar Piastri. Moments after this, the Safety Car was released after Jack Doohan (Alpine) hit the wall. This caused his retirement from the race. Following this, former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz ended his first outing in the Williams as he spun out and hit the wall. He was the third retirement of the day. Quite the opening lap!
During the Safety Car, in order to clear the track more efficiently, the drivers were taken through the Pit Lane. Some drivers took this opportunity to have a pitstop.
By the end of lap seven, the Safety Car was called in. The Green Flag was shown in lap eight, meaning the drivers were free to race again. This allowed for some overtakes, including Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the rookie Mercedes driver, who overtook Nico Hulkenberg. Antonelli then had a spin, but was able to recover before even a yellow flag was shown.
On lap 17, Oscar Piastri overtook Verstappen to reclaim second position. This was very popular with the Australian fans. Verstappen braked excessively meaning he took a corner too deeply, allowing Piastri to overtake the reigning World Champion.
Throughout this, Lando Norris was zooming ahead in first place. There was no sign of him stopping anytime soon. There was also no sign of any other drivers behind the two McLaren cars on lap 25. They maintained a pace at least five seconds ahead of the pack.
On lap 33, Fernando Alonso had a big spin and hit the wall. This triggered another Safety Car, and ended his race. This then triggered many drivers to pit, as pitting under Safety Car allowed them to lose less time relative to those who pitted under normal racing conditions.
Right before they pitted, both McLaren cars slid off the track. While Norris was able to recover and keep going almost undisrupted, Piastri was not so lucky. Piastri managed to veer into the grass, getting lagooned and having to reverse back to tarmac to avoid beaching his car. With this, Piastri dropped down the order, leaving the pits outside of the top ten.
The Safety car was deployed again on lap 38 for Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortleto as they both spun into the barriers. It was not a great day for the rookies, with only one finishing the race. Antonelli, the only rookie to complete the race, finished in fourth place, an excellent result for his first grand prix.
The top ten was as follows:
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Nico Hulkernberg (Sauber)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
After such a dramatic opening round, Formula One is officially back. There is racing next weekend as well, in China. This will be the first Sprint Weekend of the 2025 season. Will McLaren storm the grid again? Or will another driver emerge as competition for Norris and Verstappen?
Written by Ellie and Alexandra.
Featured Image Credit: bbc.co.uk
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