Six drivers began their first full Formula 1 seasons in today’s Australian Grand Prix but four of them failed to see the chequered flag in the tricky conditions.
Two of them were out before the first lap was over. Unquestionably the most dejected was Isack Hadjar, who spun into a barrier at turn two on the formation lap, causing a delay to the start of the race.The Racing Bulls driver said he was focused on tyre preparation when his car got away from him. “Usually I take it step-by-step,” he told the official F1 channel. “We were keen on having the best out-lap possible for the race start.
“Early in the lap you try to warm those tyres and I over-did it. The tiniest mistake you can do, and the car is unsave-able. You’re just a passenger, and it feels terrible.”
The original race start was aborted so Hadjar’s car could be recovered and the grand prix eventually began a quarter of an hour behind schedule. Soon after it started, Jack Doohan’s Alpine snapped out of control at turn six.
The Alpine driver, making his second start in a grand prix, said his crash was “the result of a combination of factors which we will go over together as a team to learn from and ensure it does not happen again.”
“It is a tough way to learn but I have digested what happened and put it behind me to focus on what is ahead.”
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Gabriel Bortoleto’s grand prix debut ended after the rain returned on lap 46. He had just switched to a set of intermediates at the time. “Unfortunately I touched the kerb and ended up in the wall,” he admitted.
On the next lap Liam Lawson spun into a barrier. The most experience of the rookies had tried to brave out the shower on his 14-lap-old set of medium slicks.
“We took a chance, to be honest, hoping at least half the track would stay dry,” he said. “We knew that sector three was bad, but we thought that sector one would stay a little bit drier, so we carried on.
“Unfortunately it was bucketing down with rain. At that point, to be honest, I’d backed out of pushing at that point because it was so wet. I was just trying to stay on track, but obviously not ideal.”
One the six-strong rookie contingent, two made it to the chequered flag in a gruelling race. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the only one to score points, claiming a fine fourth for Mercedes having started 16th. Oliver Bearman redeemed himself somewhat after making two serious errors in practice by getting his Haas to the chequered flag.
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2025 Australian Grand Prix
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Edvaldo
16th March 2025, 13:37
To spin the car 400 meters into your first formation lap…Yeah, not a good look.
Osnola
16th March 2025, 13:41
And was it not Bearman who almost took pit verstappen when joining the track after a pitstop?
Jere (@jerejj)
16th March 2025, 16:50
If you mean when he rejoined the track after the first time he unlapped himself only to get re-lapped immediately when leaving the pits, maybe somewhat, but not excessively close-call.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
16th March 2025, 21:13
I mean, he came out of the pits ahead of Max Verstappen. If anything, Max tried to pass but backed out when there was no space. Nothing dramatic to it in my eyes.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
16th March 2025, 13:49
Does Doohan really talk like that?
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
16th March 2025, 16:05
I watched the driver reactions on the F1 youtube channel yesterday which might be the first time I heard Doohan talk and yes, I was struck by the way he talked, it was similar to this quote. His accent sounds like a British lad (I know he is not) but the way he used his words was very corporate style.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
16th March 2025, 16:23
When I read it, I decided I agreed with Marko that the lad should go.
That has to be a script he was given, doesn’t it?
A script written by an AI with no hope of ever being self-aware.
Jere (@jerejj)
16th March 2025, 16:48
I don’t find anything wrong with his way of speaking. Simply a mix of Aussie & British accent.
Mr Squiggle
17th March 2025, 22:20
I thought Doohan’s words (quoted above) was the most professional response of the lot.
Yes the rookies made rookie errors, but a couple of established drivers made similar mistakes. IMHO, there was no difference between Doohan’s error and the others
The issue for Doohan is the money that is behind Colapinto. Every error he makes brings an extra level of risk to his seat
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
16th March 2025, 16:25
It’s good, early days, learning for all of them.
I predicted possible chaos with so many Noobs at the start of the season, and they didn’t let me down ;)
Scalextric (@scalextric)
16th March 2025, 18:40
The limited pre-season practice can’t have helped, even if that would have all been in the dry. Some of the money saved in limiting practice is now being spent on car repairs.
Olivier
16th March 2025, 21:27
4? I counted 5 rookies, including the new Spaniard lad.
Tomcat173 (@tomcat173)
17th March 2025, 0:48
Baptism of fire (or water) for all of the rookies, including the Spanish kid.