The Australian GP returns as the season opener of Formula 1 for the first time since 2019. The 2025 Formula 1 season will kick off in Melbourne, with the Australian Grand Prix set to host the 75th season opener. However, as the grid prepares for the first race of the year, the spotlight is on Red Bull and their early-season struggles. The weather forecast hints at rain on race day, which could shake up the pecking order and play into Verstappen’s hands.

Red Bull struggles

On the first two days of pre-season testing, Red Bull were very happy after the initial runs with their 2025 title contender, the RB21. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has stated that “The car is more predictable and reacts to the changes in the normal way. So, all the problems we had last year, I believe they are much better, or maybe they are also sorted.” However, Day 3 of the test was not a smooth sailing as Red Bull has hoped. The brought a new upgraded front wing and a new floor design for the final day, although the front nose worked up to the expectation but the new floor design brought back some of the issues from RB20.

Verstappen: ‘Red Bull can’t fight for win in Melbourne”

Max Verstappen has ruled out Red Bull out of contention for a victory at season opener in Melbourne. The reigning four-time world champion did not display any optimism during the final moment of pre-season testing, opening up to the media about his worries.

“I don’t think we can fight for the win already in Melbourne” – Max Verstappen said.

The dutchman, just like others in the F1 paddock has designated McLaren as the favorite going into 2025. “At the moment only one, and that team is orange! That’s a very nice colour of course, but from our side, we still have work to do.”

The Verstappen + Rain factor in Australian GP

We are still in the early stages of the race week and the weather forecast predicts rain on Sunday. Max Verstappen is know for his stellar performance in the rain, most notably his performance in the 2016 and 2024 São Paulo GP. The Meteology department of Australia reports a 70% chance of rain on Sunday. A wet Australian GP should make it a equal playing field for all the teams which could in return benefit Max Verstappen.

Follow Desi Racing Co. for more motorsport related content: Desi Racing Co is dedicated to bringing the latest updates and insights from the world of motorsport. Whether it’s Formula 1, Formula 2, WEC, MotoGP, Indian motorsports, or other racing series, we’ve got you covered! Stay connected with us for in-depth motorsport coverage. Follow us on Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest motorsport news and updates.

Formula 1 returns after a winter break lasting almost 100 days. The much-awaited season marks the 75th anniversary of the sport. After slight glimpses of the cars from the livery reveal at the O2 Arena during the one-of-a-kind F1 75 Live event and the 3-day long preseason testing, the fans are ready to experience the roar and thrill of all 20 cars finally racing on the track.

From driver changes to new faces, this season has a lot to offer. With the Australian GP – the season opener – right around the corner, let’s take a look at everything to keep an eye out for this milestone of a season in this F1 2025 Season Preview.

END OF GROUND EFFECT REGULATIONS

The F1 2025 season marks the final year of the current regulations which were introduced in 2022. The 3 years of the ground effect era have seen Red Bull dominance with Max Verstappen clenching the World Drivers Championship each year.

As we reach the final season for the ground effect cars, the teams face a grave decision of choosing between investing in the current season or shifting focus towards developing the 2026 car. For instance, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber would certainly like to improve upon their 2024 season where they finished last garnering only 4 points, however, they might also fully invest in their next year’s car as they get ready to transition into Audi. Either way, the end of regulations always provides some great racing as the cars reach their maximum potential.

Even though the major regulation changes lie ahead for the 2026 season, the FIA has introduced some rule changes for this year as well. The major ones include:

• Removal of Fastest Lap Point: Since 2019, the drivers finishing inside the top 10 could grab the fastest lap of the race for an extra point. This has been dropped for the 2025 season.
• Driver Cooling Systems: In case a weather forecast predicts 31⁰C or above during either a Sprint or Grand Prix, the teams will be required to fit a driver cooling system in the cars, to accommodate this, the weight limit of the cars will be increased for the session.
• FP1 Rookies: The teams must run an inexperienced rookie twice per car, i.e. 4 times, in an FP1 session, across the season, against the 2 times in previous seasons.

DRIVER CHANGES

Lewis Hamilton

One of the greatest drivers joins forces with one of the greatest teams in Formula 1. The 7-time world champion breaks his 12-year partnership with Mercedes to drive for the iconic team from Maranello. As he moves on from the most successful driver-constructor pairing in F1 history to the most successful F1 team, we’ll witness the Briton drive a non-Mercedes powered car for the first time ever in his career of 18 years.

Carlos Sainz Jr

The 4-time race winner leaves his seat at Ferrari being replaced by Hamilton. Sainz partners Alex Albon at Williams for the 2025 season. The Spaniard with lots to offer, motivated to show his worth must perform incredibly to secure a seat in a top team in the upcoming seasons. Also taking over the role of director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, his time at Williams will surely be one of the most important stints of his career.

Esteban Ocon

Son of a mechanic, the boy from Normandy, is set to partner rookie Oliver Bearman at Haas in 2025. Ocon finished 14th in the 2024 Driver Standings, which was his worst performance in a full season ever. 19 points behind his teammate Pierre Gasly, Esteban struggled in his final season at Alpine. At Haas, he seeks a new beginning. Under team principal Ayao Komatsu, Haas looks forward to an uphill climb in performance and with the French driver bringing his experience to the table, 2025 looks promising.

Nico Hulkenberg

Making way for Ocon and Bearman, Haas dropped both their 2024 drivers, Magnussen and Hulkenberg, for the 2025 season, with the latter joining Sauber. This is his second time racing for Sauber, the last time being over a decade ago in 2013, where he finished 10th in the Driver Standings. The German driver is infamously known for having the most race starts without securing a podium. Although unlikely to happen this year, he hopes to break the curse when Sauber officially transitions to Audi next year.

STORYLINES TO FOLLOW

Mclaren the team to beat

The British team that clenched the Constructors’ Title in 2024 after a 26-year drought are certainly the one to beat this year as well. The defending champions look extremely strong with their young but talented line-up of Lando Norris, last year’s WDC title contender and Oscar Piastri, the up-and-coming Aussie star.

With Adrian Newey’s departure and their gradual decline in car performance, RedBull doesn’t look to be at their highest, considering they are the ones that dominated the current ground effect era of the sport. But Mclaren doesn’t have it easy, as Ferrari and Mercedes continue to develop their cars with the intent of closing the current regulations with a title in their hands. Whichever way it goes, 2025 is going to be one of the closest battles for constructors’ title we have seen in a while.

8th for Lewis or 1st for Charles

Ferrari does seem to be the favourites for the 2025 season with their all-star pairing of golden boy Charles Leclerc and 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. The 40 year old Briton has chased the dream of collecting the most championships for a long time. As he currently sits level with the legendary Michael Schumacher for the number of championships won, winning his 8th would make him the first to achieve that milestone in f1 history.

But the Monegasque he is paired with cannot be disregarded. If provided with a championship winning car, Leclerc is more than capable of getting the best results with his consistency. This teammate battle would be a treat to the viewers as they fight for their own personal milestones.

New Era New Faces

Coming from a season that started with no rookies at all, we enter 2025 with 6 new faces, 3 of which have never raced in F1 before.

We have seen Oliver Bearman with his overachieving debut with Ferrari at Jeddah 2024, a points finish at Baku and a great recovery drive at Sao Paulo, the latter 2 with Haas. He’ll be partnering race winner Esteban Ocon at Haas this season.

A shocking swap promoted Liam Lawson from the sister team VCARB, placing him next to reigning world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull for the 2025 season. Will the Kiwi succumb to the Red Bull second driver curse, underperforming to the 4-time champion, or can he show the world his talent and keep Max on his toes.

Jack Doohan, the man from down under, joins Alpine teaming up with Pierre Gasly. Although he won’t have the pleasure of debuting at his home race this season as he had stepped up, replacing the leaving Esteban Ocon, for the final race of the 2024 season at Abu Dhabi finishing p15. Rumors have it he is under pressure to perform extraordinarily starting this year as his seat is under jeopardy with Alpine’s signing of young talent Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver this season, who is already eyeing a permanent F1 seat.

Coming to the ones we haven’t seen race in F1 yet. Both the 2024 F2 championship contenders have moved up to the pinnacle of motorsport this year. F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto joins Sauber while his rival who finished second, Isack Hadjar secured a seat at VCARB (Racing Bulls). While at the mere age of 18, Mercedes star-kid Andrea Kimi Antonelli, replaces Hamilton to be seated next to George Russell for the 2025 season. None of them have ever driven in a Formula 1 session before, with the exception of Antonelli who made his free practice debut at Monza last year.

All of these young new faces have the talent to perform beautifully and it would be a delight watching them flourish and grow in their respective teams.

Just a few days till ‘Lights Out’ in Australia, and our excitement cannot be contained. The teams pushing their designs to the absolute limits. Both the championships up for grabs and all the top teams fighting for it, wanting to close this chapter with a bang. Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton and Russell all challenging Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship. Great midfield battles as the cars get the closest to each other in performance, in a long time. All of this action, ready to unveil at the Australian Grand Prix kicking off the 75th season of the pinnacle of motorsport. F1 IS SO BACK!

Follow Desi Racing Co. for more motorsport related content: Desi Racing Co is dedicated to bringing the latest updates and insights from the world of motorsport. Whether it’s Formula 1, Formula 2, WEC, MotoGP, Indian motorsports, or other racing series, we’ve got you covered! Stay connected with us for in-depth motorsport coverage. Follow us on Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest motorsport news and updates.

The three-time world champion, Max Verstappen was ordered ‘community service’ yesterday by the FIA Stewards for ‘swearing’ in the Thursday Press Conference. Max was asked about the pace that Red Bull has during the Azerbaijan GP weekend and he responded with ‘I knew the car was f*****’.

Today after qualifying, Max Verstappen refused to take questions or gave blunt answers in the official FIA ‘Post-Qualifying Press Conference’ and urged the journalist to ‘ask these questions outside of the room.’ Max kept his promise and took questions outside of the Press Conference room.

This move has earned him praises from several journalists that were present in the official Press Conference.

Earlier in the week, Talking Exclusively to Motorsport.com FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has revealed he is making moves to try to change the tone of the content that is aired to fans.

“I mean, we have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music,” Ben Sulayem said. “We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are [us].”

When the F1 drivers were asked about the comment made by Ben Sulayem, Most of the drivers made the disagreement clear that stated that they are unhappy with the stance being taken by the FIA. Lando Norris has warned that F1 will lose the ‘rawness’ if the FIA clamps down on swearing. The seven-time champion, Lewis Hamilton went as far as to accuse the FIA president to have used words of ‘stereotypical’ and ‘racial element’.

“I don’t like how he expressed it. Saying that rappers is very stereotypical and if you think about it, most rappers are black and that really kind of points it towards, when it says: ‘We are not like them’. So I think those are the wrong choice of words. There is a racial element there.” – Lewis Hamilton

The FIA’s President Mohammed Ben Sulayem stance is being ridiculed by not just the Drivers, but also the media and the fans around the world. Although Ben Sulayem has said that the current measures are being taken to combat online abuse, The FIA should find an alternate approach to do the same.