F1 Driver Ratings: 2025 Australian Grand Prix
- Andrew Garcia
- 22 hours ago
- 6 min read
By Andrew Garcia
The season opener for the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship couldn’t have been more exciting. Rain and late-race drama shook up the order, leading to someh big surprises all across the field. With this in mind, rating the drivers on their performance could be a difficult task given the chaos throughout the weekend but one I intend to undertake. Without further ado, let’s get into the driver ratings for the Australian Grand Prix.
Alex Albon: 10/10
Alex Albon did a stellar job in qualifying to start P6, even out-qualifying both Ferraris (They started P7 and P8). He did a good job holding off the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton to finish 5th place. Albon's efforts provided good points for the midfield Williams team when teammate Carlos Sainz crashed out during a safety car period.
Lando Norris: 9.5/10
In qualifying, Lando Norris took pole position and capitalized on the chaos in the race with a well-executed strategy. He held off Max Verstappen in the final stages of the race as well as teammate Oscar Piastri to emerge victorious in the end. However, an off-track excursion almost ruined his race which takes a small hit to his rating
Max Verstappen: 9/10
With the 2nd best car, Max Verstappen did the best he could to qualify 3rd behind the McLarens of Norris and Piastri. Although a lockup at Turn 11 while trying to defend against Oscar Piastri somewhat demotes his rating, he did well to manage his race to finish 2nd place.
George Russell: 9/10
George Russell did a solid job to start 4th on the second row of the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix and executed his strategy well to earn the last podium place behind race winner Norris and Max Verstappen.
Nico Hulkenberg- 8/10
Nico Hulkenberg made up for being out-qualified by his rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto by finishing an impressive P7 at the end. He gained many positions to end up at P12 in the early stages of the race which further underscores the pace he had in his back-of-the-field Sauber car.
Yuki Tsunoda- 7.5/10
Tsunoda had a very impressive qualifying in his 2025 debut to start P5. He was even able to fight the Ferraris during the race but his race unraveled when the rain hit. He lost positions due to a small mistake in the wet but his lost positions, like Ferrari, could also be contributed to a late switch for the intermediate tires.
Kimi Antonelli: 7/10
Mercedes rookie Antonelli did a great job recovering from a P16 start due to underfloor damage in qualifying to a P4 finish right behind teammate George Russell. He was quick throughout the race which led him to catch up to and pass many others on his way to a 4th place finish but his rating was hindered due to a poor qualifying performance and some mistakes throughout the race.
Lance Stroll: 7/10
F1's only Canadian driver ended a long pointless streak during the start of the 2025 season courtesy of a P6 finish. He had an average qualifying by starting P13 behind teammate Fernando Alonso but struggled for pace early in the race. However, he jumped up to 6th place towards the end of the race when rain came through a very well-timed pitstop. Overall, a good performance to start the season from the Canadian.
Oscar Piastri: 6/10
This race weekend was an unlucky one for home hero Oscar Piastri. Qualifying in 2nd place, he looked set to finish runner-up to teammate Norris in Piastri's home race until a spin late in the race dropped him to 14th. However, he made a good recovery in the end to take points with a 9th-place finish.
Pierre Gasly- 6/10
Pierre Gasly did a good job getting his Alpine into the top ten for qualifying, which is probably right where it is supposed to qualify. He had the pace to score points during the race in the top ten but a small mistake ruined his chances and finished in P11.
Charles Leclerc- 6/10
Charles Leclerc had the potential for a higher finish after qualifying P7 but the Ferrari strategists timed the switch to intermediate tires wrong. For those who don’t know, intermediate tires are usually suited for light wet weather conditions. With that said, he dropped positions and ended up finishing P9. Also, a spin right before he pitted made him drop positions which somewhat demotes his ranking.
Lewis Hamilton- 5.5/10
Like Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton also suffered from a botched intermediate tire switch. However, he performed slightly worse than his teammate throughout the weekend. He qualified a place behind Leclerc, in P8, and finished P10 due to the same pit stop issue as Leclerc. Hopefully, the 7-time world champion can have a better race for his first Ferrari season at the next round in China.
Esteban Ocon- 5/10
Before the season started, no one would have expected Haas to be back of the pack at the season opener. It turns out what nobody thought would happen actually happened. Esteban Ocon qualified 19th, 6 tenths of a second behind the next qualifier. Although this doesn’t seem like much in reality, 6 tenths of a second is a big difference in F1. He finished 13th due to the various other drivers crashing out but is still the same position he started in minus the retirements. However, points can’t be taken against him since that was just the true pace of the Haas.
Gabriel Bortoleto- 4/10
Despite qualifying ahead of experienced Sauber teammate Hulkenberg, the rain towards the end of the race caught Gabriel Bortoleto out which led him to retire his car due to a race-ending crash.
Fernando Alonso- 4/10
Although his Aston Martin team seems to be stuck in the midfield like the end of last year, Fernando Alonso was running in the top 10 for most of the race after starting P12. However, a race-ending crash due to spinning on gravel on the track seriously downgrades his rating.
Carlos Sainz: 3/10
Carlos Sainz had a slightly underwhelming, but still decent, qualifying performance to start 10th place for the race but gained positions in the first few laps to end up 8th place when the first safety car was called out for Jack Doohan's crash. However, he had an unusual crash under the Safety Car which led to him spinning into the wall which ended his race. Sainz himself said it was an unexpected torque surge from the engine but could ultimately have been prevented. Ultimately, a driver with Sainz’s experience shouldn’t have made a race-ending mistake like that.
Isack Hadjar- 3/10
Isack Hadjar looked set to score points (only awarded to top 10) in his F1 debut after starting P11 for the Grand Prix. However, a rookie error on the formation lap ruined his chances. In the formation lap, everyone is driving slow to form up the grid for the race and it shouldn’t be a time when drivers, even rookies, are crashing.
Jack Doohan- 3/10
In his home race, Jack Doohan would have hoped to have a better end to the Grand Prix. He could have did better after qualifying in P14 but his issues were compounded when he suffered a Lap 1 crash in wet conditions.
Ollie Bearman- 3/10
After suffering 2 crashes in the free practice sessions before qualifying and the Grand Prix, Ollie Bearman’s first weekend as a full-time F1 driver didn’t get off to the best of starts. To make the issue worse, he couldn’t set a lap in qualifying due to a gearbox failure which caused him to start last on the grid. However, he did show good pace relative to teammate Ocon in the race which probably saves him from a last-place ranking.
Liam Lawson: 2/10
Max Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Liam Lawson had a terrible qualifying for his first race weekend with the team to start P18. Although this was only his first race for the team, he was expected to qualify higher. Even though Lawson recovered to the top 10 later in the race after pitting to the medium tires in the second safety car period, he later crashed his car which took him out of the race. He was way below Red Bull’s expectations for the weekend even if this is his first full-time season in F1.
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