F1: Decoding unique records made at Australian GP 2025
What's the story
McLaren's Lando Norris clinched his fifth career victory at the Australian Grand Prix, marking a significant achievement in his Formula 1 career.
The race saw Red Bull's Max Verstappen finish 2nd with Mercedes driver George Russell taking 3rd place.
The race was governed by crashes, three safety cars and an aborted start in an incident-packed day in Melbourne.
Norris did well to fend off a late threat from Verstappen, who was brought back into contention by a late safety car.
#1
Norris secures consecutive victories for the 1st time
Norris's latest win at the Australian GP is his second in a row, a first in his career. This comes after his win at the 2024 season finale.
Notably, Verstappen has been the runner-up to Norris in four of the five wins of the latter.
The Australian Grand Prix win meant this was Norris' 5th race victory and 27th podium overall.
#2
Norris ends this record of Verstappen
The win saw Norris end Verstappen's remarkable 63-race streak of leading the championship since Spain 2022.
As per the official F1 site, Norris is now the first McLaren driver to hold the position since Lewis Hamilton's reign after the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix.
#3
George, Alex Albon and Antonelli make these records
Mercedes's Russell finished third as mentioned. This was his best-ever result in a season-opening race.
Meanwhile, Alex Albon's fifth-place finish for Williams was their best result since the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (excluding the one-lap 2021 Belgian GP).
Kimi Antonelli made history by becoming the 69th driver to score on his F1 debut with a fourth-place finish.
At just over 18 years, he is the second-youngest points scorer in F1 history after Verstappen.
#4
113th podium for Verstappen and more records
Verstappen sealed his 113th career podium finish. He is closing in on Sebastian Vettel, who finished his career with 122 podiums.
On the other hand, Russell secured just his 16th podium finish.
This was McLaren's 13th race win at the Australian GP, one behind Scuderia Ferrari's record of 14.
The last McLaren driver to win the Australian GP was Jenson Button in 2012.
Challenging debut
Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari debut ends in disappointment
Lewis Hamilton's much-anticipated Ferrari debut ended in disappointment as he finished 10th, expressing frustration over constant radio messages from his pit team.
The race was marred by incidents, with only 14 drivers completing the race due to various crashes and accidents.
Norris managed to hold off Verstappen for a thrilling victory at Albert Park after a late safety car intervention and a rain-soaked track added to the drama of the season opener.