2025 Australian Grand Prix - [QUALIFYING] discussion thread

ROUND 1: 🇦🇺 Australia

FORMULA 1 LOUIS VUITTON AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2025

Circuit stats

First Grand Prix: 1996
Number of laps: 58
Circuit Length: 5.278 km
Race Distance: 306.124 km
Lap record: 1:19.813 Charles Leclerc (2024)
2024 winner: Carlos Sainz

Track Map

41 comments

Both Williams in Q3. Lets fucking go
- Haha and one is ahead of both Ferraris. This sparks so much joy
  
  Not a good showing for Ferrari but I'll take it
Was Perez bad or is the Red Bull simply undriveable if you're not Verstappen?

Did Ferrari go after Hamilton simply for the ad revenue and not for possible future race results?

Is there a point to Aston Martin if they keep going backwards each season?

:P
- Was Perez bad or is the Red Bull simply undriveable if you're not Verstappen?
  
  Ricciardo, Gasley, Albon, Perez, and now Lawson; they've all been paired with Verstappen and only one man has got the best of that car.
- The setup changes Red Bull made based on the late simulator runs seems to have made it competitive at the expense of making jt hard to drive.
  
  Does not look good for Red Bull if they haven't tamed that same behaviour from last year as eventually it got so bad even Max couldn't drive it. Does not bode well for their season.
  
  Lawson is clearly struggling because of this, as did Checo as they just aren't that the same level as Max in a bad car. Yuki is doing so well, and Red Bull will be like "I'm going to pretend I didn't see that."
- Was Perez bad or is the Red Bull simply undriveable if you're not Verstappen?
  
  The red bull pretty difficult to drive. It has pace but suffers from understeer and oversteer at different stages of corners, sometimes even in the same corner. If you are somehow able to dance on this knife edge, you can extract some good laps but for that one needs to be ridiculously talented and adaptable like max, fernando, lewis(the ferrari stint will determine our views on his adaptability), etc.
  
  The fact is even max says he doesn't like the how the current red bull handles and struggles to keep it under control. Just imagine how hard it must be to handle for others
  
  I think we can already make reasonable assessments about Hamilton's (lack of) adaptability from the last few years of Mercedes, can't we? He's clearly struggled with that car whenever it's not felt just the way he likes it.
Bearman washed

Lawson washed

Antonelli washed

Hulk washed

Ferrari washed

We're so back
- Williams notably NOT washed
Tsunoda 5th! Albon 6th!

Not Ferrari's finest showing.
Austrian commentary right now: "Piastri now has 7 front-row lockouts without a pole. That stat was also held by Bruce McLaren."
- Boy is meant to be McLaren's golden child.
A Sauber knocking out a Mercedes. Q1 is starting off interesting.
- The field is so close
Yuki channeling all his hate and anger over being overlooked for the red bull seat into lap time
- Is it too soon to predict a mid-season swap between Yuki and Lawson, Yuki performs consistent points finishes to be the number 2 Red Bull have been searching for, he remains at Red Bull for many years while Horner loudly grumbles until he retires?
  
  Yeah... Tramnitz is getting a Red Bull seat before Yuki.
  
  If Lawson flops completely there is no point in keeping him around and putting him in the VCARB. It'll be Lindblad coming in if that is the case.
Bad weekend for Bearman turning to worse :/

Loving the updated driver cams with their wider FOV. Gives a better sense of speed.
Lawson continuing the tradition of the Redbull No.2...🤦🏻‍♂️
- Good enough. Welcome back Checo /s
Hope that Williams has the race pace to make this even more interesting.
Williams vs Ferrari. Close enough welcome back 1997.
Bortoletto, wow. Beat Hulk fair and square.

Not a great quali lap for Lawson.
I'll reiterate what I said regarding Antonelli and Lawson. Outqualified by Bortoletto in a Sauber.
- Doohan cleared all the rookies, he is safe for the moment.
  
  Isn't Hadjar ahead?
- I think Antonelli had unfortunate floor damage and Lawson seemed to have cooked his tires midway through the lap. Tomorrow will be interesting how they will work their way up the field.
Racing Bulls car looking very pretty driving around track.
Turn1 will be very interesting tomorrow. Definitely looking forward to the race.
Lawson and Antonelli out in q1 wow…
Alright guys. Who's gonna end up on the wall first? Lance Stroll or one of the rookies?

My money is on Stroll.
- Based on his performance in free practice, I'm gonna say Bearman.
  
  Edit: IF Haas is able to get him back on track.
  
  I'm hoping it's just first race jitters. The guy was pretty handy in the Ferrari last year.
Ruth looks good today. Her hair is tame as well. Somehow she is always standing in the wrong direction to the wind.
- She is so chaotic sometimes. I love it. Passionate about the sport and knowledgeable, which is the golden combo for commentators.
Exciting session, very close top 4! Great performance from Albon and Tsunoda to beat the Ferraris. Unfortunate for some of the rookies having a disappointing start to the year but I'm sure they will improve. Looking forward to the race tomorrow!!

41 comments