MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Here is a guide that tells you everything you need to know about Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix — the year’s first Formula 1 race.
How to watch the Australian Grand Prix on TV
— In the U.S., ESPN.
— Other countries are listed here.
Where is the Australian Grand Prix taking place?
The 5.2-kilometer (3.2-mile) Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit is laid out around a lake in Melbourne's inner suburbs and uses roads which are open to the public for the remainder of the year. It's a relatively fast track but overtaking is often difficult. This will be the first time since 2019 that Australia hosts the season-opening race. The 2020 Australian GP was cancelled two hours before the scheduled season-opening racing weekend because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the lowlights of Max Verstappen’s 2024 world championship season was at Melbourne Park, where he went out in the fourth lap of the race with a fiery mechanical failure.
What do I need to know about F1 and the Australian Grand Prix?
Get caught up:
— Lando Norris takes pole for Sunday's race.
— Lewis Hamilton ready to race for Ferrari for the first time in F1’s season-opening Australian GP
— Red carpet, fashion and music: F1 launches its 2025 season Hollywood style
— Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli says Lewis Hamilton told him to enjoy himself in F1
— Oscar Piastri has signed a “multi-year” contract extension with McLaren
— George Russell says he won’t change approach to Max Verstappen after F1 feud in 2024
— Lando Norris says he’ll drive with ‘elbows out’ to compete with Max Verstappen this F1 season
— Meet Formula 1's biggest rookie class in year
— Lewis Hamilton wants to win another F1 title at 40. It hasn’t been done since the 1960s
Key stats at Albert Park
5 — Verstappen is targeting a fifth world title in a row. Only three other drivers — including Lewis Hamilton — have won five titles. Of those, only Michael Schumacher won five consecutively.
8 — Hamilton is aiming to win a record-breaking eighth title after joining his new team, Ferrari.
24 - The Australian Grand Prix kicks off a 24-race schedule, matching the record set last year for the longest F1 season.
Norris takes pole after Saturday qualifying, Hamilton 8th
Lewis Hamilton qualified eighth-fastest in his Ferrari debut as McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed pole position. Norris went into the third session of final qualifying on the back foot after his first lap was deleted for track limit infringements at turn four, where he had all four wheels off the track. Norris’ teammate and Melbourne-born Oscar Piastri was second, enabling McLaren to lock out the front row for the second straight race, following 2024’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the defending world champion, claimed third, shrugging off pre-season pace concerns for the team about its RB21 car.
What was said after the qualifying session?
"It isn’t quite where we wanted to be but overall I’m satisfied with the progress we have made over the past two days ... but given this is a weekend of firsts for me, I didn’t underestimate how steep the learning curve would be” — Hamilton on qualifying eighth.
"Not a bad way to start the year, thanks everyone” — Norris on his team radio shortly after the qualifying session ended.
“Pretty happy. It’s obviously great to start the year on the front row — only one position back from what I would’ve liked." — Piastri.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
The Associated Press
