On March 15, Formula One raced in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix. Going into the inaugural race, there were many changes within the teams. The most shocking was the move of seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, leaving Mercedes and joining Ferrari. Having won six of his seven championships at Mercedes, Hamilton is looking to end his career at the historic franchise that Ferrari is. Hamilton replaced Carlos Sainz, Ferrari’s second driver, as he moved to Williams Racing. Sainz going from a team at the front of the grid to a midfield contender is a big switch for a multi-race-winning driver.
With six rookies added to the grid, the first race of the season was nothing short of chaotic. Wet weather at the Albert Park Circuit led to six DNFs (Did Not Finish), four of them being rookies.
McLaren seemed that they would coast to an easy 1-2 finish, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri leading comfortably over third-place Max Verstappen. However, drastic weather changes caused both McLarens to spin. Norris was able to recover, but Piastri, unfortunately, fell to 15th. Regardless, he recovered up to 9th, making the overtake of the month on Hamilton to get back into the points. Norris held on to first, winning the race and breaking Verstappen’s 1,029-day streak of leading the world championship.
Formula 1 traveled to Shanghai the week following Australia to race in the Chinese Grand Prix. This was the first sprint weekend of the year, which includes only one practice session, a sprint race, which is ⅓ race distance, race qualifying and the race.
McLaren looked strong going into the weekend, but Hamilton stole the show, qualifying on sprint pole. Hamilton would hold his first-place start through the entire race, winning the sprint and his first piece of hardware as a Ferrari driver.
“Hamilton has started his season with mixed results,” said Austin Ewing ‘26, a longtime Hamilton fan. “I think that by the end of this season, he will prove he is the best”. Later that afternoon, Piastri qualified first for the grand prix, his maiden pole in F1. Piastri and McLaren had a dominant race, finishing first and second, with George Russell of Mercedes completing the podium.
Since China, McLaren has a lead in the constructors’ championship, leading by 21 points over Mercedes. Norris remains in control of the driver’s championship, leading rival Verstappen by eight points. Verstappen has been outstanding for Red Bull, but his rookie teammate, Liam Lawson, has consistently been at the back of the grid. Due to this, Red Bull has decided to swap Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda of Racing Bulls, Red Bull’s sister team, for his home race at the Japanese Grand Prix and the rest of the season.
