Lewis Hamilton Ready to Race for Ferrari for the First Time in F1’s Season-Opening Australian GP 

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gestures with a mechanic ahead of the first practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP)
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gestures with a mechanic ahead of the first practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Lewis Hamilton Ready to Race for Ferrari for the First Time in F1’s Season-Opening Australian GP 

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gestures with a mechanic ahead of the first practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP)
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gestures with a mechanic ahead of the first practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP)

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton racing a Ferrari for the first time. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen arriving without a lot of mileage in his Red Bull. Lando Norris helping McLaren set a benchmark with his pace in testing.

Formula 1 is expecting a hyper-competitive milestone 75th anniversary season in 2025, and it starts this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix. There’s no shortage of unknowns in terms of the pecking order, and the weather.

Most of the headlines ahead of Sunday’s Australian GP have revolved around Hamilton’s move to Ferrari from Mercedes.

The normally relaxed pre-event news conference at Albert Park was overflowing with journalists and photographers on Thursday to hear from a rejuvenated Hamilton about how much he’s enjoying the prancing horse-ride.

The 40-year-old British driver is going into his 19th season in F1 but has had a different outlook since his first day in January at the Scuderia’s Maranello HQ, where he's teammates with Charles Leclerc.

“I don’t really approach this role with pressure,” Hamilton said. “I think over the years, the pressure I put on myself has always been 10 times higher than any other pressure that could be put upon me. I haven’t joined this team and been made to feel any pressure.

“I have an expectation for myself — I know what I can bring. I know what I can deliver. And I know what it’s going to take.”

McLaren's pace

Norris has been trying to downplay his long-run pace that impressed the paddock during pre-season testing in Bahrain last month and made McLaren an early-season favorite.

“I know there’s a lot of expectation,” Norris said. “It was just my one race run I did that kind of just made everyone believe this quite heavily. It was a good race run, but it was also in the most perfect conditions."

He tried to temper expectations by saying McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri 's run the following day “was a lot slower.” “Not because he drove worse,” Norris explained, “but simply because the conditions on the final day were considerably slower.”

There’s no denying, though, that McLaren is confident going into the opening race of the season, even if they’re not quite sure of their ultimate pace.

“No one really knows what to expect,” said Piastri, who is aiming to become the first Aussie to win the Australian F1 Grand Prix.

“Testing went pretty well, but you don’t know where everybody stands. I think we’re pretty happy with how our test went, but Melbourne is a completely different track to Bahrain. Weather is going to be different to Bahrain and different every hour, by the look of it.”

First practice Norris topped the session, confirming McLaren’s testing pace, 0.149 seconds ahead of Williams' new recruit Carlos Sainz, who won the race for Ferrari last year.

Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari but it was a slow session for his new teammate Hamilton, who was 12th. Piastri was fourth and Verstappen closed out the top-five.

There was no shortage of red flags, with Alpine’s Jack Doohan’s off-track journey at Turn 6 stopping the session 20 minutes in with gravel on the track. Haas rookie Oliver Bearman brought out the red flags 20 minutes later, after hitting the barriers at the exit of Turn 10.

Bearman lost control of the car on a chicane, ran onto the gravel trap and hit the wall, causing considerable damage to his car. He emerged from the crash okay.

George Russell, who ended practice seventh, went into the Turn 4 wall with a minute to go. He damaged the front wing, but was able to return his Mercedes W16 car to the pits.

Weather update

Piastri, born and bred in Melbourne, is correct. The southern Australian city is set to deliver this weekend on the famous “four seasons in one day” expression that often describes Melbourne's ever-changeable weather.

The Albert Park circuit should be comfortable for F1’s opening practice sessions on Friday, with a partly cloudy day expected and a top of 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit). Temperatures are expected to rise to 37C (98F) on Saturday for qualifying and then drop again for the race on Sunday, when there's also rain on the forecast.

A wet race would certainly mix things up, with teams needing to guess on setup following two days of dry running.

Verstappen, though, whose Red Bull team did the least mileage in pre-season testing, says he’s prepared for any conditions.

“I would like it to be dry because it’s just nicer, (and) also for the fans,” Verstappen said. “But if it’s wet, it’s wet. It’s fine as well."

Piastri won’t be the only Aussie on the Melbourne grid. Jack Doohan, the son of five-time motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan, is starting his first full season with Alpine – which appears to have taken a significant step forward over its 2024 pace.

Although speculation through pre-season has been whether Doohan will keep that seat, with his French team bringing in former Williams driver Franco Colapinto as a reserve.

“I have a contract for at least this year, if not more,” said Doohan, who is one of six rookies this season, the most on the F1 grid since 2001. “And the uncertainties? You don’t bother worrying about them. I think I have to perform each and every time I’m in the car.”

Defending champion Sainz returns

Ferrari secured a 1-2 finish in Melbourne last year led by Sainz, just two weeks after an appendectomy that sidelined him in Saudi Arabia. But the 30-year-old Sainz will likely be fighting for points and not podiums this time around now that he’s at Williams.

“I’m definitely going to do my best to score (points) as soon as possible,” Sainz said.

Ferrari is the most successful team in Australia with 14 GP wins, dating back to Adelaide in 1987. Hamilton is one of five drivers on the current F1 grid to have won in Melbourne, with his victories in 2008 and 2015.

Sunday’s season opener will be the 39th World Championship Australian Grand Prix, and the 28th in Melbourne. It starts at 3 p.m. local time (0400 GMT).



Two Late Goals as Barcelona Rallies to Beat Atletico Madrid 4-2

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Atletico Madrid v FC Barcelona - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 16, 2025 FC Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates scoring their fourth goal REUTERS/Juan Medina
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Atletico Madrid v FC Barcelona - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 16, 2025 FC Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates scoring their fourth goal REUTERS/Juan Medina
TT
20

Two Late Goals as Barcelona Rallies to Beat Atletico Madrid 4-2

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Atletico Madrid v FC Barcelona - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 16, 2025 FC Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates scoring their fourth goal REUTERS/Juan Medina
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Atletico Madrid v FC Barcelona - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 16, 2025 FC Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates scoring their fourth goal REUTERS/Juan Medina

Atletico Madrid relinquished a two-goal lead in its 4-2 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish league on Sunday in another setback for the club after it was eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Playing at the Metropolitano stadium four days after it lost to Madrid in a penalty shootout, Atletico led Barcelona 2-0 at halftime but conceded a pair of stoppage-time goals to waste a chance to overtake the Catalan club for second place and move within a point of Madrid.
“It was a weird game, we did well in the first half and had the game under control after scoring twice,” Atletico player Marcos Llorente said. “I do think that the 120 minutes that we had to play in the Champions League made a difference, there was a letdown in the end.”
The defeat left third-placed Atletico four points behind its two rivals at the top of the league on 60 points each, with Barcelona having a game in hand. Madrid won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
Lamine Yamal scored two minutes into stoppage time and Ferran Torres six minutes later to give Barcelona the gritty come-from-behind victory.
“It’s a statement win for us, allowing us to regain the lead with a game in hand,” Yamal said.
Julián Álvarez had put Atletico ahead after a breakaway just before halftime. It had been an unusual double touch by Álvarez in the penalty shootout against Madrid that led to Atletico's elimination from the Champions League on Wednesday.
Atletico added to the lead with a goal by substitute Alexander Sorloth from inside the area in the 70th. Robert Lewandowski, the league's leading scorer, gave Barcelona hope by finding the net in the 72nd, and Torres equalized with a header after a cross by Raphinha in the 78th.
“We have to congratulate them,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “There was a bit of luck, which you must have sometimes. We had a few chances in counterattacks but didn’t take advantage of them. Barcelona is a great team."
Atletico beat Barcelona 2-1 when the teams met in Barcelona in their first Spanish league match of the season in December. They drew 4-4 in a first-leg match in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey last month. The second leg is in April.
Athletic set for Champions League place Athletic Bilbao solidified its fourth place with a 1-0 win at Sevilla.
Yeray Álvarez scored with a header in the 84th to give Athletic the away victory and an eight-point gap to fifth-placed Villarreal, which has a game in hand.
It was Athletic's second win in a row after three straight matches without a victory across all tournaments. It came off a 3-1 win over Roma to reach the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
Real Betis rallies Sixth-placed Real Betis rallied from two goals down at halftime to win 3-2 at relegation-threatened Leganes, with Cucho Hernández scoring the winner in the 82nd.
The hosts had taken the lead with Dani Raba scoring in the 29th and 44th before Betis equalized through Isco in the 64th and Cédric Bakambu in the 78th.
It was the third straight victory for Betis in all competitions, and the second loss in a row for 18th-placed Leganes.
Also Sunday, ninth-placed Rayo Vallecano drew 2-2 at home with 12th-placed Real Sociedad, which is winless in six consecutive games in all competitions. Rayo is winless in five straight league matches.