The start of the season for Mercedes has been quite encouraging, as they showed off to be the second fastest team behind McLaren, on level terms with Max Verstappen and in front of Ferrari. The W16 is definitely a step forward compared to last year’s car, but still shows some weaknesses that can affect performance in specific conditions. Let’s try to explain why.
While not many rookies had the best of experiences in Melbourne, Andrea Kimi Antonelli did impress with finishing in P4 at the chaotic Grand Prix. How did the Italian prepare for his debut? Mercedes now share a mic’d up video on the youngster’s first weekend.
The Chinese Grand Prix weekend has a rollercoaster of emotions ready for Ferrari: Hamilton took pole in the Sprint Qualifying and went on to win the 19-lap race on Saturday, but things drastically changed after some setup changes were made on the car before qualifying, making it harder to drive. Both Hamilton and Leclerc were eventually disqualified from the race for technical reasons, which allowed us to understand some hidden secrets of the SF-25. Let’s try to explain them.
The first day of the Sprint weekend in Shanghai started with a very strong first session for McLaren, that showed a great performance both in terms of race pace and qualifying simulations. Despite this, Hamilton grabbed pole for the Sprint in the afternoon, proving that the SF-25 performance hasn’t been affected at all by the new technical directive introduced this weekend.
Similarly to Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc also did not have the best weekend in Australia. The Monegasque driver finished in eighth position after a chaotic Sunday, and also had an interesting moment with race engineer Bryan Bozzi over the team radio. In China, Leclerc explained what that was all about.
Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen had a quick chat with Gabriel Bortoleto. The Brazilian was unsure about the tyres, and the defending world champion was happy to help him out.
Oscar Piastri finished the Australian Grand Prix in P9 at the flag, however, prior to his off at turn 12 that threw his race into disarray, the McLaren driver was a contender for the win. Now looking toward the Chinese Grand Prix, Piastri reveals the team orders that instructed him to hole position have been addressed and he highlights the ambition and determination with which he faces the start of the 2025 F1 season.
The 2025 Australian Grand Prix marked the beginning of a new chapter in Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 career as he made his debut with Scuderia Ferrari. Speaking at Ferrari’s Paddock Club for the first time, the seven-time world champion expressed his excitement about this new phase of his journey.
The Australian Grand Prix weekend offered a complete look of what’s Red Bull real performance across every condition on a specific track like Albert Park. The RB21, despite being ‘much calmer’ than the RB20, as defined by Horner, still lacks speed compared to McLaren and it’s also very difficult for engineers to find the right setup that makes the car enter its operating window. Let’s try to understand why.
To say that Max Verstappen has a good handle on the cars he drives is an understatement. But when asked on the Jimmy&Nath show whether he ever takes advice from others about this, he is clear.
