<p>The Formula 1 world got a look at Melbourne’s fickle weather on the weekend with a humid, 35-degree Qualifying Saturday giving way to a 17-degree rainstorm that caused havoc around the Albert Park circuit on race day.</p> <p>There were six DNF’s and hometown hopeful Oscar Piastri lost his potential second place finish when he slid off the wet track into the grass.</p> <p>It wasn’t all bad news for McLaren, however, with Lando Norris holding off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for his first-ever win in Melbourne.</p> <p>George Russell came in third place, with his rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli fourth.</p> <p>Here’s this week’s rundown:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Good</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Lando Norris</strong> picked up where he left off, winning the Australian Grand Prix three months after finishing first in the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi. Norris, who started on pole, managed to hold off a fast-finishing Max Verstappen of Red Bull and snag a first victory at Albert Park.</p> <p><strong>Mercedes</strong> are tied atop the Constructors Standings with McLaren after one race, with George Russell finishing third and rookie Kimi Antonelli a surprising fourth. Russell drove under the radar all weekend, finishing fourth in Qualifying and taking advantage of Piastri’s slip to move into a podium spot. Antonelli, the 18-year-old Italian wunderkind, drove an incredibly impressive race, justifying the decision by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to elevate him to the second driver slot.</p> <p><strong>James Vowles</strong> looks to be building a winner at Williams. Alex Albon qualified sixth (outpacing both Ferraris) and ended up in fifth place on Sunday. And while the debut of new signing Carlos Sainz ended with a slippery slide off the track, the former Ferrari man – who won here last year – stuck around and helped Vowles on the pit wall, utilising his race knowledge to offer suggestions that ultimately proved correct. His support of a change from slicks to intermediates ahead of a potential rainstorm helped elevate Albon up the leaderboard.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Bad</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>On Qualifying day, Alex Albon mentioned how tricky a wet race would be for the <strong>rookie drivers. </strong>Four of them fell victim to the slippery Albert Park surface, with Visa Cash Apps Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar going off on the formation lap. In scenes that would later go viral, Hadjar was comforted by Anthony Hamilton, father of Lewis, something nearly everyone on the planet – except Red Bull boss Helmut Marko – found heartwarming.</p> <p>Speaking of Red Bull, the pressure is suddenly on Kiwi driver <strong>Liam Lawson</strong> after a poor qualifying performance and a DNF in the race. Many feel that Yuki Tsunoda deserved the seat Lawson got and a fifth place in qualifying from the Japanese driver had social media abuzz. Lawson was selected not only over Tsunoda, but Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez as well, so this week’s race will be critically important for the young Kiwi.</p> <p>The <strong>Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari</strong> hype cooled considerably after the seven-time world champ barely crept into the points with a 10th place finish. There’s no doubt the Ferrari looks slightly off the pace set by McLaren (Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc finished eighth) but the tense exchanges between Hamilton and his race engineer over the radio show that the transition from Mercedes to Ferrari isn’t going to be an easy one.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>The Questions</h2> <h3>&nbsp;</h3> <h3>How fast are McLaren?</h3> <p>Until Piastri’s ill-fated corner, this looked like a two-man race between the Aussie and eventual winner Lando Norris. The Melbourne rain obviously didn’t give us a real look at flat out race pace, something we might see this week in Shanghai.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>What’s wrong with Haas?</h3> <p>It was a disastrous weekend for the American team, with rookie Ollie Bearman crashing in practice and not making qualifying, while Esteban Ocon finished19th. The race wasn’t much better, with Ocon (13th) and Bearman (14th) the last two drivers to finish.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Can you believe The Hulk?</h3> <p>Last season, Kick Sauber earned a total of four points. All year. This year, after one race they’re on six points, all thanks to Nico Hulkenberg. Last year he finished sixth in the Driver Standings and helped Haas to a seventh-place finish in the Constructors. Now he’s off to another flyer, finishing seventh in Melbourne and almost doubling Kick Sauber’s points total after one race.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>