An Australian Grand Prix To Forget For F1’s Debutants

The 2025 Formula 1 season roared to life at Melbourne’s Albert Park, but for four of the grid’s six debutants—Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Liam Lawson—the Australian Grand Prix was a baptism of calamity rather than glory. A rain-lashed race of attrition, punctuated by three Safety Cars and six retirements, saw McLaren’s Lando Norris claim victory from pole, fending off Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell. Yet for F1’s fresh faces, it was a Sunday of spins, shunts, and steep lessons, casting a shadow over their much-hyped arrivals.

Hadjar’s Horror Show Begins Before the Start

For Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, the nightmare unfolded before the red lights even flickered. The 20-year-old Frenchman, stepping up as a full-time driver after a rollercoaster F2 campaign, didn’t survive the formation lap. Exiting Turn 1, he lost control on a wet track, slamming into the wall and triggering a 15-minute delay to clear his wreckage. “I feel embarrassed today, and I can only learn from my mistake and apologise to the team,” Hadjar admitted. “There were tricky conditions out there, and from the installation laps, I felt very low grip and poor confidence. In the formation lap, I tried to prepare the tyres as much as I could, but unfortunately, I had a spin and the car was unsavable; I just felt like a passenger before hitting the wall. Now I look ahead to be ready to race in China next week.”

Hadjar’s anguish was palpable, his tear-streaked face consoled trackside by Anthony Hamilton as marshals hauled away his stricken car. After finishing runner-up in F2 with four wins but a late-season fade, expectations were tempered—he’d had scant F1 mileage beyond FP1 outings. Yet this debut implosion underscored a raw edge still needing polish, leaving teammate Yuki Tsunoda as Racing Bulls’ sole survivor in 12th.

Doohan’s Home Dream Ends in a Flash

Local hope Jack Doohan, son of MotoGP legend Mick, carried Australia’s cheers into his Alpine debut, only to see them silenced on Lap 1. Starting 14th after a solid qualifying marred by a yellow flag, the 22-year-old lasted five corners before clipping the wall at Turn 6, a high-speed kink that caught him cold on Inters. “This generally positive weekend has come to an unfortunate end,” Doohan reflected. “It’s the result of a combination of factors that we will analyze together to learn from and prevent a repeat. It’s a tough learning curve, but I’ve taken the time to digest what happened and I’m turning the page to focus on what’s next. The positive lessons outweigh today’s result. We were solid yesterday afternoon, but we were caught out by the yellow flag. The pace was there all week, which allows us to approach each event with confidence. With Shanghai starting next weekend, we’ll refocus and try to come back even stronger. Overall, it was an incredible weekend. The fans were great, the atmosphere was fantastic, and it was truly a special moment to be able to drive in front of my home crowd to kick off my first season.”

Doohan’s exit—unhurt but mystified—joined an early pile-up that included Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who spun at Turn 16 with what he called a “massive power surge.” The Alpine rookie, backed by years of testing and a shock 2024 Abu Dhabi cameo, had shown promise, but Melbourne’s wet chaos exposed a gap between preparation and execution. Teammate Pierre Gasly soldiered to 11th, leaving Doohan to rue a missed chance on home soil.

Bortoleto’s Bold Bid Crumbles Late

Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, the 2024 F2 champion, arrived as Brazil’s first full-time F1 driver since Felipe Massa, armed with a McLaren-honed pedigree and a seat alongside Nico Hulkenberg. Starting 15th, the 20-year-old ran as high as 13th, navigating the early carnage with aplomb—until a late-race misstep ended his debut dream. After the third Safety Car, triggered by Fernando Alonso’s Lap 34 wallop, Bortoleto restarted at the rear, clipped a kerb in the returning rain, and smashed into the barriers at Turn 13. “Unfortunately, the race didn’t end as we had hoped – which is a shame, as things were going quite well for me up until that moment,” he said. “Once the Safety Car period ended, I found myself at the very back, tried to recover, but touched the kerb and ultimately ended up in the wall. We knew anything could happen in conditions like these; we gave it everything but pushed a little too hard. On the other hand, I’m happy for Nico and the team for scoring points today: he did an amazing job, and everyone deserved it, both trackside and back at our HQ in Hinwil. All in all, I think it’s safe to say my debut weekend went well aside from this, especially considering my qualifying result yesterday. It’s been a weekend of learning, getting to know the team and its dynamics even better. Now, I intend to keep working and improving as we look ahead to China next week.”

Bortoleto’s exit was a blow, but Hulkenberg’s seventh-place finish salvaged points for Sauber, a backmarker in 2024 now eyeing Audi’s 2026 dawn. The Brazilian’s pace and poise hinted at potential, yet his crash—mirroring a ragged Bahrain test—showed the fine line he treads in a tricky car.

Lawson’s Red Bull Gamble Falls Flat

Liam Lawson, Red Bull’s 22-year-old rookie making his full-season debut, bore the weight of replacing Sergio Perez alongside Max Verstappen, but his Melbourne bow was a grim slog. Starting from the pitlane after a rear wing tweak following a dismal 18th in qualifying, Lawson’s race unravelled across stints.

“This whole weekend was pretty terrible,” he confessed. “Today we were too slow at the start and then we gambled. It nearly worked, but it wasn’t to be. Starting from the pitlane was tough and we just didn’t really have the speed in the first stint on the inter. We struggled with the fronts too much, so we will analyse and look at that in detail before the next race. On slick tyres it was quite competitive for that couple of laps but then it started raining again. We took a chance staying out on the medium and hoping half the track would stay dry. We knew that sector three was bad but we thought sector one would stay a little bit drier, so we risked it but it was bucketing down with rain. At that point I had backed out of pushing because it was so wet and I was just trying to stay on track. It has been a pretty horrible weekend and a struggle as a whole, but we take plenty of learning. For that I am grateful and I am just looking forward to going to China and resetting.”

Lawson’s ninth-place stint on Mediums briefly flickered with promise, but the late downpour drowned his dice-roll, sending him into Turn 2’s wall on Lap 50 alongside Bortoleto. Verstappen’s second place masked Red Bull’s woes, leaving Lawson to dissect a debut where pace and luck deserted him.

A Race of Ruin, a Glimmer of Hope

The rookies’ collective collapse—Hadjar out pre-start, Doohan and Sainz on Lap 1, Alonso on Lap 34, Bortoleto and Lawson after the final Safety Car—contrasted with Norris’ mastery and Alex Albon’s fifth for Williams. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli salvaged fourth after a penalty scare, and Haas’ Ollie Bearman limped home last, but for Hadjar, Doohan, Bortoleto, and Lawson, Melbourne was a brutal wake-up call.