Red Bull Racing's 2025 Formula One season began with reigning World Champion Max Verstappen coming home P2 in a wet and crash-filled Australian Grand Prix.
The four-time Drivers' Champion started the race in P3, lining up behind the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but was able to get past the former early in the opening lap.
Rain had a significant impact on the race, seeing five drivers DNF and one earn a DNS, with all spinning in the slippery conditions and damaging their cars - bringing out the safety car on multiple occasions.
Verstappen held second spot for a large portion but found himself slip back down to P3 after a lock-up and drying conditions affecting the heat of his intermediate tyres.
As further rain was forecast, the Dutchman stayed out as long as possible on those tyres to avoid losing places unnecessarily.
Another safety car brought the grid back together, with everyone opting to use the opportunity to put on slick tyres, with Verstappen putting on mediums.
More rain did eventually come, causing treacherous conditions and seeing both McLarens slide off into gravel traps. Norris recovered in time but Piastri spun out on re-entry and went off onto grass, allowing Verstappen to get past once again.
Norris pitted for Inters while Verstappen stayed out longer, taking over the lead of the race. The rain continued, however, and after getting round another lap, he too pitted for intermediate tyres.
With both Ferraris gambling and needing to change tyres late, Verstappen regained his P2 position and held onto it until the end, pushing close to Norris in the final two laps but not enough to attempt an overtake.
Speaking after the race, Verstappen commented: "It was a difficult race, but at the end, it was fun. Lando had a little moment on entry over [Turn] six and lost a lot of momentum there, so that's why I got close and got the DRS."
"I got close, but it's very hard to pass around here. But it was very fun those last laps pushing, at least when you're fighting for the win, but I'm very happy to bring it home, score good points, and it's a decent starting point for us."
When asked about the call to stay on slicks, Verstappen said: "It started to rain a bit, they [McLaren] went off so it was a bit like a panic 'do I need to box?' They went in, I stayed out, and honestly, I think it was alright."
"Unfortunately, the weather continued a little bit more on the other side of the track as well, and we then had to box."
"I think, at the end of the day, even if we had boxed one lap earlier, we would have still been P2 anyway after that stop. I think it was worth a gamble."
He added: "It was quite spicy out there on the slick tyres, but it was alright at the end."
He was then asked about the performance of his car, the RB21, which has been a strong talking point in pre-season testing and throughout this week.
He explained: "It is where I expected it to be. You can see in that first stint we were lacking a little bit of pace to the McLaren, but it's still 18 points more than what I had here last year."
Unfortunately, it was a weekend to forget for Verstappen's teammate, Liam Lawson.
Lawson struggled for pace throughout the weekend, and an issue with his car prevented him from running in FP3, meaning his qualifying was hampered by a lack of preparation.
Qualifying P18, Lawson remained amongst the back-markers for much of the race until the flurry of pit stops eventually saw him sitting P10 and inside the points.
However, like the majority of rookies entering the race, he also span and was forced to retire from the race.
Neither driver will have time to dwell on the opening race of the season as they travel to the Shanghai International Circuit to contest the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend.
