Formula 1, 2, 3 - Australia

Melbourne

The 2025 season opener at Albert Park tested drivers with changing weather, but Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda shone with strong performances. In F2, Kush Maini and Ritomo Miyata struggled with pace and mechanical issues, while the feature race cancellation limited their chances to recover points. In his sophomore year, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak showed strong pace with a near-podium finish on Saturday. Christian Ho and Gerard Xie, despite tough results, made notable progress through the weekend.

Albon and Tsunoda show strong performance in thrilling Australian GP

Alex Albon 

The weekend’s first practice session on Friday started on a strong note for Alex Albon, who set a time of 1:17.713 to secure P6. He ended the day in P12 after multiple simulation and qualifying runs, setting an identical time of 1:17.302 with teammate Carlos Sainz but struggling to extract performance on soft tires.

FP3 saw Albon finish P7, just 0.006 seconds off Sainz.

In qualifying, Albon delivered a strong performance, securing P6 with a 1:15.737 on his final lap. He outqualified his teammate by four positions, leaving both Williams cars in points-scoring positions for Sunday. A spin from Lewis Hamilton in Q2 briefly threatened to disrupt the session, but Albon managed to secure P7 before improving to P6 in Q3, just behind Yuki Tsunoda.

The season opener was eventful, with changing weather conditions and multiple retirements, including Sainz. Albon showed strong pace on intermediate tires, consistently setting personal best sectors. He crossed the line in P6, just 12.773 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris.

Post-race, Kimi Antonelli was promoted, moving Albon up to P5—his best result during his stint at Williams. Despite Sainz’s DNF, Albon’s 10-point haul put Williams in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda delivered a strong performance throughout the weekend, showing consistency from Friday onwards. His best Free Practice result came in FP3, where he secured P4 with a 1:16.784, just 0.345s off Charles Leclerc, who topped the timesheets.

In qualifying, Tsunoda put together a “magic lap” to claim P5 for Sunday’s race, edging out Alex Albon at the last moment with a 1:15.670. He also outqualified both Ferraris and started from the third row, benefiting from a tow by Lando Norris at Turn 6. Tsunoda was only two-tenths slower than the senior Red Bull team and outqualified his former teammate, Liam Lawson.

However, Sunday’s race proved challenging due to mixed conditions. Despite showing strong pace and running in the points, a strategic misstep by the team cost him a potential top-10 finish.

By qualifying fifth, Tsunoda equaled the Red Bull junior team’s best-ever qualifying result at the Australian Grand Prix—matching Max Verstappen’s P5 with the team in 2016.

Maini and Miyata face a tough challenge in Melbourne

Kush Maini

Kush Maini, driving for DAMS Lucas Oil, showed strong pace throughout the weekend in varying conditions. In Free Practice, he placed 2nd on the time charts, just 0.149s behind Victor Martins, who set a 1:32.587 lap. However, a lock-up on a promising push lap in Qualifying saw him start 13th. He finished 16th in the Sprint Race.

Ritomo Miyata

Miyata, driving for ART GP, faced a weekend filled with technical difficulties. In Practice, he placed 11th on the time sheets with a 1:33.540, 0.953s off Victor Martins, who topped the session in a tightly packed field. Despite the setbacks, Miyata showed consistent pace, qualifying 12th and maintaining the same position in the Sprint Race.

The feature race was cancelled due to heavy rain. 

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F3: Strong start for Tasanapol in Sophomore year of F3; Christian Ho and Gerrard Xie make their debut

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak

Tasanapol, driving for Campos Racing, delivered a strong and consistent performance throughout the weekend. In Free Practice, he placed 6th, 0.567s behind Rafael Camara, who topped the timesheets. He qualified 7th but made an impressive recovery to finish 4th in the Sprint Race. In the Feature Race, he was Campos Racing's highest finisher, securing 7th place ahead of Martinius Stenshorne of HiTech GP.

Christian Ho

Christian Ho made his F3 debut with DAMS Racing. After getting familiar with the track in Practice, he qualified 22nd, hindered by multiple mechanical issues. Thanks to quick work from the team, he recovered to 14th with strong overtakes, demonstrating solid pace throughout the weekend. However, the Feature Race proved challenging, as Ho retired despite climbing to 17th due to wet conditions.

Gerrard Xie

Gerrard Xie debuted in F3 with HiTech GP. In Practice, he focused on track familiarization, completing 17 laps and placing 21st. His Qualifying session was disrupted by two red flags in the final 10 minutes, preventing him from completing a second run on new tires, leaving him 26th. Despite minor tire management errors, Xie showcased strong race pace in the Sprint Race, gaining positions each lap. In the Feature Race, he executed a clean drive, securing 18th place.