‘Nobody’ at 487-race F1 team thinks Australian Grand Prix result will be repeated ‘on pure merit’

The Australian Grand Prix produced another chaotic season-opening race. Several crashes and tricky wet weather conditions gave the first race of 2025 a jumbled order.

However, the result was as expected at the front. Lando Norris converted pole position to victory over Max Verstappen, dethroning the Dutchman for the lead of the championship – he has topped the standings since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri had been on course to seal a one-two for McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix but he spun onto the grass at the penultimate corner when class-three rain hit Albert Park. The Aussie got his MCL39 running again and came home P9.

The rain led to several bold strategy calls as to whether to change to intermediate tyres. Ferrari gambled and kept Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on slicks but it did not pay off – they came home 10th and eighth respectively.

Hamilton was ‘disappointed’ Ferrari did not warm him more rain was coming – he would have hoped for more from his debut from the Maranello outfit. The team’s blunder meant George Russell grabbed the final podium spot ahead of teammate Kimi Antoneli and the Williams of Alex Albon.

Lance Stroll finished an impressive sixth for Aston Martin after he – unlike teammate Fernando Alonso – kept his car out of the wall. The most surprising result of the race came from Nico Hulkenberg, who brought his Sauber home seventh.

‘Nobody’ at Sauber thinks Nico Hulkenberg’s Australian Grand Prix result will not be repeated ‘on pure merit’

Hulkenberg’s result in Melbourne grabbed Sauber six points as they outscored Ferrari. The German registered two more points in the 2025 season opener than the Hinwil-based outfit managed all year in 2024.

Optimism was not high going into Melbourne. Nobody had ‘good words’ to say about Sauber’s car after pre-season testing in Bahrain, but the C45’s race setup was clearly stronger.

The car’s upgrades and the weather conditions would have helped Hulkenberg’s performance significantly. Speaking on The Race YouTube channel, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm says ‘nobody’ at Sauber expects the result to be repeated ‘on pure merit’.

“Yes, Nico Hulkenberg’s seventh place owed a lot to the conditions. Sauber showed very un-Sauber sharpness when it called Hulkenberg to pit for intermediates when the rain came in the final part of the race,” he said.

“This team’s not had a great strategic record of late, but this was a very good decisive action.

“But also while the car Sauber had in testing did look slow and difficult to drive, the upgraded version that is actually racing in 2025 is not as problematic.

“It has a little bit more downforce and better ride quality and handling. This is partly due to the upgrades but also an unspecified configuration change that technical director James Key described as’ subtleties in the build spec’ spotted after the test.

“Nobody at Sauber is pretending this is a top-10 car on pure merit and it may not even be quite as potent as it even ended 2024.”

Sauber have already beaten their 2024 points tally after one race – is there more on the cards?

Hulkenberg’s seventh place in Australia was fortuitous given the weather. However, he kept his C45 out of the barriers – unlike teammate Gabriel Bortoleto.

The Brazilian crashed on lap 48 at turn 13 – marking the fourth rookie to find the barriers in the race. But the F2 champion proved Sauber’s 2025 challenger could be more competitive than its predecessor.

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Bortoleto made it to Q2 in his first qualifying session – a mega effort given the team struggled to make it out of Q1 consistently in 2024.

Beating their 2024 points tally already will be a massive confidence boost for Sauber to take into the rest of the 2025 season. It may be the most amount of points they score in a Grand Prix, but more could be possible.