Max Verstappen’s World Championship Reign Ends as He Loses Australian GP Victory

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s lead in the Formula One world championship ended for the first time since 2022 after McLaren’s Lando Norris secured victory in the 2025 season opener at Australia’s Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit. This makes Norris the current championship leader with 25 points, seven more than Verstappen’s tally of 18 points.

The current ground effect era of Formula One, which began in 2022, has been largely dominated by Red Bull. However, a gradual shift was witnessed after the middle of last year as the regulations stabilized, allowing F1 teams to improve their title challengers. As a result, Red Bull was challenged by McLaren and Ferrari, leading it to lose the top two spots in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship.

Verstappen managed to defend his title against Norris last year, despite balance problems on his RB20, and went on to secure his fourth championship in Las Vegas. However, with McLaren continuing its charge through Norris’ victory in the first race of the 2025 season, the situation marks a considerable change in the competitive scenario. The last time a non-Red Bull driver won a season opener was in 2022, when Charles Leclerc won the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Australian GP was struck with weather challenges for all teams and drivers as intermittent rain led them to constantly switch tire strategies. The race also witnessed six crashes and many close calls. Verstappen, who had revealed ahead of the race weekend that his RB21 needed more work, addressed the reportedly late call to pit for a tire change after rain hit during the second half of the race, leaving him behind Norris in second place. He said:

“It started to rain a bit, they went off and it was a bit like a panic, like ‘oh, I need to box’. So they went in, I stayed out.

“The first lap, honestly, I think it was alright. But then, unfortunately, yeah, the weather continued a little bit more on the other side of the track as well. And we then have to box.

“But I think at the end of the day, even if we would have boxed like one lap earlier, we would’ve still been P2 anyway after that stop.

“I think it was worth the gamble. It was quite spicy out there with the slick tyres but it was alright in the end.”

Speaking about the exciting battle with Norris in the last two laps, Verstappen added:

“At the end it was fun.

“Lando had a little moment on entry at 6, lost a lot of momentum there, so that’s why I got close, and then I got the DRS. So I got close, but it’s very hard to pass around here, but it was fun.

“Those last laps here were pushing, at least, we were fighting for the win, but I’m just very happy to bring it home. Score, good points, and this is decent starting point for us.”

He added:

“I think it is where I expected to be. You can see also in that first stint we were lacking a little bit of pace compared to the McLaren, but it’s still 18 points more than what I had here last year.”