Hamilton: Ferrari has everything needed to win

The seven-time world champion embarks on a new chapter with Ferrari after a 12-year tenure at Mercedes, where he secured six of his titles. Now 40, Hamilton is targeting a record-breaking eighth championship and is eager to apply lessons learned from pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Hamilton expressed his enthusiasm ahead of his first race weekend with the great Scuderia: "I'm so excited to get to the first race in Melbourne. I can't wait to go racing with them. The passion here is like nothing you've ever seen. They've got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship, and it's just about putting all the pieces together."

Hamilton has previously won twice at Albert Park with McLaren and Mercedes, though his last victory in Melbourne came in 2015. Ferrari, however, have enjoyed more recent success, winning four of the last six Australian Grands Prix, including last year when Carlos Sainz—whom Hamilton replaced—led a Ferrari one-two ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen will begin his bid for a fifth consecutive world championship, a feat only Michael Schumacher has achieved. The Red Bull driver, who clinched his fourth title with two races to spare in 2024, suffered a rare setback in Melbourne last year when a brake fire forced him to retire.

The Dutchman has tempered expectations ahead of the season opener, stating: "I don't think we can fight for the win already in Melbourne. If you look at the lap times, then I think McLaren is the favourite."

Verstappen added: "On our side, not everything went completely smoothly [in testing], but on the other hand we have some ideas on how to improve."

Red Bull enters 2025 with a new driver line-up, as Liam Lawson replaces the underperforming Sergio Perez. The New Zealander is one of six full-season rookies making their debut in Australia.

Jack Doohan, son of five-time MotoGP world champion Mick Doohan, will make his home Grand Prix debut for Alpine, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli steps into Hamilton’s former seat at Mercedes. Haas fields Briton Oliver Bearman, Brazil’s Gabriel Bortoleto joins Sauber, and France’s Isack Hadjar races for Racing Bulls.

McLaren enters the season on a high after securing their first constructors’ championship since 1998. The Woking-based outfit showed strong form in Bahrain, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri aiming for a competitive start in Melbourne.

"This circuit has been good to us in the past and hopefully we've carried our momentum from 2024 into this year," said Norris. "We had a productive test, but we won't know where we stand until qualifying on Saturday."

He added: "I think this should be a very exciting season with a lot of close racing. There's going to be a lot of competition."

For the first time since 2019, Melbourne will host the opening race of the season, with organisers expecting over 450,000 fans at Albert Park. The circuit had traditionally been the first stop on the F1 calendar since 1996, before the Covid pandemic led to Bahrain assuming the role in recent years.

With Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes all showing promise in testing, the 2025 season opener promises to set the tone for an intense championship battle.