The first Grand Prix of the 2025 Formula One season begins in a few hours, with the Australian Grand Prix beginning in Melbourne. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have locked out the front row of McLaren, who has been trying to defend the constructors championship since pre-season. As for Norris, who starts in pole position, this is a major first step towards challenging a driver's title.
But we've come a long way from crowning Norris and winning a walking-based operational champion.
Behind the McLaren duo are several drivers who showed true pace during qualifying. The forecast also suggests that in rainy weather, chaos could unfold on Sunday.
What tires can each driver use at the Australian Grand Prix before the lights go out? What are the potential strategies? Let's dive in.
What kind of tires do each driver have at the Australian Grand Prix?
According to Pirelli, the exclusive tire supplier for the Australian Grand Prix, there will be tires available for each driver during the main event on Sunday.
What is not reflected in this table is the wet tire options for each driver. During the 2025 Formula 1 season, drivers will have four sets of green mid-tyres and three sets of blue-walled full wet tires over a particular weekend.
Rain is expected during the day in Melbourne on Sunday, with current forecasts seeking a shower at 4pm local time. The lights go out at 3pm local time.
What are the tire strategy options for the Australian Grand Prix?
This is where rubber meets the road. As a word.
According to Pirelli, the most likely tire strategy for the Australian Grand Prix is a two-stop race like Carlos Senn Jr., who was used to win last year. The size started with a medium compound, pitting on lap 16 and bolting the set of hard, then pitting again on lap 41, finishing the race with another set of hard.
Teams can also employ a two-stop strategy, but start with a set of soft and try to get track position first before it gets hard hard to finish the race.
A third two-stop strategy that a team can use? It's a mix of all three compounds that start with soft before going to the medium and difficult to finish the race.
However, a one-stop strategy is possible. According to Mario Isolathe low-level particles seen this week by the team director of Pirelli Motorsport, could see drivers or two gambling on one stopper. “[B]According to much lower levels of particles compared to the previous years we've seen over the last two days, one stop could be the quickest solution featuring medium and hard.” “C3 and C4 both show near zero decomposition at very similar performance levels.”
Teams who want to roll the dice in one stop can start with the media and switch to hard compounds around 20 to 26 laps. Some of the drivers behind the grid start on hard and run long, hoping to intervene from the safety car when the race begins dry. Teams with two fresh hard sets like Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, or Haas and Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon were able to try that strategy.
Last year, Fernando Alonso and Hulkenberg were the only two drivers starting with Heard, with Alonso down on the P10 and Hulkenberg down on the P16.
The main tire strategies outlined by Pirelli are:
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But there's another consideration, that's the rain. In predicted rain, there are possible conditions for determining strategies in several different ways.
The first potential scenario is a completely wet lace. This will see teams using intermediate and full wet across Australia's Grand Prix.
In the second scenario, the showers do not appear, and the Australian Grand Prix takes place completely dry. This could open the door to a one-stop strategy, but as Isola points out, rain earlier in the day can wash away the accumulated rubber track surface, resulting in a higher level of tire disassembly and thus a two-stop strategy.
“[E]If the VEN race is completely dry, you should consider the possibility that the track surface condition may be reset due to the condition where the particles are likely to lead to particles due to the previous rain and low temperature. “In this case, two stops are the most popular options, again featuring medium and hard.”
Then there is a third scenario, there are three scenarios, and three scenarios. Race run under mixed conditions. The driver probably starts with intermediate or full WET before creating the switch, with one of the tougher calls in F1 heading towards the slick.
“The third scenario is a race run in mixed conditions starting with wet or wet tracks that require intermediate tires before switching to slicks. In this case, the driver can try to expand the intermediate stint as much as possible before switching to hard,” Isola said. “The soft could only work if the switch to slick occurred during the closure phase.
“No matter what happens, it looks like a fun afternoon!”
That's definitely true.
