MELBOURNE, Australia -- Get ready for the Australian Grand Prix with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about how to watch the year's first Formula 1 race, what the schedule is and more:
The Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit is laid out around a lake in Melbourne's inner suburbs and uses roads which are open to the public for the remainder of the year. It's a relatively fast track but overtaking is often difficult. This will be the first time since 2019 Australia hosts the season-opening race. The 2020 Australian GP was cancelled two hours before the scheduled season-opening racing weekend because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the lowlights of Max Verstappen's 2024 world championship season was at Melbourne Park, where he went out in the fourth lap of the race with a fiery mechanical failure.
Get caught up:
-- Red carpet, fashion and music: F1 launches its 2025 season Hollywood style
-- Any hope Red Bull's Christian Horner had of leaving last year's sordid season behind him has been dashed
-- Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli says Lewis Hamilton told him to enjoy himself in F1
-- Oscar Piastri has signed a "multi-year" contract extension with McLaren
-- George Russell says he won't change approach to Max Verstappen after F1 feud in 2024
-- Lando Norris says he'll drive with 'elbows out' to compete with Max Verstappen this F1 season
-- Meet Formula 1's biggest rookie class in year
-- Lewis Hamilton wants to win another F1 title at 40. It hasn't been done since the 1960s
5 -- Verstappen is targeting a fifth world title in a row. Only three other drivers -- including Lewis Hamilton -- have won five titles. Of those, only Michael Schumacher won five consecutively.
8 -- Hamilton is aiming to win a record-breaking eighth title after joining his new team, Ferrari.
24 - The Australian Grand Prix kicks off a 24-race schedule, matching the record set last year for the longest F1 season.
"I am really enjoying the car. We're slowly bonding, I think." -- Lewis Hamilton shares positive impressions of his Ferrari SF-25.
"It is difficult to tell where everyone's pace is, so there is still a bit of work to do for us." -- Max Verstappen admits he and Red Bull aren't sure where they stand compared with rival teams.