The race weekend in Australia is about to begin! After what's been a long winter break, the 2025 Formula 1 season is about to start. During the first weekend, there are already plenty of records and milestones to be broken and reached respectively.
Records and milestones for Verstappen
Reaching a new milestone is possible for Max Verstappen, and in seceral ways. For instance, the Dutchman could become only the fourth driver to win the opening race of the season three years in a row, with Juan Manuel Fangio, Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher having done so before.
A win would also match Verstappen with Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Alain Prost on winning races for 10 consecutive seasons.
Hamilton faces extraordinary record
Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, is about to break his own record, with 21 seasons of F1 racing action under his belt. After the Spaniard, come Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen who were active F1 drivers for 19 seasons each. Lewis Hamilton will be driving his eighteenth season in F1 this year.
The rookies may indeed add their names to the record books as well. Should Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, who will drive their first qualifying session this weekend, make it to Q3, they would join the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Lando Norris, who are among the only seven drivers to have ever made it to Q3 on their debut in Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton may actually break his own record again. The seven-time world champion has been on pole position in Albert Park no less than eight times, meaning he could take his ninth pole at Albert Park this weekend. Should he succeed, he will match his own record in Hungary, where his 2023 pole position signified his 9th start from the coveted spot on the front row.
This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut.
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