We are back after what seemed like an eternity of waiting as the pinnacle of motorsport racing returns on a 24-round journey worldwide to crown the driver champion. (We need other hobbies, guys, seriously!). The most anticipated season kicked off, ‘down under’ the most variable weather conditions that could prevail over a race weekend.

Free Practice sessions on Friday brought us the usual suspects in McLaren and Ferrari occupying the top spots. Williams continued on their promising pace, proving the hype right that surrounded them entering this season. Red Bull seemed even worse than what we could have expected, but that seemed to barely affect Max Verstappen, who by just being in the car is helping it give an extra two-tenths over any lap. Practice standings went a long way, enabling the fans to believe the Pole has the name of their home hero- Jack Doohan written all over it. (Just kidding). These sessions also marked the first crash as Oliver Bearman ended up losing control of his car going off the track.

Green lights at the end of the pitlane marked the start of the championship fight for each spot on the standings table. Q1 has a reputation of often being quite uneventful, but thanks to the rookies, we witnessed a Mercedes out by the end and the Sauber of Gabriel making it through before the end. Other eliminations included both the Haas, Sauber and the Red Bull of Sergio Perez…apologies, Red Bull of Liam Lawson (Couldn’t tell the difference). The remaining pack of rookies impressed everyone as Hadjar was just short of making it to Q3, putting the car in 11th, Doohan putting it in P14 (The home hero, of course) and Gabriel making it out of Q1 in a Sauber.

Q3 awaited a three-way battle between the McLarens and Max Verstappen for the pole. Ferrari seemed to fall off the pace and had to settle for P7 and P8. Williams comfortably made it to Q3 with Albon putting his car into P6 with a brilliant final lap just behind Yuki Tsunoda in a Racing Bulls. Both the McLarens’ drivers performed great under pressure as their first lap didn’t prove fruitful for both the papaya drivers and everything depended on their second one. Norris beat Oscar to the pole with less than a tenth separating them followed by Max Verstappen and George Russell. This set up the race perfectly for all the turn 1 drama that can arise with Lando, Oscar and Max locking the front row.

The weather didn’t hold back from making the race day even more exciting than it already was as we went from clear and hot weather on the trackside to extremely windy, cool and expected ‘CLASS 1’ of rain to hit the track in several spells during the race. The chaos began from the very first lap as we expected it to given the number of rookies on the grid. The beginning itself brought out the safety car as Hadjar and Doohan spun out before the starting laps under the tricky conditions saying goodbye to the race. Meanwhile, on the track, Max pulled a confident manoeuvre in turn 2 gaining a position over Oscar and putting him in the mix for the win. Oscar soon managed to recover the position and McLaren started to put a decent gap over Max Verstappen.

Frequent safety cars proved a hindrance to any on-track racing drama as Alonso and Sainz saw the barriers too and Ferrari’s radio transmissions had to step up and take the sole responsibility for the entertainment in the race. Things took a drastic turn in the last 10 laps as the rains made a comeback and the two McLarens found themselves going off in the penultimate corner of the track, which gave Max a play and ruined the race for home hero, Oscar. Lando Norris handled the pressure beautifully, coming to win the race, followed by Max Verstappen breathing down his neck for the last few laps. George was right there to pick up the scraps and finish on the podium. Kimi made a wonderful debut finishing P4 whilst Albon and Nico overdelivered finishing P5 and P7 respectively. This marked a new championship leader in Lando Norris after over 1000 days.

The most anticipated season kicked off down under the cloudy skies of Albert Park in Melbourne. 7 teams featured in the Q3 on Saturday which goes to prove how close the grid has become with almost nothing separating the midfield. Capitalise on such a close grid by putting your love and passion to find an edge over others. Get on Grid Master to participate in the Chinese GP Contest by locking your team for the weekend and begin the season with a strong start and the right momentum!

But that’s not all! Get a chance to experience the heat of the action live as the OFF 2 BAHRAIN contest is now live at Grid Master! Your team can now win you the chance to watch the closest season unfold under the floodlights of the Bahrain circuit with equally blazing action on the track as cars battle it out to make it to the top!

  The stage was set for another great Marquez battle at the front as Marc Marquez was set to get another perfect launch from the pole ahead of his brother Alex Marquez. At the halfway stage, Alex Marquez wasn't allowing Marc Marquez to escape making it a two-horse race for Tissot Sprint victory in Argentina. Six-time MotoGP World Champion, Marc Marquez, made zero mistakes on the last lap to bring his Ducati GP25 home for a third win of the season, his second in a row on a Saturday. (We have seen this film before, and we didn’t like the ending). Alex Marquez crossed the line to claim another podium, with Bagnaia forced to settle for P3, setting this unbelievable era of domination for us fans to feast upon.

A little bit more magic was sprinkled on the early 2025 MotoGP World Championship fight by Marc Marquez as the famous 93 battled his way past younger brother Alex Marquez (Finally some excitement, even though short-lived) in the closing stages of the Grand Prix to remain undefeated. (Siblings never stop fighting over the same thing, do they?) Third place went the way of Franco Morbidelli, the Italian returning to a Sunday parc ferme for the first time since 2021, as Francesco Bagnaia is forced to settle for P4 in Rio Hondo. Alex Rins in Yamaha MotoGP, Maverick Vinales from Red Bull KTM Tech3, Miller, Fernandez and Quartararo rounded up the point scorers.

Motorbike racing now goes to America, ready to continue the battle between the Marquez brothers. We might witness an era of unbelievable dominance at the front and amazing battles everywhere else. Dial up your American GP excitement by locking in your dream team for the Grid Master American GP contest! Every prediction brings you closer to the top of the leaderboard in this ultimate showdown of skill, speed, and racing passion.

Make your fantasy teams on Grid Master, outscore the competition, and take the top spot in our OFF 2 QATAR contest live for the America GP! The winner secures a trip to Qatar to witness the adrenaline-pumping action LIVE! Last year, 10 passionate fans found themselves enjoying the ride to Qatar to witness the thrilling sport in action, and this time it could be you! So join now and race your way to the top!

STROLLWALA

Presenting a brand new section of your much-loved newsletter, called DID YOU KNOW? A segment where we take random, interesting, shocking facts, trivia and stories, realising how they painted the motorsport world, how we now see and love!

We all saw these beautiful Australian trophies handed out to the winners on Sunday which have now become the identity of the Australian GP. So why do these trophies look like this? This is to honour Jack Brabham, an Australian racing driver who competed in racing from 1950 to 1970. The design is inspired by the steering wheel of his iconic 1959 Cooper car.