When the lights go out Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix to begin the 2025 Formula 1 season, defending F1 Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen will start third, behind perhaps two of his biggest challengers in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Sainz won the last race at Albert Park, while Verstappen won the event in 2023. Hamilton’s new teammate, Charles Leclerc, won the Australian Grand Prix in 2022. Time: 12 a.m. ET

Max Verstappen has won two of the last four Formula One races after failing to win any of the previous 10, but he did not believe he could have beaten the McLarens even with a perfect lap in qualifyin