Australian Grand Prix Practice

F1 2025: Australian Grand Prix hit by red flag after UNUSUAL problem

Chris Deeley Friday 14 March 2025 03:00 Updated: 04:35

F1 2025: Australian Grand Prix hit by red flag after UNUSUAL problem

The first red flag of the 2025 Formula 1 season took just 20 minutes to arrive, thanks to a bizarre issue.

There was no crash or technical issue which meant there was a car or car debris on the track, but some cars dipping their wheels into the gravel trap left gravel all over the racing surface.

F1 HEADLINES: McLaren release HUGE official driver statement as team confirm EXIT ahead of Australian Grand Prix

The session was paused for about five minutes while track officials sent out a street sweeper to clear the surface to avoid the chances of any driver losing control on it.

The unusual red flag continued a trend in 2025 of sessions being stopped for bizarre reasons, with pre-season testing in Bahrain stopped multiples times for one-off incidents.

This weekend will see Lewis Hamilton's first race in red

Liam Lawson has been promoted to Red Bull's senior team

Why was Australian Grand Prix FP1 red flagged?

Speaking on Sky Sports during the break, pundit Ted Kravitz said: “Another random red flag in F1 2025.

“We’ve had bus on track, we’ve had glass smashing from the race starter’s gantry, we’ve had a power cut – three red flags in testing.

“And now gravel on track and a massive sweeper. Where are the marshals with brooms? Bit of an overkill to have a huge road sweeper! Nobody in the wall yet, nobody breaking down.”

Mercedes Formula 1 McLaren Hamilton Australian Grand Prix 2025

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F1 2025: Australian Grand Prix hit by red flag after UNUSUAL problem

F1 2025: Australian Grand Prix hit by red flag after UNUSUAL problem

Why was Australian Grand Prix FP1 red flagged?