Feature
Dramatic collisions, shock winners and drivers on strike – 8 of the most chaotic season openers in F1 history
Share
The 2025 F1 season got off to an incredibly dramatic start in what proved to be an action-packed Australian Grand Prix, with the 57-lap event featuring rapidly changing weather conditions, numerous crashes and more than one Safety Car appearance.
It seems likely that the race will go down in history as one of the most eventful to start a campaign – so, in honour of that, we’ve been taking a look back at some of the other most chaotic season-opening Grands Prix that it joins on the list, featuring everything from heavy rain and unexpected winners through to an unprecedented drivers’ strike…
READ MORE: 5 Winners and 5 Losers from Australia – Who started their season in style?
2002 Australian Grand Prix
The Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit has frequently played host to the first race of the season – and one of the most jaw-dropping of these took place back in 2002.
Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello initially held onto P1 off the line from pole position, but his lead proved to be short-lived as the Williams of Ralf Schumacher hit the back of the Brazilian’s car into the first corner before dramatically launching over it and hurtling into the barriers.
This then sparked a sequence of events that commentator Martin Brundle declared at the time to be “everybody shunting in sympathy”, with six further cars joining Barrichello and Schumacher as Lap 1 retirements.
All of this left David Coulthard in the lead, while Michael Schumacher had dropped down to fourth. But after the Scot went off track, a battle played out between Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, which the former ultimately won in a race that saw only eight drivers take the chequered flag – one of these being Mark Webber, claiming P5 on debut in front of his home crowd to score some fairytale points for the Minardi team.
F1 Vault: When Ralf Schumacher flew in 2002
1993 South African Grand Prix
Speaking of Schumacher, the driver that would go on to become one of only two to date to achieve seven World Championships had showcased his potential early on in his career – including at the first race of the 1993 season, the South African Grand Prix.
With Alain Prost making his return to the grid for Williams following a year on the sidelines, the Frenchman took pole position ahead of old foe Ayrton Senna and new challenger Schumacher – setting up a rare battle between three of the all-time greats.
READ MORE: The 75 best drivers, cars, innovations, teams and key figures in F1 history
Senna and Schumacher got the better of Prost at the start, but the latter went on to pick off Schumacher before chasing down Senna in a fight for the lead. And while Schumacher subsequently took P2 from Senna, he later lost this after spinning out of the running.
To further add to the drama, a thunderstorm hit Kyalami in the closing stages and ultimately only five drivers were classified, with Mark Blundell a surprise third for Ligier alongside victor Prost and runner-up Senna on the rostrum.
A battle amongst three of the all-time greats played out at the 1993 South African Grand Prix
2022 Bahrain Grand Prix
There were plenty of question marks as Formula 1 arrived in Bahrain for the opening event of the season in 2022, a year in which a wave of new ground effect technical regulations had come into play.
Following the tense title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton that had dominated 2021, the pecking order looked to have been shaken up when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took pole position before engaging in a thrilling scrap for the lead with Verstappen on race day.
READ MORE: Wolff admits he forgot Hamilton was not a Mercedes driver during Australian Grand Prix
But there was huge drama to come when Verstappen – still hot on Leclerc’s tail – was forced to retire just three laps from the end due to a fuel pressure issue, while Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez then followed suit with the very same problem two tours later.
As well as Ferrari seemingly being the new force to be reckoned with after clinching a 1-2, there were further surprises across the order; Mercedes looked to have lost their previous dominance, McLaren ended the race near the very back, while Nico Hulkenberg had returned for another super-sub stint in place of a Covid-afflicted Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin.
Race Highlights: Bahrain Grand Prix
2009 Australian Grand Prix
For another case of a new technical era causing surprises at the season opener, look no further than the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. The story is now well known of how Brawn GP – the team hastily assembled from the former Honda outfit after the latter’s decision to withdraw from the sport at the end of 2008 – had looked to potentially have the edge over their rivals in pre-season testing.
That promise was confirmed when the field went racing in Melbourne, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello locking out the front row. But while Button led away from pole, his team mate had a poor start and found himself caught up in incidents further down the field on Lap 1.
Button faced pressure from a chasing Sebastian Vettel for the victory, but a collision between the Red Bull and BMW’s Robert Kubica in the final laps put paid to any risk of the win being taken away.
Meanwhile it proved to be an eventful afternoon for Barrichello, who spent much of the race in the wars but somehow eventually crossed the line in second to complete a scarcely believable 1-2 for the Brawn GP team on their debut.
Brawn GP caused a stir by winning their debut race at the 2009 season-opening Australian Grand Prix
2020 Austrian Grand Prix
The 2020 Formula 1 season got off to a belated start due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that Austria’s Red Bull Ring hosted the first two rounds of a shortened campaign in July. But it was certainly worth the wait for fans as a wild race played out to kickstart the campaign.
While Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas had a strong start from pole position, second-placed Max Verstappen dramatically suffered a loss of power just 11 laps in, forcing the Red Bull to retire. Further mayhem later unfolded when McLaren’s Carlos Sainz suffered contact with Sebastian Vettel – the man that the Spaniard had already been confirmed to replace at Ferrari in 2021.
Another awkward collision occurred between Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon, preventing the latter from potentially scoring a debut podium for Red Bull. “This guy is such a sore loser!” Albon shouted over team radio, with Hamilton subsequently receiving a penalty for the incident.
Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc had worked his way up to second from seventh, Lando Norris scrapped with Sergio Perez for the final spot on the rostrum and Daniil Kvyat became another casualty as the rear tyre of his AlphaTauri shredded. But there was no such trouble for Bottas, who took a serene victory amidst the chaos behind him.
Relive the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix
1990 United States Grand Prix
The weather certainly has a habit of throwing up some surprises in Formula 1 – see last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix for very recent proof – and that proved to be the case when the sport touched down in Phoenix for the 1990 season opener.
Rain unexpectedly hit the circuit during Saturday’s Qualifying session, which – combined with the unexpected pace displayed by those running Pirelli tyres, that being many of the midfield teams at the time – resulted in a mixed-up grid, with McLaren’s Gerhard Berger joined on the front row by the Minardi of Pierluigi Martini.
Jean Alesi, meanwhile, had put his Tyrrell in fourth ahead of McLaren’s Ayrton Senna in fifth. The Frenchman made an impressive start, storming into the lead at the first corner before starting to pull away from the competition.
It was not until the second half of the race that Senna had caught up with Alesi – but the latter refused to give up and retook the position after Senna had initially passed him. Senna then made the move stick next time and ultimately triumphed in the battle, forcing Alesi to settle for second in one of the most memorable – and unexpected – fights in a season-opening race.
Alesi launched into the lead at the start of the 1990 United States Grand Prix
2003 Australian Grand Prix
One-lap Qualifying had been introduced for the first time at the 2003 Australian Grand Prix, during which Michael Schumacher secured pole position for Ferrari. But when the heavens opened just before Sunday’s race, the resulting event did not allow the Scuderia to build on their dominance from the previous campaign.
There was drama early on when second-placed Rubens Barrichello received a drive-through penalty for a jump start, before later becoming one of several drivers to suffer a race-ending crash.
With the frontrunners adopting different strategies amid changing conditions on track, the lead changed hands several times between McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen – who had worked his way up from 15th on the grid – Schumacher and Williams’ Juan Pablo Montoya.
After Raikkonen had served a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane – and Schumacher was forced to make a pit stop due to picking up damage over the kerbs – Montoya was on course for victory. But a spin from the Colombian with less than 10 laps to go handed the opportunity to David Coulthard, the McLaren driver going on to claim a surprise win.
F1 TV Archive: Extended race highlights - Australia 2003
1982 South African Grand Prix
Chaos had already hit the 1982 South African Grand Prix before any track action had taken place, with the drivers going on strike in response to new Super Licence rules being introduced. However, a last-minute compromise was reached and the race subsequently went ahead.
Renault’s Rene Arnoux lined up in pole position, with team mate Alain Prost back in fifth. A lightning start from Prost, however, saw the Frenchman move up to second before going on to take the lead 14 laps in.
The order was thrown into disarray when Prost suffered a puncture just after half-distance, dropping him down to eighth after pitting for repairs. And despite appearing out of contention by this stage, a remarkable comeback saw Prost carve his way through the field to reclaim the lead from Arnoux.
As the chequered flag fell, the man who came to be known as ‘the Professor’ crossed the line 14 seconds clear of Williams’ Carlos Reutemann, with Arnoux third, while Niki Lauda took fourth place for McLaren in his first race back since returning to the sport following a two-year hiatus.
Prost made an incredible comeback to take victory in the 1982 South African Grand Prix ahead of Reutemann
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
FeatureF1 Unlocked THIS WEEK IN F1: 10 quiz questions on the Australian GP and the latest F1 news
Podcast F1 NATION: An opening win for Norris as Red Bull recover and Ferrari disappoint – it's our Australian GP review
News Tsunoda feels Racing Bulls ‘deserved points’ in Australia as team admit late-race strategy call ‘cost us very dearly’
Video WATCH: See just how close Norris and Piastri’s Australian GP pole battle was with brand new F1 TV ‘Ghost Car’ feature
