F1 2025: Australian Grand Prix session red flagged by BIZARRE issue

Australian Grand Prix Practice

F1 2025: Australian Grand Prix session red flagged by BIZARRE issue

The first red flag of the 2025 season

Chris Deeley

Friday 14 March 2025 03:08 Updated: 16:29

The first Formula 1 practice session of the season at the Australian Grand Prix was halted by a red flag just 20 minutes in thanks to an unusual issue.

No driver actually crashed or left their car on the track, but a couple of minor excursions off the racing line kicked up some gravel and left it all over the track.

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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.

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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.”

It did not take long for the drivers to resume the action on track as the gravel was promptly cleared away.

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton FIA Australian Grand Prix F1 2025