Australian GP weather: Latest forecast with unsettled outlook for first 2025 race

From cyclone to sun, sun to rain, Australia is offering a little bit of just about everything as the Formula 1 season gets underway with a wet race forecast.

Australia was affected by mass blackouts and flooding after a cyclone brought wild weather to the east coast, affecting southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales last weekend. It also affected Australia’s newest Formula 1 driver Jack Doohan.

What is the weather forecast for the Australian Grand Prix?

The Queensland’s racer, son of MotoGP legend Mick Doohan, headed home for a few days in the build-up to his inaugural home Grand Prix.

The wild weather meant he got to shut out the world, and the rumours.

“No, it was quite OK,” he told the media in Melbourne. “It was nice. I had three days back on the Gold Coast.

“And to be honest, with no actual, like… When you’re forced to stay inside, it’s almost nice, just not doing anything. Three days switching off and we were very fortunate to be safe and have no issues and I could fly down here early Tuesday morning.”

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But arriving in Melbourne, where thankfully there isn’t a cyclone, Doohan and his rival Formula 1 drivers still aren’t having the best of Australia’s weather; chilly weather earlier in the week quickly thawed for roasting temperatures on Saturday for qualifying.

The heat isn’t what everyone is chatting about, though. A threat of rain has lingered on Sunday just in time for the Grand Prix.

The Australian Grand Prix will kick off at 15:00 local time. The weather forecast for the race start currently suggests a temperature of 16’C, with a 70% chance of rain expected.

Temperatures will drop over the course of the next few hours, with a 66-70% chance of rain until 17:00 local, where that chance drops down to 40%. By that point, though, the race should be nearing its end.

Claims that the FIA were looking to change the start time to counter the unsettled forecast are understood to be wide of the mark.

Further, expected rainfall isn’t expected to exceed 3mm throughout the duration of the race.

Plenty of teams and drivers have prepared their cars with a wet-weather set-up in mind; Pierre Gasly told media after qualifying that he’d opted for a 50/50 set-up, which should perform decently well no matter the conditions. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, is said to have prioritized a dry-weather set-up.

Chatting with media after qualifying, Hamilton noted that wet-weather conditions are usually within his “comfort zone,” but that his swap to Ferrari means he’s only had a few laps in wet conditions under his belt.

“I’ve never driven the car in the wet,” he said. “I don’t even know where the wet switch is, really. I don’t know which button I’m going to switch to tomorrow!”

Further, there are six full-season rookies on the grid, none of whom have experience racing Formula 1 cars on Albert Park in dry conditions, let alone wet ones. All eyes will be on those young talents to see how they’re able to cope with the rain.

But if you’re looking for a driver to hedge your bets on, no one can handle the chaos of wet conditions quite like Max Verstappen. In late 2024, the damp Brazilian Grand Prix allowed the Dutch driver to reassert his lead on the World Championship during a period that had favored the McLaren of Norris.

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