Formula 1 in 2025: How to watch the Australian Grand Prix on TV and what to know

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Here is a guide that tells you everything you need to know about Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix — the year’s first Formula 1 race.

— In the U.S., ESPN.

— Other countries are listed here.

The 5.2-kilometer (3.2-mile) Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit is laid out around a lake in Melbourne's inner suburbs and uses roads which are open to the public for the remainder of the year. It's a relatively fast track but overtaking is often difficult. This will be the first time since 2019 that Australia hosts the season-opening race. The 2020 Australian GP was cancelled two hours before the scheduled season-opening racing weekend because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the lowlights of Max Verstappen’s 2024 world championship season was at Melbourne Park, where he went out in the fourth lap of the race with a fiery mechanical failure.

Get caught up:

— Lando Norris takes pole for Sunday's race.

— Lewis Hamilton ready to race for Ferrari for the first time in F1’s season-opening Australian GP

— Red carpet, fashion and music: F1 launches its 2025 season Hollywood style

— Any hope Red Bull's Christian Horner had of leaving last year's sordid season behind him has been dashed

— Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli says Lewis Hamilton told him to enjoy himself in F1

— Oscar Piastri has signed a “multi-year” contract extension with McLaren

— George Russell says he won’t change approach to Max Verstappen after F1 feud in 2024

— Lando Norris says he’ll drive with ‘elbows out’ to compete with Max Verstappen this F1 season

— Meet Formula 1's biggest rookie class in year

— Lewis Hamilton wants to win another F1 title at 40. It hasn’t been done since the 1960s

5 — Verstappen is targeting a fifth world title in a row. Only three other drivers — including Lewis Hamilton — have won five titles. Of those, only Michael Schumacher won five consecutively.

8 — Hamilton is aiming to win a record-breaking eighth title after joining his new team, Ferrari.

24 - The Australian Grand Prix kicks off a 24-race schedule, matching the record set last year for the longest F1 season.

Lewis Hamilton qualified eighth-fastest in his Ferrari debut as McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed pole position. Norris went into the third session of final qualifying on the back foot after his first lap was deleted for track limit infringements at turn four, where he had all four wheels off the track. Norris’ teammate and Melbourne-born Oscar Piastri was second, enabling McLaren to lock out the front row for the second straight race, following 2024’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the defending world champion, claimed third, shrugging off pre-season pace concerns for the team about its RB21 car.

"It isn’t quite where we wanted to be but overall I’m satisfied with the progress we have made over the past two days ... but given this is a weekend of firsts for me, I didn’t underestimate how steep the learning curve would be” — Hamilton on qualifying eighth.

"Not a bad way to start the year, thanks everyone” — Norris on his team radio shortly after the qualifying session ended.

“Pretty happy. It’s obviously great to start the year on the front row — only one position back from what I would’ve liked." — Piastri.

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares for qualifying at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Tracey Nearmy/Pool Photo via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia reacts following his second place finish in qualifying at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

McLaren driver Lando Norris, centre of Britain poses after taking pole position with second placed teammate Oscar Piastri, left, of Australia and third placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Barbour)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia waits in his car during the second practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Heath McKinley )

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the second practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco steers his car during the second practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Barbour)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the second practice session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands in action during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia makes a pit stop during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, of Britain, is seen on a giant screen during a team presentation event, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, of Britain, smiles during a team presentation event, in Milan, Italy , Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A gas cylinder explosion early Sunday after a wedding reception at a home in Pakistan’s capital killed at least eight people, including the bride and groom, police and officials said.

The blast occurred as guests who had gathered to celebrate the couple were sleeping at the house, causing part of the house to collapse, according to the Islamabad police. Seven people were injured.

In a statement, police said the explosion occurred in a residential area in the heart of the city. A government administrator, Sahibzada Yousaf, said authorities were alerted about the blast early Sunday and officers are still investigating. He said some nearby homes were also damaged.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives and offered condolences to the victims’ families, according to a statement from his office. He directed health authorities to ensure the injured receive the best possible treatment and ordered a full investigation.

Many Pakistani households rely on liquefied petroleum gas cylinders because of low natural gas pressure, and such cylinders have been linked to deadly accidents caused by gas leaks. Police said investigations were ongoing.

Government officials survey the damage of a home caused by a gas cylinder explosion hours after a wedding reception, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ehsan Shahzad)