Australians obtain silverware as seasons come to a close

Monday 06 October, 2025

While some Australian competitors are starting to secure championship glory overseas, others are still on the hunt.

Formula One – Singapore

Oscar Piastri made a return to the points on Sunday night in Singapore, following a DNF in Azerbaijan two weeks earlier, finishing fourth at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Starting third on the grid, Piastri lost his position to teammate Lando Norris at turn 3 on the first lap after wheel-to-wheel race start.

Piastri did well to manage his tyres for the majority of the race, staying with the leading three cars despite a longer-than-expected pit stop, ultimately trailing Norris by two seconds by the end of the race.

Max Verstappen secured the second step on the podium ahead of Norris, however, Mercedes driver George Russell was running his own race for the majority of the session, winning his second grand prix of the season by a comfortable margin.

With Piastri’s fourth-place finish and Norris’ third-place result, the Constructors’ Championship was secured by McLaren for the second year in a row. McLaren has had a dominant season as a racing team, taking its season points total to 650, substantially ahead of Mercedes and its 325 points.

In the Drivers’ Championship standings, which is still to be determined, Piastri’s lead was reduced from 25 points to 22 points, with Norris edging closer to his teammate. Six races now remain for Piastri to try and fend off his British teammate.

The next stop of the Formula One season heads to the Circuit of the Americas in two weeks’ time where drivers will compete in both a Sprint Race and Feature Race, meaning a maximum of 33 championship points will be up for grabs in Austin, Texas.

McLaren Trophy Europe – Circuit Paul Ricard

A terrific year for Jayden Kelly with Greystone Racing has ended in celebration, with the Aussie competitor winning the McLaren Trophy Europe Championship alongside teammate Michael O’Brien at the final stop of the season at Circuit Paul Ricard.

A strong qualifying session from Kelly put his car fifth on the starting grid in Round 9 and in a good position to claim the championship after race one of the weekend.

Kelly got a good start in the race, quickly jumping up a position by the end of the first lap. Kelly held that position for the rest of his shift before making the driver changeover halfway through the hour-long race.

O’Brien came out of the pits in eighth position, but a strong out lap by Kelly’s teammate put him in good stead for the rest of the race.

O’Brien moved up into second position with less than 20 minutes remaining to finish the race in in P2.

A 20-second time penalty for the provisional race winners Sam Harrison and Leonidas Karavasili would bump Kelly and O’Brien up to the top of the podium and secure the championship in the process.

“It’s something so special,” Kelly said post-race.

“We’ve been doing this for the entire year, we’ve had our ups and downs, it’s been tough at times, but Michael and I have worked together, I’m so happy to have done it with him, thank you to everyone, we’re so happy.”

In race two, the pair was again in strong form for Round 10, securing pole position in qualifying and eyeing down a clean sweep for the weekend. The pair dropped a pair of spots in the session to finish third.

GB3 Championship – Donington Park GP

Alex Ninovic has done enough to close out his GB3 Championship title push in the penultimate round of the season.

Ninovic secured pole position in the first qualifying session, putting him at the front of the grid for the first of three races of the weekend, with fellow Australians Noah Lisle (first front row start of the year), Patrick Heuzenroeder and Gianmarco Pradel in second, fourth and 11th respectively.

Ninovic, in addition to getting the fastest lap of the race, won the session by over half a second, as Lisle finished third, Heuzenroeder was closely behind in fourth and Pradel worked his way up to eighth.

The second qualifying session was also a high point for Ninovic, who clocked the second fastest lap time in that part of the weekend, which then flowed into another race win despite receiving a 10-second jump start penalty.

A car issue prevented Lisle from starting race two, while Heuzenroeder finished the race in fourth from eighth position on the starting grid. Pradel made a case for best drive, finishing 10th in race two, after starting all the way back in 20th due to being one of four drivers who failed to attend post-qualification weighing in time.

In race three, Ninovic needed only to outperform Heuzenroeder and Pradel to secure the championship, who both eventually retired from the session.

Ninovic crossed the finish line in seventh, one spot behind Lisle who climbed five spots during the session.

“I’m super happy with the result, to come away with the championship with one round remaining is extremely nice,” Ninovic said after race three.

“It’s been an amazing weekend, an amazing year to be honest, and the team has done an amazing job to get me there and I can’t be thankful enough to everyone who has made it all happen.”

The four Australians head to Monza for the final round of the 2025 season on 18-19 October.

F1 Academy – Singapore

The F1 Academy 2025 continued at Marina Bay with the Singapore Grand Prix with drivers participating in two feature races.

Among them, Joanne Ciconte was the lone Australian on the grid after it was announced Aiva Anagnostiadis would miss the event after sustaining fracture in her left foot during training.

Ciconte started 12th on the grid in Race 1 after a solid qualifying session before engaging in a clean drive, avoiding any collisions.

The Victorian managed to gain a position by the race’s end, finishing the session in 11th.

Again starting in 12th for Race 2, Ciconte made the most of the second race, conducting several overtakes to make her way up the race order.

Ciconte crossed the finish line in eighth and secured four championship points for her efforts.

One round remains for F1 Academy in 2025, as the drivers head to the Las Vegas Grand Prix on 20-22 November.

Ciconte is currently in 14th in the Drivers’ Standings with eight points.

British F4 – Brands Hatch

Jimmy Piszyck held a slim chance of stealing the British F4 Championship from Fionn McLaughlin during the final round of the year at Brands Hatch with 80 points up for grabs over three races (trailed by 61.5 points), and a fastest lap in qualifying was as good start for Piszyck.

A finish lower than third for McLaughlin would have kept the season alive for the Australian, and while Piszyck would go on to win race one, the Irish rookie was less than a second behind him to take the second step on the podium.

Piszyck started 11th in the reverse order grid for race two and climbed one spot to finish the race 10th.

Xavier Avramides’ final weekend results for his rookie season entailed an eighth, 13th and 15th place across the three races.

In race three, Piszyck returned to the front of the grid and finished the season off in style with another race win, his second for the weekend.

The results for Piszyck reduced the championship points margin to 42.5, capping off a fantastic year for Rodin Motorsport, who finished second in the Teams Standings for the season.

Formula Regional European Championship – Hockenheim

Jack Beeton travelled to the Hockenheimring in Germany for Round 9 of the Formula Regional European Championship for the second-last stop of the season.

With two races on the weekend, and four races remaining for the year, the Prema Racing driver began the weekend with 32 points for the season.

Beeton was 11th fastest in his group for the first qualifying session which placed him 22nd on the starting grid. Beeton climbed four places to finish the session in 18th, clocking his fastest lap on lap 16 with a 1:36.898.

In the second qualifying session, Beeton stayed consistent, again finishing with the 11th-fastest lap time for his group and starting 22nd on the grid in race two.

Beeton’s second race was the driver’s highlight of the weekend, managing to finish the session in 14th, a gain of eight positions over 10 laps.

Beeton was unable to come away with any points on the weekend, but the next chance to do so will be at the final round in Monza from 26 October.

FIA European Rally Championship – Croatia

Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic’s preparations ahead of the Junior World Rally Championship’s Central European Rally took them to the FIA European Rally Championships’s Croatia Rally where the pair emerged from the weekend as ERC3 winners at the iconic event.

The pair were strong across both days, leading by more than 39 seconds through six stages at the end of the opening day.

Gill needed to maintain consistency to continue his lead heading into the final four stages on the second day of competition.

The 21 year old won the opening stage of the day by 20 seconds, setting the tone for the remainder of the rally.

The New South Welshman extending his lead throughout the remaining three stages, finishing three minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Tymoteusz Abramowski by the end of the rally.

The performance gives the pair valuable momentum before beginning the Central European Rally on 16-19 October, where Gill has a chance to claim the Junior World Rally Championship crown.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia competitor Bayley Hall has made his Carrera Cup Asia debut over the weekend in style, making the podium twice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hall showed promising signs early in the weekend, logging the second-fastest lap times in free practice and qualifying, putting the EBM driver on the front row of the two feature race starting grids.

Hall maintained his position over 12 laps in race one to finish the session on the second step on the podium, before doubling-down on his successes to finish race two in third.