It's race week! Five storylines to watch as Supercars takes on Grand Prix
After a blockbuster start to 2025 in Sydney, the Repco Supercars Championship returns to Melbourne, as the attention of world motorsport turns to Albert Park.
As the new Formula 1 season gets underway, the best touring car drivers in the world assemble for what will be a breathless four days of racing.
The season got started in a big way in Sydney, with Cam Waters winning from pole position three times.
Waters is looking to carry on his perfect start, but 23 other drivers won't want a bar of it. The three sprint races will be unmissable, given there are no pit stops and nearly 5.3km of super-fast streets to handle.
As it was in Sydney, there will be drama. Expect nothing less in Supercars.
With the world watching, here are five big talking points heading back to Albert Park.
Can Cam stay on a roll?
Cam Waters was in an historic vein of form in Sydney, claiming all three Boost Mobile Pole Positions, all three race wins and the maximum 315 points.
It was a supreme statement of skill, speed and smarts, from his crushing win in Race 1, epic run to victory in controversial circumstances in Race 2, and his control of the wet-dry Race 3.
Of 2025 venues, there are just five he now hasn't won at; Albert Park, Taupō, Ipswich, Bathurst and Sandown. He should have won last year, but crashed out with Matt Payne in scenes to make Ford fans' blood curdle.
If he's on the pace he demonstrated in Sydney, he'll be hard to stop. If not, will he try and force the issue, or look to consolidate his early lead in the Repco Sprint Cup?
How will Triple Eight respond?
Triple Eight is in a position it never faced in 2024: being behind in both championships. Yes, it's only Round 2, but Triple Eight will have felt the sting of being beaten comprehensively by Waters in Sydney.
But was it really that comprehensive? Broc Feeney started from the front row alongside Waters for all three races, while Will Brown claimed two podiums on a weekend he battled in qualifying.
Where it hurts will be the mistakes both drivers made along the way, such as Feeney's slide that led to a costly puncture in Race 1. Waters had the edge on speed, and at all stops, was better when it mattered most.
Regardless, Triple Eight knows it can't afford to give Waters more breathing room, with Team Manager Mark Dutton imploring his team to repeat the efforts of Albert Park last year, where Brown and Feeney shared three of the four wins.
All-out attack
Get the boxing gloves out.
The Albert Park format is unique to the rest of the season, because there are no pit stops. Once the lights go out, it's all-out attack to the end.
There are four lots of 75 points and five fastest lap bonus points, totalling 320 points for the weekend, on offer this weekend. Every point matters, especially in a driver's quest to win the Larry Perkins Trophy.
Even before the races, we'll also see arguably the most important qualifying sessions of the season. Given there are no stops to strategise drivers into the race, they'll need to qualify well to give themselves the best chance possible to fight at the pointy end.
The lap time is in excess of 100 seconds, and qualifying sessions are just 15 minutes long. Make a mistake or hurt your tyres, and you could be in a world of hurt.
The effect of new tyre (again)
Speaking in Sydney, Garth Tander suggested the "massively different” Albert Park surface could reveal immediate changes to the pecking order after the first round on Dunlop's new Soft tyre compound.
Sydney Motorsport Park and the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit are similar on paper with flowing, fast corners, long straights and big braking zones.
However, the abrasive Sydney surface is followed by the super-smooth Albert Park surface, which offers a vastly different challenge to drivers and teams.
As mentioned, there will be no stops. In 2025, minimum tyre pressure has also been reduced from 17psi to 16psi.
Teams are learning on the fly, and they only get two 30-minute practice sessions before qualifying on Thursday. Working out where peak grip is delivered will allow teams to understand what the working range of the tyre is. The teams that find answers quickest will likely be at the pointy end.
Will there be another upset?
Nick Percat and Matt Stone Racing pulled off a David-versus-Goliath story last year, with the 2011 Bathurst winner holding off the might of Triple Eight to deliver a shock win.
There are plenty of drivers chasing their first Supercars wins, while a number of teams are desperate to upset to form of the top teams.
The Grand Prix knows how to throw up a surprise or two, and if there are incidents in qualifying, we could see jumbled grids fighting for glory, and big names cutting through the field.
Could MSR win again? Can Brodie Kostecki break through for Dick Johnson Racing? What about the rookies, or what about the veterans? Watch this space...
Track action in Melbourne will commence on Thursday with two practice sessions, two Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions, and Race 4. Race 5 will be held on Friday, before two more qualifying sessions and Race 6 on Saturday. The weekend will conclude with Race 7 on Sunday.
