MELBOURNE: McLaren’s Lando Norris swept to victory in a wet and wild Australian Grand Prix on Sunday (Mar 16), holding off defending champion Max Verstappen in a white-knuckle finish to a Formula 1 season-opener littered with crashes and safety cars.
Mercedes’ George Russell was third on the slippery Albert Park circuit where only 14 of the 20 cars finished in the treacherous conditions.
Norris, the pre-season favourite for the drivers’ title, started the Formula 1 season as he finished the last in Abu Dhabi, with victory from pole.
The Briton’s win ended Verstappen’s long run at the top of the championship standings dating back to May 2022.
Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri started second on the grid but finished ninth, his dreams of becoming the first home driver to claim victory or a consolation podium ending with a skid into grass.
Norris claimed his first win in Melbourne and the fifth of his career, saying it was difficult with Verstappen breathing down his neck.
“It was amazing. Tough race, especially with Max behind me,” he added.
“I was pushing, especially in the last two laps. It was a little bit stressful, not going to lie.
“This time we got it right and ended on top so I’m happy.”
Red Bull kept Verstappen out on worn tyres hoping for a break in the rain but he was ultimately forced to pit, potentially costing him a better shot at Norris.
Verstappen said it was “worth the gamble”.
“It was quite spicy on the slick tyres. It was alright in the end,” he said.
“This is where I expected to be. In the first stint we were lacking a bit of pace to the McLaren.”
Lewis Hamilton’s debut for Ferrari proved a damp squib with the Briton finishing 10th, two places behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton complained his car was “hard to drive” and said the team had made the wrong call with the weather late on which proved costly.
“It was very tricky and it went a lot worse than I thought it would go,” he said.
“I’m just grateful I kept (the car) out of the wall because that’s really where it wanted to go most of the time.”
It was a more encouraging day for Williams, with Alex Albon promoted to fourth, though Carlos Sainz crashed out in his debut for the team.
Mercedes’ 18-year-old rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli crossed fourth in an excellent debut but dropped to fifth due to a five-second penalty for an unsafe release from the pit.
Lance Stroll was sixth for Aston Martin, while Sauber also celebrated points for seventh-placed Nico Hulkenberg.
SAFETY CARS
The race was held up for 15 minutes after debutant Isack Hadjar lost control in the formation lap and rear-ended his Racing Bulls car into a wall.
With his rear wing damaged and his race over, the unharmed Frenchman was in tears as his car was hauled off track.
Australian rookie Jack Doohan was gone soon after the restart, crashing his Alpine at turn six on the first lap to trigger the safety car as his father Mick, the motorcycling great, looked on in disbelief from the team garage.
The drama continued as Sainz spun out of control at turn 14 during the safety car’s deployment.
While Norris had a clean start, Piastri was skidding left and right at the first turn, allowing Verstappen to roar past him on the outside.
But Verstappen later locked a front brake and veered wide to allow Piastri to snatch back second.
With more pace than his teammate, Piastri had Norris in his sights but was ordered to hold position by the McLaren garage until a rain shower passed.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso became the fourth car knocked out when his Aston Martin veered off track at turn seven on lap 34 and crashed, bringing out the safety car again.
Norris and Piastri pitted to change to hard tyres but another shower wreaked havoc 10 laps later, with Piastri skidding into gravel and ending up in grass.
Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto then crashed out in quick succession, triggering a third safety car deployment.
While that gave Verstappen a last crack at reeling in Norris, the Briton held the relentless Dutchman at bay to land the first blow in the championship ahead of round two in China.
