McLaren’s Lando Norris braved a stressful race to convert his pole position to victory at Albert Park after a wet and wild Australian Grand Prix.
Less than a second clear of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, Norris withstood the threat of not only the Dutchman and the changeable conditions, but also his teammate Oscar Piastri who unfortunately beached himself on
the grass and took himself out of victory contention.
The final spot on the podium being hoovered up by George Russell, as Mercedes found themselves in the right place at the right time – when the track transitioned back to wet and drivers needed to pit for intermediates again.
At the start, Norris led Piastri off before Verstappen pounced at the exit of Turn 2 on the Australian to take the lead.
Chaos ensued with fellow Aussie Jack Doohan loosing control of his Alpine in the challenging conditions after Turn 5 and hitting the wall.
The Safety Car neutralised the field, only for Carlos Sainz to lose his Williams at the final corner as well, joining Doohan and fellow rookie Isack Hadjar on the sidelines before the end of Lap 2.
Hadjar lost control of his car on the formation lap at the first corner, cutting an inconsolable figure when returning to the paddock.
Verstappen on Lap 17 made an error at Turn 11 and braked too deeply, allowing Piastri to retake second. The Aussie then set about chasing teammate Norris – before on Lap 30 being instructed by McLaren to hold position.
Piastri had been within a second of his teammate and looking to threaten for the lead before the team order came. Only for it to be rescinded by Lap 33. The track at this point transitioning to conditions suitable for dry tyres.
Fernando Alonso shunted on Lap 34, bringing out the second Safety Car and triggering a swathe of pit-stops to see the field switch over to slick tyres.
Trouble hit Liam Lawson too on his Red Bull debut, being squeezed by Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in the pits – with the Brazilian being hit with a 5-second unsafe release penalty.
Not that he took it, as after the race resumed on Lap 42 – by Lap 46 the rookie duo had binned their cars and were out of the race.
Before this however, a shower hit the track and made the final sector slippery. Both McLaren cars slid around heading into the last two corners on Lap 44, though Piastri found himself beached on the grass and out of contention.
Norris pitted prior to the third Safety Car for inters with Russell, while Verstappen stayed out for another lap. While
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton briefly led and waited another lap to change back to inters themselves.
The later pit-stop proving costly for the red cars, as Hamilton’s Ferrari debut was soured by problems throughout. Evident in the irate communications with his new race engineer Riccardo Adami.
Lap 52 saw the race resume with Lando ahead briefly, before Verstappen zeroed in on the penultimate lap.
Behind the top three, it was a best result for Williams since Belgium 2021 with Alex Albon in fourth, fifth on debut for Kimi Antonelli despite a 5-second time penalty and a best result too for Lance Stroll since Las Vegas 2023 in sixth.
Nico Hülkenberg too recorded Kick Sauber’s best result since 2022, in a day that saw the underdogs capitalise on the conditions. Edging out too the Ferrari duo, who were split by Piastri in the top ten.
Jawad Yaqubhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/03/16/aussies-error-ends-hopes-of-home-winner-as-norris-edges-verstappen-for-aus-gp-glory/Aussie’s error ends hopes of home winner as Norris edges Verstappen for Aus GP glory
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