McLaren’s Lando Norris holds off Max Verstappen to win wet Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE – An ecstatic Lando Norris said that learning from past mistakes in similar situations allowed him to cling on and win a dramatic opening Grand Prix of the Formula One season in Melbourne on March 16.

The McLaren pole-sitter showed extreme composure in testing conditions with intermittent rain, a slew of accidents and the safety car repeatedly required at Albert Park.

He managed to rise above it all and hold off charging Red Bull world champion Max Verstappen, leading all the way to take the chequered flag by less than a second.

“We got it wrong a lot last year, so I guess we learnt from our mistakes,” said the 25-year-old Briton, after laying down a marker for the 24-race season.

“We lost out in Silverstone and Canada in similar conditions. Dealing with the pressure, dealing with Max, with Oscar (Piastri) behind me. I was pushing the whole way through. I could relax inside, but I wasn’t relaxing from how much I was pushing.”

At both Silverstone and Montreal last season, McLaren made mistakes on pit-stop timings and tyre choices. Norris controlled the early stages of the race in Melbourne from McLaren teammate Piastri and Verstappen on a sodden track.

But as the accidents piled up leading to multiple safety-car interventions, he was forced to restart repeatedly.

When the safety car peeled away for the final time, it led to a seven-lap sprint to the end where Norris came under attack in the slippery conditions from Verstappen.

But Norris had just enough to hang on for a deserved win – his fifth race victory and second in a row after topping the podium at the final race of 2024 in Abu Dhabi.

“A challenging race, but for McLaren I need to give thanks as they have given me a brilliant car. It was amazing, a top race, especially with Max behind me. I was pushing, especially the last two laps – it was a little bit stressful, not going to lie. Tricky conditions, but they are the ones that are enjoyable and we ended up on top, so I’m happy,” he said.

Mercedes’ George Russell finished third after a chaotic race that saw three drivers crash before the end of the first lap.

Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Williams’ Carlos Sainz – last season’s winner for Ferrari – all failed to finish the opening lap on a track made treacherous by earlier torrential rain.

“It was a great race to come home in P3. And well done to Lando, a race like that when you are leading is probably your worst nightmare. I was quite enjoying it, to be honest, hoping the two guys ahead made a mistake and I could slip through,” Russell said.

Verstappen, who is aiming to become only the second driver to win five straight world titles after Michael Schumacher, was in the hunt early on with Norris, but an uncharacteristic error on lap 18 dented his chances until another safety car put him back in the frame.

“It was a difficult race, but at the end it was fun,” said the Dutchman. “It was pushing, fighting for the win, but I’m just happy to bring it home, score good points and this is a good start for us.”

In the unpredictable conditions, with rain on and off, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was a stunning fourth on debut with Williams’ Alex Albon an encouraging fifth behind him.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was sixth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in a Sauber. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came eighth, with Norris’ teammate Piastri and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top 10 on his Ferrari debut.

“It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought that it would go,” said Hamilton.

“The car was really hard to drive today, so I’m just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that’s where it wanted to go most of the time. A lot to take from it but also getting acclimatised to the new power unit in the wet conditions – all the settings it requires are different, a different way of driving and different set-up on the steering wheel.

“I hung out as long as I could and got in the lead at one point, but the guidance in terms of how much more wet rain was coming was just missing there so I think we missed out.” AFP, REUTERS