Norris resists Verstappen to win chaotic wet/dry race

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Norris resists Verstappen to win chaotic wet/dry race

Lando Norris survived rain showers, safety cars and a late trip across the grass to claim victory at the season-opening Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

Starting in the wet and with changeable conditions throughout the afternoon, Norris took the chequered flag as McLaren – when able – showed its advantage over the rest of the field.

Max Verstappen finished second, pushing Norris to the very end of the 57 laps as last season’s top two were the pick of the field.

The curse of the home drivers hit Oscar Piastri, who finished a lowly 9th after bogging down in the grass, having followed Norris off the track on lap 44.

It was a good day for Mercedes, with George Russell largely keeping himself out of all of the trouble to take the final step of the podium.

Russell’s new team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli crossed the line fourth but was hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release and dropped below Alex Albon, who put in a fine performance for Williams.

Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team crash

Photo by: Kym Illman – Getty Images

Inclement weather throughout the day meant no decision over whether to start the new season behind the safety car was taken until the last moment, with a traditional start in place as the rain held off and all 20 drivers opted for the intermediate rubber.

Hadjar was out before the race even began as he spun his Racing Bulls at turn two, damaging his rear wing against the barrier, leading to an aborted start and leaving the Frenchman visibly upset.

Once the delayed race was under way, Alpine’s Doohan lost it into the wall as his hopes of performing well in his home race were ended, bringing out the safety car as a result.

It was not only the newcomers who were struggling, however, as Carlos Sainz, last year’s winner at Albert Park, crashed out on the final corner behind the safety car, prematurely ending his Williams debut.

By that point, Verstappen had already passed Piastri in the opening corners to split the McLarens, with Norris having got away with incident to lead the pack as the two accidents were cleared away.

Racing resumed at the end of lap seven with the track continuing to dry out and very quickly the drivers were having to go off-line to seek wet patches and keep the intermediate tyres working.

Piastri battled back up to second as he closed in on Verstappen before the reigning world champion made a rare mistake in the wet, going straight on at turn 11 and just avoiding the gravel.

Verstappen was unhappy with his tyres and dropped off the back of the McLaren duo, while Piastri began to make inroads into Norris’ lead up front.

The removal of Papaya Rules had suggested Norris and Piastri would be free to race one another, but as the latter closed in he was told over team radio to maintain position as both drivers worked through the first clutch of backmarkers.

“Time to go racing,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the Haas pair had been lapped, although Piastri ran wide to give Norris some breathing space as the track entered the window for slick tyres to be considered.

The stops were triggered as Fernando Alonso became the next driver to find himself in the wall; the Aston Martin spun at turn 6 with Antonelli closing in, bringing out the safety car again.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

Norris and Piastri both switched to the hard compound while Verstappen, who had been nowhere near the top two before the Alonso crash, bolted on a set of mediums ahead of the restart.

As the Alonso wreckage was slowly cleared away, all eyes on the pitwall turned skywards with rain clouds moving over Albert Park, although the 16 remaining runners were all on slicks by the time the safety car peeled off.

Remarkably, those collective decisions were undermined almost immediately as heavy rain started to fall, with both McLarens running off, Norris holding on to pit but Piastri running onto the grass.

With Norris pitting, Verstappen inherited the lead for the first time in the race and Hamilton moving up to second having battled past team-mate Leclerc, the Williams of Albon and Yuki Tsuonda’s Racing Bulls.

With the rain falling ever harder, Ferrari took the gamble to stay out as both Bortoleto and Lawson spun and brought out a third safety car – ruining the chances of Hamilton or Leclerc springing a surprise as they were both forced to pit for intermediates.

Once again, Norris was leading a safety car restart with just five laps remaining and he was able to keep ahead of the pack, while Leclerc edged past Hamilton as the Ferraris fought over the minor points.

Verstappen set about Norris in the closing stages but was unable to find a way past, while Piastri recovered to ninth by passing Hamilton on the final lap.