Lando Norris opened his 2025 title campaign with a high-pressure victory ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen on an unpredictable rain-soaked afternoon at the Australian Grand Prix.
The pole-getter survived a battle with teammate Oscar Piastri and a trip through the gravel at Turn 12 to lead the field at the third safety car restart of the afternoon ahead of Verstappen with five laps to go, setting up a high-stakes sprint for victory.
The Dutchman got himself within a second of the leader for the final three laps, but the McLaren man refused to break, holding him off by just 0.895s.
“It was amazing,” he said. “A tough race, especially with Max behind me.
“The last two laps were a little bit stressful, I’m not going to lie, but an amazing way to start the year.
“To McLaren I have to give a big thanks, because they’ve given me an amazing car.”
The autumnal sunshine that bathed the circuit as Norris took the checkered flag contrasted starkly with the heavy rain that had lashed Melbourne’s Albert Park in the hours leading up to the race, forcing the abandonment of two of the support category races, and though the showers had abated in time for drivers to line up on the grid, the circuit remained treacherously slippery.
Isack Hadjar was its first victim, spinning into the barriers at Turn 1 on the formation lap and breaking his rear wing, putting himself out of what should have been his maiden grand prix.
The race got going after a 15-minute delay but was neutralized behind the first of three safety cars when Jack Doohan lost control of his Alpine over the painted road markings as he exited Turn 5, slamming into the wall.
Carlos Sainz then found the barriers exiting the final corner despite the caution as a result of what the 2024 Australian Grand Prix winner described as “a massive torque surge”.
After six laps to clear the wrecks, Norris led the field away cleanly, fending off Verstappen, who had jumped Piastri for second out of Turn 2 on the first lap. The top three held position, equidistant with gaps of around a second, for the opening laps as drivers got their eyes in on the slippery circuit.
But much as they had done in qualifying, Verstappen’s tires soon began to falter, his car less kind to the Pirelli rubber. Pressured by Piastri into the rapid Turn 9-10 chicane, Verstappen broke too late into Turn 11, sailing deep into the standing water on the curbs and allowing the Australian to sail into second place.
The Dutchman was quick on the radio to complain that his tires were expiring, but Red Bull Racing was reluctant to pit him with rain still on the radar. He faded rapidly from the lead battle, losing almost 1.5s per lap, to leave the McLaren drivers in what appeared to be an exclusive battle for victory.
Piastri put his foot down, slowly shredding what had been a 2.8s deficit to get within DRS on lap 28.
The Australian was visually brimming with confidence, later on the brakes and faster through the high-speed sections of the circuit, but on lap 30 he was told to hold station behind his teammate, with the transition to slick tires still on the horizon.
“I mean, I’m faster, but okay,” he radioed back. At first he held himself within DRS range, but a mistake running deep at Turn 6 opened the gap back to 2.5s.
Suddenly McLaren changed its mind. Piastri would be allowed to race his teammate after all so long as he followed team rules.
But the race was neutralized again before the home favorite could contemplate fighting back. Fernando Alonso had crashed at Turn 6, spinning his car over the curbs, sliding down the road and whacking into the barrier, putting himself out of the race.
The second safety car was immediately called, sending most of the field back into the pits for dry tires.
With 23 laps remaining, Norris aced the restart despite Piastri trying to crowd him in the final sector, and the narrow dry line kept the field in position back at racing speed.
But Melbourne had one further twist. Dark clouds had gathered over Albert Park, and teams unanimously forecast a heavy downpour at any minute.
It came suddenly, arriving in the final sector just as the McLaren drivers hit the brakes for Turn 12. They both sailed wide into the gravel, and though Norris rejoined with the lead to enter pit lane for intermediate tires, Piastri slid back across the road and onto the grass at the penultimate corner, coming perilously close to beaching himself.
The Australian rejoined last by the time he managed to scrabble back onto the road, his hopes of home victory thoroughly dashed.
Suddenly Verstappen was back in the lead and gambling on sticking with slicks, but as the rain intensified he too switched to intermediates, dropping back behind Norris.
Meanwhile, further back, Liam Lawson found himself in the barriers exiting Turn 1 in an incident identical to Hadjar’s formation-lap crash, and Gabriel Bortoleto hit the wall heading into the penultimate corner.
Both were out of the race, and the final safety car was called to clear the track and set up the race for its grandstand finish.
The sun finally showed itself from behind the clouds as the race restarted with five laps remaining. Norris led Verstappen, George Russell, Alex Albon and Andrea Kimi Antonelli once the safety car returned to pit lane, the Briton immediately opening a second-strong lead.
The 2024 title runner-up was almost completely steadfast in defense, but a wobble through Turn 6 got Verstappen within a second and into DRS range, setting up a fraught final three laps.
But with the dry line narrow and Norris all out of mistakes, Verstappen couldn’t find a way through.
George Russell completed the podium for Mercedes ahead of teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, though the Italian teenager was demoted back to fifth for an unsafe release, promoting Alex Albon to a sensational fourth for Williams.
Lance Stroll was sixth in the last surviving Aston Martin ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Piastri recovered to ninth after a tremendous move around Lewis Hamilton’s outside into the super-fast Turn 9, the first part of the back chicane, demoting the Briton to 10th.
Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman completed the finishers.
