In the first race of the current Formula One season, which took place in Australia on Sunday, Lando Norris emerged victorious.
The British driver managed to top the podium and begin his season with the most points possible by overcoming the difficult circumstances and the threat posed by four-time champion Max Verstappen.
After McLaren dominated Saturday’s qualifying, Norris started the race in pole position. Oscar Piastri, a teammate, finished off the front row and started in second.
Norris was correct to be concerned about Verstappen’s threat from third on the grid, despite McLaren’s dominant qualifying performance.
Verstappen never gave Norris the luxury of a large lead in a race that was significantly influenced by safety cars and, in the later stages, rain. Verstappen pursued Norris all the way to the finish line.
Norris acknowledged that he had to check his mirrors a few more times than he would have liked, but Verstappen was just 0.895 seconds behind him when the chequered flag was finally raised.
Following his victory, the 25-year-old told the program, “It was amazing.” It was a difficult race; I was pushing, especially with Max at my back. I won’t lie, it was a little anxious, especially the final two laps, but it was a fantastic way to start the year.
Although Norris acknowledged that the race wasn’t ideal, he and his squad managed to win because of the circumstances.
“I think we learned from our mistakes because we made a lot of mistakes last year,” he continued.
George Russell of Mercedes finished third on the podium, while Kimi Antonelli, his young rookie teammate, finished fourth with a strong race. The initial time penalty that Antonelli received was later revoked.
Lewis Hamilton had a lackluster day later in the race, finishing in ninth place after making a dismal Ferrari debut.
The 40-year-old had a fantastic 12 years with Mercedes before joining Ferrari before the 2025 season.
To add to his seven driver world titles and Ferrari’s first since 2007, he will need to make significant progress.
After what he called a “very tricky” opening race of the season, an honest Hamilton told Sky Sports, “It went a lot worse than I thought that it would go.”
It was quite difficult to drive the automobile today. Since that’s where it wanted to go most of the time, I’m just thankful that I kept it away from the wall.
Before the race next week, Hamilton and Ferrari will be hoping for a speedy turnaround.
After a brief break, the Formula One season moves to China for its second weekend of competition. The race is scheduled for March 23 at 2:00 PM ET.
