A Melbourne marker: is Norris now the sure-fire favourite?

Learning from the errors of 2024

Humble almost to a fault, Norris made it clear he’s spent the winter focusing on areas that required improvement following his flawed breakthrough season in 2024. “We got it wrong a lot last year so I guess we learn from our mistakes,” he volunteered. “We lost out on Silverstone and Canada through a race like this, so we've learned from our mistakes. It’s still only Round 1 of 24, but dealing with the pressure, dealing with Max [Verstappen], dealing with Oscar [Piastri] behind me, I was pushing the whole way.

“To not make overly too many mistakes, to not have a mistake that cost me anything, I guess I can take a little bit of credit for that. A tough, challenging race, but for McLaren I need to give thanks because they have given me an amazing car.”

Pressure from the start

As he said, team-mate Piastri and Verstappen provided real and present danger in a race that required both a calm head and a sensitive right foot in the most demanding of changeable conditions. Norris had to negotiate an aborted start, a rash of crashes around him and three safety car interruptions to get the job done. There was nothing spectacular about his drive – but actually that was what made it so special. Early days, we know – but Norris controlling from the front on Sunday looked like the new normal.

The aborted start was triggered by Isack Hadjar losing his Racing Bull at Turn 2 on the formation lap. The embarrassed rookie was understandably distraught for his debut to end before it had begun, as Lewis Hamilton’s father, Anthony, offered kind words of comfort on Hadjar’s long walk back to the pits.

The delay didn’t throw Norris, though. As the race began on a lethally greasy track and with the field on intermediate Pirellis, the McLaren launched smoothly from its pole position as Verstappen scrabbled past Piastri through Turn 2, before the race was neutralised by another rookie, Jack Doohan, dropping a clanger in his Alpine. He was in good company though. Carlos Sainz, winner at Albert Park last year for Ferrari, also lost his Williams to cut his first race for the team all too short.

Piastri’s threat

When racing resumed on lap eight, Norris faced pressure from the chasing Verstappen and Piastri as the top three pulled away from the rest led by George Russell’s Mercedes. Then, a rare error from Verstappen at Turn 11 on lap 17 allowed Piastri to pounce, and in front of his home crowd Oscar now focused on pressing his team-mate.

As our season preview noted, a running theme this year will be how McLaren manages – or mismanages – the close duel between its two young chargers. Here was early evidence. In traffic, Piastri was briefly told to “hold position,” although a subsequent radio call made it clear the pair would be “free to race. You know the rules.” Piastri closed in, as the McLarens showed their superiority and sprinted well clear of Verstappen’s Red Bull – but it was Oscar who cracked next. A small mistake on a kerb gave Norris some brief respite.

How Norris almost lost it (and Piastri did)

The second safety car interlude was triggered by a surprising culprit: Fernando Alonso, who caught a kerb and spun his Aston Martin out of Turn 7 on lap 34. The field pitted, most of them for slicks on a track beginning to dry, but during the caution period the threat of imminent further rain created fresh jeopardy. Racing resumed on lap 42, but the promised rain soon hit – and the McLaren duo were the first to find it.

Both skated off out of Turn 12, although Norris was able to recover quickly. Piastri, who’d bounced further wide, was not so lucky. He spun onto sodden grass at Turn 13 and only got back on track after gingerly reversing in his search for grip. As Norris dived to the pits for new intermediate tyres, Piastri knew his home challenge for a top finish was over.

Red Bull gambles…

At this point, Red Bull threw its dice by telling Verstappen to hold out on his slicks, in the hope the rain would pass, the track might dry and he’d then be sitting pretty. As it turned out, a doubting Verstappen was eventually called in for the safety of inters. Had he stayed on slicks, might Verstappen have won? Hindsight is a wonder. In reality, track conditions were still beyond tough and even the great Dutchman would have struggled to keep his car out of the barriers. Had he managed it, the World Champion would still have risked losing an awful lot of performance. It was a long shot, at best.

…and Ferrari too

Ferrari too had gambled, perhaps on the basis it had little to lose. Charles Leclerc had run fifth from seventh on the grid after a disappointing qualifying, while Lewis Hamilton was struggling in eighth during what wasn’t exactly turning into a dream debut in red. But now he led – briefly – as the team kept him out on his hard slicks, again in the hope of a break in the weather.

When that didn’t come both Ferraris gave up on the ploy, pitted and returned at the bottom of the top ten. Leclerc finished eighth after picking off Hamilton at the last safety car restart, while Lewis faced further ignominy when a recovering Piastri relieved him of ninth in the final stages. He’ll expect better in China.

Norris vs Verstappen

Back up front, Norris had re-taken the lead after his stop by passing Hamilton’s slick-shod Ferrari just before Lewis pitted – and just before the safety car was called upon for the last time. Liam Lawson crashed on his Red Bull debut, while Gabriel Bortoleto was also a casualty on his maiden F1 start for Sauber.

Now we had the prospect of a six-lap shootout to the flag, Norris versus Verstappen, and inevitably the Dutchman pressed his friend and rival hard for the victory. In the final laps he closed in for the kill, but Norris proved unflappable. Neat and tidy in still challenging conditions, he flashed out of the final corner and across the line to win by 0.895sec – a great finish to a tense and chaotic season opener.

Norris a deserved driver of the day

Piastri’s misfortune allowed George Russell to gain a place on the podium, ahead of comfortably the best of the rookies – his team-mate Kimi Antonelli. The teenager had been docked five seconds for an unsafe pitstop release in front of Nico Hülkenberg, but the penalty was later rescinded to lift him back to a brilliant fourth. A great result for the young man – and a promising three-four for Mercedes.

Alex Albon was excellent for Williams, having started sixth and finding himself classified fifth; Lance Stroll made up for Alonso’s error with a fine sixth for Aston Martin; Sauber will be delighted with seventh for Hülkenberg on his return to the team he last drove for in 2013; and Leclerc, Piastri and Hamilton won’t care too much for their minor points scores at the outer reaches of the top ten.

But the day belonged to Norris, who fans voted the driver of the day for a performance that netted him a fifth F1 career win. “It was amazing,” he admitted with a smile, but again without a hint of hyperbole. “A tough race, especially with Max behind me. I was pushing, especially the last two laps were a little bit stressful, but an amazing way to start the year.

“A tough one because we went off, made some big mistakes and went through the gravel and did a lot of damage,” he said of his one moment of weakness. “It was just tricky conditions, but these are the ones that are enjoyable and fun and unpredictable, but this time we got it right and we ended up on top. So I'm very happy.”

So he should be. Next stop, Shanghai.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.