Norris fends off Verstappen for thrilling Australian GP victory
Mclaren’s Lando Norris swept to victory in a wet and wild Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off defending champion, Max Verstappen, in a white-knuckle finish to a Formula One season-opener littered with crashes and safety cars.
Mercedes’ George Russell was third on the slippery Albert Park circuit where only 14 of the 20 cars finished in the treacherous conditions.
Norris, the pre-season favourite for the drivers’ title, started the Formula One season as he finished the last at Abu Dhabi, with victory from pole.
The Briton’s win ended Verstappen’s long run at the top of the championship standings dating back to May 2022.
Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri, started second on the grid but finished ninth, his dreams of becoming the first home driver to claim victory or a consolation podium ending with a skid into grass.
Norris claimed his first win in Melbourne and the fifth of his career, saying it was difficult with Verstappen breathing down his neck.
Lewis Hamilton’s debut for Ferrari proved a damp squib with the Briton finishing 10th, two places behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Seven-time world champion, Hamilton, complained his car was “hard to drive” and said the team had made the wrong call with the weather late on which proved costly.—Reuters
