Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Melbourne

Image source, Getty Images

Lando Norris mastered treacherous, changing conditions in a dramatic, incident-packed race to beat Max Verstappen and win the Australian Grand Prix.

Norris and his McLaren team made the right calls in a race punctuated by crashes, three safety cars and an aborted start as the Briton put together a statement drive at the start of a season he intends to end as world champion.

Norris was forced to fend off a late threat from Verstappen, brought back into contention by a late safety car, but held on to take his fifth career victory.

Lewis Hamilton finished 10th on a difficult day for Ferrari with his former team-mate George Russell third for Mercedes in Melbourne.

Read the full report here

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The 2025 season is up and running and what an event the Australian Grand Prix has been.

Six cars didn't make the finish line, one rookie scored points, Williams are fourth in the constructors' championship and Lando Norris and McLaren are leading the field early doors.

Thanks for joining us this weekend, folks. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my bed tonight - I've slept on the couch for the last three nights for fear of missing my alarm.

There's no rest for the Formula 1 circus; Melbourne now makes way for the Chinese Grand Prix next week, from 21-23 March. And the schedule will be packed as it's a sprint weekend.

The first (and only) practice session gets under way at 03:30 GMT on Friday, followed by sprint qualifying at 07:30.

Sunday's race starts at 07:00.

See you next week!

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The fan Q&A is back for the 2025 season, with F1 correspondent Andrew Benson ready and waiting to answer your questions. At any point during a race weekend you can send your thoughts to us.

You must have loads after today's fantastic opener, so get in touch using the link here

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli told Sky Sports after finishing in fifth: "It was good, it was really a really eventful race I wanted the podium so bad but I wasn't aware of the penalty which was unfortunate but I can't complain about today.

"The team did a great job, they guided me through, after the mistake it kind of hurt my confidence a little bit and the team did great to calm me down and get me back into the rhythm. They also made all the right calls and I'm really happy about today."

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Kimi Antonelli scored points on his debut for Mercedes and despite being penalised five seconds for an unsafe release, dropping him from fourth down to fifth, the Italian was given plenty of praise from engineer Pete Bonnington, team-mate George Russell and team boss Toto Wolff.

"Mega job today, mate," said Bonnington, who was Lewis Hamilton's engineer during the seven-time world champion's successful years with the Silver Arrows.

"Not bad for your first go," he added. "And some of those overtakes were pretty sweet."

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Lewis Hamilton spoke to Sky Sports on his first Ferrari performance after finishing 10th: "It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought that it would go.

"The car was really hard to drive today so I'm just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that's where it wanted to go most of the time.

"A lot to take from it but also getting acclimatised to the new power unit in the wet conditions, all the settings it requires are different, a different way of driving and different set-up on the steering wheel.

"I hung out as long as I could and got in the lead at one point but the guidance in terms of how much more wet rain was coming was just missing there so I think we missed out."

On having conversations with the pit-wall: "We try to but the information I got was that it was just a quick short shower and at the time it was only in the last corner so the rest of the track was dry so let's keep us on track if that's all that is coming but then more came."

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Williams team principal James Vowles, along with driver Alex Albon, is chatting to Sky Sports. Vowles says the team had the added bonus of another strategist in Melbourne - Carlos Sainz. He says the Spaniard's input was invaluable when the chaos was unfolding and teams up and down the pit wall were trying to make the decisions for slick tyres.

If you're just joining us this morning, hello! It was a cracker of a season-opener. If your wondering why Sainz was able to help out Williams mid-race, it's because he was one of the very early fallers, crashing out at the final corner behind the safety car.

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McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished the race down in ninth told Sky Sports: "It's obviously pretty disappointing at the moment, I feel like every lap apart from one I drove an incredibly strong race and it's just a shame I don't have the result to show for it.

"I don't have anyone to blame but myself, it was probably a bit unfortunate to get stuck the way I did but it's only myself who put me there, so obviously disappointed."

McLaren have started their constructors' title defence with a win in Melbourne. Mercedes' double points in the wet have put them second in the standings, Red Bull sit third and Williams and Sauber are in the unfamiliar territory of fourth and sixth respectively.

1. McLaren - 27 pts

2. Mercedes - 25

3. Red Bull - 18

4. Williams - 12

5. Aston Martin - 8

6. Sauber - 6

7. Ferrari - 5

8. Alpine - 0

9. Racing Bulls - 0

10. Haas - 0

This is the first time in more than 1,000 days a driver other than Red Bull's Max Verstappen has led the drivers' championship. It's first blood to Lando Norris, but there is a loooong way to go.

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 25 pts

2, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 18

3. George Russell (Mercedes) 15

4. Alex Albon (Williams) - 12

5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 10

6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 8

7. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) - 6

8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 4

9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 2

10. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 1

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On the last laps of the race, Lando Norris continued: “Max was quick, I knew I had that good pace but I made one mistake in Turn Six and he got within the DRS and the DRS around here is probably like a second or something so that allowed him to keep staying in that second and allow him to have a couple of looks.

“I had to change my mirror a few more times than I would have liked but I stayed calm and kept it together.”

On his thoughts going into the rest of the season: “My weekend has been amazing from the get-go, it’s not easy to put a weekend together like this especially when I got a lot of pressure from Max and Oscar because they are hungry and competitive and they want it just as badly.

“It was stressful but I know what I’m capable of and I know what I can do. It’s just round one so we need to go and do it next weekend and continue from there. A long season ahead but we’ve just got to keep our head down and keep pushing.”

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George Russell, who finished in third in the Mercedes: : “It was a great race to come home in P3 and I want to say a massive well done to Lando [Norris], a race like that when you’re leading is probably your worst nightmare but he did a great job.

“Also, really well done to Kimi [Antonelli] who came back to P5 which is a really impressive first race but for us it wasn’t our strongest weekend but to end up on a podium, I’m super happy and let’s see what we can do next week.”

On the conditions: “It was good fun, I quite enjoyed it to be honest because I was hoping the two guys ahead in front would make a mistake and I could slip through, but that didn’t seem to be the case today, so really tricky. But that’s what F1 is about and that made it exciting for us.”

On the confidence in the team: “All things considered it’s been a really good weekend. McLaren are out in front at the moment but it was a strong result.”

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who finished second at the Australian Grand Prix: "Yeah it was a difficult race, of course, but at the end, it was fun.

"Lando had a moment on entry of Turn Six, so he lost momentum there, so that's why I got close and got DRS. I got close but it's very hard to pass around here. It was fun, those last laps, pushing, at least when you're fighting for the win. I'm just very happy to bring it home, score good points. This is a decent starting point for us.

"It started to rain a bit, so it's a bit like a panic, I need to box, so they went in and I stayed out, the first lap was alright but the weather continued on the other side of the track as well. We then had to box, but at the end of the day if we had boxed one lap earlier, we would have still been P2 anyway.

"It was worth a gamble. It was quite spicy on the slick tyres. It was alright in the end.

"This is where I expected to be, In the first stint we were lacking a bit of pace to the McLaren. It is 18 points more than I had here last year, so I'll take that."

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McLaren’s Lando Norris, who takes the first victory of the 2025 season: “It was amazing, it was a tough race especially with Max [Verstappen] behind me, I was pushing especially the last two laps which was a little bit stressful but an amazing way to start the year.

“It was a tough one because we went off and made some big mistakes, it was just tricky conditions but these are the ones that are enjoyable, fun and unpredictable, but this time we got it right and I’m very happy.”

On the tricky conditions and keeping calm: “We got it wrong a lot last year so I guess we learn from our mistakes.

"It’s still only round one but dealing with the pressure with Max and Oscar [Piastri] behind me, I was pushing the whole way through. I could relax inside but I couldn’t relax by how much I was pushing so it was a tough one.

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

McLaren chief Zak Brown says that the constructors' champions called a perfect strategy in difficult conditions. "The men and women at the factor have built an awesome race car," the American adds.

Let's have a look at what the top three had to say...

Champagne momentpublished at 06:26 Greenwich Mean Time 16 March

06:26 GMT 16 March

The heavens have opened once again! Lando Norris does his signature bottle bang and the champagne goes flying into the air. There is no extra point for fastest lap this season - that's been scrapped. Once the celebration have concluded in Melbourne, we're heading to China for the second race of the campaign next weekend.

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Actually finishing the race when other rookies crashed out is actually an achievement for Oliver Bearman, given everything the British Haas driver has gone through this weekend.

The cameras are in the cooldown room - all seems friendly so far. The trio are watching the highlights from this dramatic Australian Grand Prix, with plenty of shocked expressions when each crash out and incident is shown.

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and George Russell are now on the podium. That trophy is a beauty.

11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

12. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

14. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

DNF. Liam Lawson (Red Bull)

DNF. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

DNF. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

DNF. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

DNF. Jack Doohan (Alpine)

DNF. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

1. Lando Norris (McLaren)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. George Russell (Mercedes)

4. Alex Albon (Williams)

5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

7. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

10. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

Will Max Verstappen and George Russell speak to each other in the cooldown room? Will they kiss and make up over some champagne on the podium? We'll find out shortly..