Lando Norris overcame difficult weather conditions and a charging Max Verstappen to claim victory at the Australian Grand Prix, and said that his win demonstrated a key improvement from last season as he made the perfect start to the 2025 F1 season.
Norris battled treacherous weather conditions at Albert Park in Melbourne, and survived a brief off-track excursion as he claimed a hard-earned victory to get his season off to a winning start.
Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren celebrates in Parc Ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 15, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren celebrates in Parc Ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 15, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. Kym Illman/Getty Images
“It was amazing,” Norris said in parc ferme after his victory.
“Tough, tough race, especially with Max behind me. I was pushing, you know? It was, especially the last two laps, a little bit stressful, I’m not gonna lie!
“But an amazing way to start the year, a tough one.”
Norris converted his pole position into maximum points on race day at Albert Park in Melbourne, but his victory was anything but easy.
Changeable weather conditions kept the pressure on Norris throughout the weather-affected 57-lap race that saw the race start in wet conditions, before the drivers switched to slick tires mid-way through the race only to turn back to intermediate tires when more rain hit the circuit.
That rain saw both Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri slide off the circuit, but Norris was able to regain control of his car and immediately duck into the pits to swap his slicks for intermediates.
That quick change effectively kept him in contention as he held off Verstappen in the final laps to claim the first race win of the season.
“We went off, and we made some big mistakes,” he admitted.
“I went through the gravel, a lot of the damage, 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.”
Norris has seen potential race wins fall by the wayside in wet conditions before, with bad strategy calls costing him victories at the British and Canadian Grands Prix. But he was quick to heap praise on his team for getting the strategy right in Melbourne.
“We got it wrong a lot last year, so I guess we learned from our mistakes,” he smiled.
“We lost out on Silverstone and Canada through a race like this. So we just learned from our mistakes, I think.
“It’s still only round one of 24, but dealing with the pressure, dealing with Max, dealing with Oscar behind me. I was pushing the whole way through. I could relax inside, but I wasn’t relaxing from how much I was pushing.”
He also gave himself a little praise, too, as he admitted that he dealt with conditions better than he might have done in the past.
“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,” he said.
“So yeah, a tough, tough, challenging race. But I mean for McLaren, I need to give a big thanks, because they’ve given me an amazing car. So I have to start with them.”
To pick up the victory in such testing conditions can only be a confidence boost for Norris and McLaren, who now head to China with an early lead in the Drivers’ Championship.
“My weekend’s been amazing from the get go – from FP1, FP2, FP3, quali, and then the race,” he said.
“So it’s not easy to put a weekend together like this, especially when I got a lot of pressure from Max and from Oscar, because they’re hungry and they’re competitive and they want it just as badly, so (it’s) stressful. But I know what I’m capable of. I know what I can do.
“But it’s just round one, so we need to go and do it again next weekend and then continue from there. So, a long season ahead. We just want to keep our head down and keep pushing.”
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