Panic in the garage as Norris weathers the storm to win wet and wild grand prix

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen said he sensed McLaren panic after a moment of chaos cost Oscar Piastri a history-making podium finish at a wet and wild Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix and teammate Lando Norris weathered the storm to celebrate victory.

The McLarens appeared destined to clinch a 1-2 finish at Albert Park, but veered off the track on lap 44. While Norris showed nerves of steel to recover to beat Verstappen by less than one second, Piastri became stuck in the grass and finished ninth after initially slipping back to 16th.

Piastri later lamented his mistake.

“It’s obviously a shame with how it went today,” Piastri said. “The crowd deserved to have an Aussie on the podium to cheer for, so it obviously hurts at the moment that I can’t be up there. But I think for myself, there’s a lot of positives to try and take out of today.”

Verstappen described the chaotic moments after the McLarens veered wide.

“They [the McLarens] went off and I think it was a panic ‘Oh, I need to box’. So when they came in, I stayed out,” he said.

“The first lap, honestly, I think it was alright but then unfortunately, the weather continued a bit more on the other side of the track and we then had to box. But I think at the end of the day, even if we had to box one lap earlier, we would have still been P2 anyway after that stop.

“It was quite spicy out there with the slick tyres, but it was alright at the end.”

In a race riddled with safety car interruptions and six drivers crashing out, Piastri became the latest Australian to be hit by the curse on local drivers.

Piastri followed Norris for more than 40 laps and was poised for a podium finish before spinning off the track. He tried valiantly to weave through the field in the dying laps.

Piastri saw the lighter side about his run-in with the Albert Park turf. “Mow the grass a couple of inches shorter,” he joked.

Norris was rapt to see off the challenges from both Piastri and Verstappen.

“I was pushing, especially the last two laps. It got a little bit stressful, I’m not going to lie,” said Norris, who started in pole position.

“We [both McLarens] went off, we made some big mistakes, we went through the gravel… just tricky conditions, but these are the ones that are enjoyable and fun, and unpredictable. This time we got it right and ended up on top.

“My weekend’s been amazing ... it’s not easy to put a weekend together like this, especially when I’ve 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.

“It’s just round one. We need to go and do it again next weekend and continue from there.”

Piastri described his predicament as “frustrating” but was proud about his performance.

“It would be pessimistic of me to write off the whole weekend because of one mistake,” he said.

Mercedes’ George Russell completed the placings after 57 laps of high drama.

“I was quite enjoying it [the conditions] to be honest, because I was hoping the two guys ahead would make a mistake and I could slip through but that just didn’t seem to be the case today,” he said. “It was really, really tricky. “That’s what F1’s about.”

Verstappen took an optimistic tone after his close run effort to snatch victory.

“It was fun, those last laps – pushing, at least when you’re fighting for the win,” he said.

“I’m just very happy to bring it home and score good points.

“This is a decent starting point for us [Red Bull].”

Doohan’s ‘lesson learned’

Matthew Clayton

One of the most chaotic Australian Grands Prix in the near three-decade history of the event in Melbourne was a baptism of fire for the six rookies on the 2025 grid, with Australian Jack Doohan a first-lap casualty in a race that even tripped up the most experienced driver in the sport’s history.

Doohan, son of five-time world motorcycle champion Mick Doohan, lasted just five corners on the first lap before clouting the wall on the high-speed run to turn six, the Alpine driver caught out by treacherous conditions as the field tiptoed through the opening stages of the first race of the season.

Doohan, who debuted in Abu Dhabi for Alpine in the final race of last season, was unhurt in the shunt, and was initially mystified as to how his race ended so abruptly after qualifying in 14th place.

“Lesson learned,” the 22-year-old said.

“I didn’t really understand what happened, to be honest, until I got back [to the garage]. Just looking at it, whether it was [running on] the white line, [tyres] just not up to temperature, it just seemed as I upshifted to fourth [gear], I lost the car.

“I’m making sure I spend some time with the boys to understand how I can make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“We have a race weekend already next week in Shanghai, [so] we’re going to regroup, keep our heads high. We’ve had a strong package this weekend. Very strong yesterday afternoon. So we need to keep strong and bounce back next weekend.”

Doohan’s early bath was in keeping with a torrid afternoon for the rookies, with only Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes, highly-rated Italian Kimi Antonelli, managing to shine through the gloom.

The 18-year-old finished fourth at the chequered flag from 16th on the grid, but was demoted to fifth after a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in a late-race pit stop, a sanction that promoted Williams driver Alexander Albon to fourth place.

Sauber’s Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto crashed heavily at the penultimate corner on lap 45 while in 13th place after qualifying 15th.

Red Bull Racing’s Liam Lawson, who started a season for the first time on Sunday after spending 11 races as Daniel Ricciardo’s injury substitute and eventual replacement at the RB team in 2023-24, ended a difficult first weekend as Max Verstappen’s teammate by crashing at the second corner one lap later as a rain shower lashed the Albert Park track.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who started three races for Ferrari and Haas last year as an injury replacement for Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen respectively, qualified and finished last.

French debutant Isack Hadjar didn’t even make the start, the Racing Bulls driver clouting the wall at turn two on the formation lap to the grid and returning to the pits in tears before being consoled by Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony, his shunt causing the race to be delayed by 10 minutes and reduced by one lap to 57 laps.

The wild conditions also caught out Aston Martin’s 43-year-old two-time world champion Fernando Alonso – who first raced at Albert Park in 2001, before any of Sunday’s rookies were born – with the Spaniard causing a safety car when he clattered into the barriers on the inside of turn six on lap 33.

Alonso’s compatriot Carlos Sainz, the 2024 Albert Park winner for Ferrari, crashed out at the final corner on the first lap of his first race for Williams, his third non-finish in his past five visits to Melbourne.

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