Norris Beats Verstappen in Dramatic Australia Opener

Melbourne, 16 Mar (ONA) --- 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, making his debut for Ferrari, finished 10th on a difficult day for the team, with George Russell third for Mercedes in Melbourne, BBC sports reported.

Seven-time champion Hamilton was leading on lap 46 but only because Ferrari had made the wrong decision to stay out on dry-weather slick tyres as a heavy shower hit the track.

He and team-mate Charles Leclerc then had to pit as a safety car was sent out for the final time following a series of crashes and dropped to the bottom of the top 10.

To add insult to injury, Hamilton was overtaken by Leclerc on the final restart, as the Monegasque sought to recover from a spin at Turn 11 under the safety car that cost him four positions, the Ferraris touching wheels lightly in the incident.

Hamilton then lost a further place as McLaren's Oscar Piastri fought back from a spin that had cost him second place in the late rain.

Mercedes' 18-year-old Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli came through the field from 16th on the grid to fourth with Williams' Alex Albon fifth.

Antonelli finished fourth on the road but was initially demoted a place for an unsafe release in the pits. However, that penalty was later overturned by the stewards on appeal.

McLaren acknowledged a concern that Verstappen would be a major threat, so good is he so often in wet conditions, but Norris and Piastri controlled the race from the start and were able to leave the four-time champion behind them for much of the race as chaos unfolded behind them.

The drama began even before the race officially started, when rookie Isack Hadjar spun his Racing Bull car at Turn Two on the formation lap. The Frenchman stood with his head in his hands, apparently crying, before returning to the pits.

After a 15-minute delay, the race finally got under way, only for another rookie, Australian Jack Doohan, to crash his Alpine on the straight between Turns Four and Six and bring out the safety car.

Underlining the difficulty of the conditions, Carlos Sainz immediately crashed his Williams at the final corner as well.

--- Ends/Khalid