Lando Norris claims first win in chaotic Grand Prix™

In a race that was delayed at the start and then slowed by two first-lap incidents, Lando Norris dominated the opening part of the race, run in changeable conditions, ahead of local hero and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Piastri fans around the country had their hearts broken for the second day in a row on lap 44 when both McLaren drivers were the first to be hit by a brief rain shower. Norris briefly went off the road but Piastri skated even further off, his papaya racer stranded on the wet grass for nearly a whole lap.

By the time he resumed the track Norris had pitted for Intermediate tyres and chased down the new leader, Max Verstappen. When he had to pit, Norris resumed the lead to take opening honours in the fight for the title – but only after Verstappen had, inevitably, closed the gap to under 1s over the final laps.

“A tough race, especially with Max behind me, I was pushing,” said Norris, who takes the lead in the World Drivers’ Championship for the first time. “We went off and I made some big mistakes. But we got it right and I ended up on top, so I am happy.

“We got it wrong a lot last year so I guess we learned from our mistakes. Dealing with the pressure, dealing with Max, dealing with Oscar behind me, I was pushing pretty hard.”

It was also a great day for Mercedes-AMG fans, with George Russell taking third place ahead of a frankly staggering debutant in Kimi Antonelli. The 18-year-old rookie ran as low as 15th in the early stages of the race before he found a way to deal with the slippery conditions, but was dropped one position when hit with a five-second time penalty for his team unsafely releasing his car from a pitstop.

Alexander Albon gained fourth place. He drove a clever race in the Williams, staying clear of trouble in the tricky and changeable conditions. Behind him was Lance Stroll in the surviving Aston Martin, Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber, and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, which appeared to be suffering from tyre wear problems from early in the race.

Piastri resumed 13th after his delay but stormed through the field over the final six laps, which culminated by him taking ninth place off Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari around the outside of the fearsome Turn 9 on the final lap of the race.

Jack Doohan had a brief debut as a full-time F1® driver, the Queenslander losing the rear end of the Alpine on the opening lap and finding the wall. Shortly after the Safety Car was summoned, Carlos Sainz spun out of 10th place, losing the Williams into the way into the final corner after what he described as a “Massive torque surge”.

The fight for the World Championship continues unabated, with the cars back on the track on Friday before next weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai next Sunday.