LANDO NORRIS won the first drama-filled race of the season which saw SIX drivers KO’d in Melbourne.
The McLaren driver held onto the lead by the skin of his teeth as Max Verstappen pulled it out the bag to finish a whisker behind him in second.
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The other McLaren, Oscar Piastri, suffered a nightmare ending having been hot on teammate Norris’ heels throughout before spinning off the track and onto the grass with 11 laps to go.
It meant Verstappen overtook him and Piastri finished in ninth after starting the race in second after a front row look out for reining Constructor’s champs McLaren.
After the Piastri chaos, Lewis Hamilton was leading the race on his debut for Ferrari as the Italian team gambled by not pitting him and his teammate Charles Leclerc.
But it did not pay off as Verstappen pitted and hunted them down on fresh tyres, forcing them into the pits for a changeover.
The fuming seven-time world champion gave his race engineer Riccardo Adami a tongue lashing, swearing on his radio after Ferrari dropped down the positions and he finished in ninth while Leclerc settled for eighth.
British Mercedes driver George Russell made it onto the podium in third and Alex Albon came in fourth in his Williams.
To rub salt in the wounds for Hamilton, Lance Stroll also finished ahead of him in sixth for Aston Martin.
SIX drivers did not finish the drama-filled race, including Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson.
RB rookie Hadjar crashed on the formation lap before he even started and was left crying with his head in his hands before Lewis Hamilton’s dad comforted him.
“Ooof, little bit of pressure! Well done boys, beautifully handled.
“Executed to the second. One second later and we were done. Well done everyone, congrats, amazing way to start the year.”
Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle called it one of Norris’ “all-time great” drives.
