Lando Norris survived late challenges from both Max Verstappen and the weather to win the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.
Norris had serenely led the race through three Safety Car periods before a heavy rain shower 14 laps from the end caught both he and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri out two corners from the end of the lap.
The Brit recovered, but Piastri ended up beached on the grass for nearly a lap when a podium at worst would have been on the cards.
George Russell was third for Mercedes ahead of an excellent fourth place for Alex Albon in the Williams, while the impressive rookie Kimi Antonelli was fifth from 16th on the grid.
Lance Stroll took a quiet sixth for Aston Martin ahead of Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc eighth ahead of a disappointed Piastri, who recovered to ninth by passing Lewis Hamilton on the last lap.
Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar gave a taste of what was to come as he both crashed on the formation lap, leading to a delay of 15 minutes, while fellow rookie Jack Doohan got one sector further before spinning under acceleration on lap one, with Carlos Sainz going off later that lap.
A quiet race briefly livened up when Piastri passed Verstappen on lap 19, with both McLarens quickly opening up a lead over Verstappen that still looks ominous for the rest of the season.
Fernando Alonso then spun off at the exit of Turn 6 on lap 35 to pull the pin on the rest of the Grand Prix, as the Safety Car was deployed and drivers pitted for slick tyres.
Shortly after this a heavy rain shower fell on the Albert Park circuit, and three laps after the Safety Car pitted all hell broke loose as Norris and Piastri both went off at Turn 12.
Norris sought refuge in the pit lane to fit Intermediates while Piastri took over a minute to free himself from the grass to drop to the back of the field.
Liam Lawson spun in identical fashion to Hadjar before him as Gabriel Bortoletto also found trouble at Turn 12 to bring the Safety Car out, with Ferrari the big losers as a strategy gamble to stay out on slicks backfired.
Leclerc was able to pass Hamilton at the Safety Car restart before later taking eighth from Gasly, but it was a bitterly disappointing start to the season for the Scuderia who would have expected much more than 5 points from the season opener.
The Safety Car allowed Piastri to rejoin the pack and gave the Australian a shot at points – a chance he took by passing Gasly two laps from the end, before an excellent move on Hamilton at Turn 9 on the last lap salvaged ninth and two World Championship points.
On a tough day for the Championship’s rookies with four of the six failing to finish, Kimi Antonelli kept his head save for one small spin at Turn 4 early race as he picked his way through to fourth on the road, and fifth overall courtesy of a post race penalty.
The Italian’s maturity stood out with passing moves Hulkenberg and Stroll particular highlights as he recovered well from a disappointing qualifying on Saturday.
