Pushed to the point of exasperation over two gut-wrenching hours in the wet and wind of Albert Park, Lewis Hamilton was in a state of shock as an unlikely victory on his debut for Ferrari slipped through his fingers at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Instead, it was title favourite Lando Norris who stamped the first mark of 24 this season.
As the dark clouds circled once more and late rain played havoc with frontrunners Norris and Oscar Piastri, Ferrari opted to keep Hamilton out as the intensity of the rain increased, while most of the field pitted.
A subsequent safety car, with then-leader Hamilton being held up in slow traffic before eventually pitting for intermediate wet tyres, meant the Briton dropped towards the back of the pack, and the pain in his voice was palpable. The 40-year-old ultimately finished 10th, taking just one point from an underwhelming weekend.
Hamilton swore over the team radio when he was told of his new position, and said to new race engineer Riccardo Adami: “We missed a big opportunity.” Hamilton had struggled to communicate with the Italian engineer Adami – Carlos Sainz’s old engineer – earlier in the race, repeatedly instructing Adami to “leave me to it”. The teething problems were plain to see.
Norris, who started on pole, won an action-packed race in treacherous conditions at Albert Park, with Max Verstappen coming home in second and George Russell in third.
Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc almost collided at the end of the race, but the Monegasque eventually finished in eighth.
Hamilton, who started the race in eighth, was also overtaken by McLaren’s Piastri on the last lap to cap off a torrid final 15 laps. Given the hype and fanfare heading into this opening weekend, this was nothing short of a damp squib for the seven-time world champion.
“It was very tricky,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 afterwards.
“It went a lot worse than I thought it would go, the car was really hard to drive today. I’m grateful I kept it out of the wall, that’s where it wanted to go most of the time.
“A lot to take [in], different power unit in the wet, different driving and setup on the steering wheel. And the guidance of how much more rain was coming … we missed out.
“The information I got was that it was a short shower, and real quick, and it was just the last corner. But then more came.”
Norris survived a rain shower and late charge from Verstappen to open his season in style by winning a wild, wacky and thrilling race in which six cars retired after a series of crashes.
Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan and Sainz were all forced to retire early on as drivers struggled to control their cars amid heavy wind and rain in Melbourne. Even the wily old fox Fernando Alonso slammed his car into the barrier.
Yet with 13 laps remaining, both Norris and Piastri, who was running behind his McLaren teammate in second place, ran off the road and through the gravel in slippery conditions.
TOP-10 - AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
1. Lando Norris
2. Max Verstappen
3. George Russell
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. Alex Albon
6. Lance Stroll
7. Nico Hulkenberg
8. Charles Leclerc
9. Oscar Piastri
10. Lewis Hamilton
Norris was able to dive into the pits to move back to the intermediate tyres and salvage victory, but Piastri ended up in the grass at the penultimate corner, scuppering McLaren’s dream of a one-two.
To the dismay of the home crowd, the Australian crossed the line in ninth.
Norris took the chequered flag 0.8 seconds clear of world champion Verstappen, who eeked the maximum out of his Red Bull car in conditions he relishes.
“It was a tough, tough race, especially with Max behind me,” Norris said.
“I was pushing. It was, especially the last two laps, a little bit stressful, I'm not going to lie.
“But amazing way to start the year, a tough one, because, you know, we went off and we made some big mistakes.
“I went through the gravel, a lot of damage, just tricky conditions. But these are the ones that are enjoyable and fun and unpredictable.
“We got it wrong a lot last year, so I guess we learned from our mistakes. You know, we lost out on Silverstone and Canada through a race like this.
“So we've learned from our mistakes.”
Alex Albon finished a terrific fifth for Williams while Russell’s teammate, the 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, finished an impressive fourth on his F1 debut after Mercedes won a post-race appeal against a five-second penalty.
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