Lando Norris does not believe McLaren would have been able to navigate the challenges of the Australian Grand Prix without their significant development over the past year.

A chaotic first Formula One race of the season was affected by crashes, three safety cars and on-off rain, with Norris holding off reigning world champion Max Verstappen to take the victory.

The Brit started on pole and held the lead for the majority of the 58 laps even as the weather turned in the latter stages, but McLaren's quick thinking in their tactics ensured he got over the line ahead of Verstappen.

It is the first time McLaren have won the season-opener since 2012, while Norris is only the second British driver in F1 history to take pole position and win the first race of the year for the team after Lewis Hamilton in 2008 (also in Australia).

"I think we do, by a little margin, have the best car, but not everything is about the car," Norris told Sky Italy.

"Today was a deserved win because we made good decisions as a team.

We'll leave this one here.

It sure was a g'day, Melbs pic.twitter.com/FvL2TRUelu

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 16, 2025

"In the past, last year, we would have done the same race, and we wouldn't have won because we were not the best at making those decisions and today, we were.

"I give a lot of praise to the team because they worked hard over the winter to make sure they were ready for a day like today."

Three races were affected by rain last season – the Canadian, British and Sao Paulo Grands Prix – all of which Norris failed to win, though he managed to get on the podium in the first two.

"We lost out on a few races last year. Not even ones where it was a guaranteed win, but I think Silverstone was probably a guaranteed win. I don't know what call we made, but it was a shocking one and we accepted that," he said.

"Canada wasn't a guaranteed win. George [Russell] was quick, Mercedes was quick, and Max was quick. But we didn't nail the strategy. We knew we had to improve in certain areas."

Norris and McLaren will aim for back-to-back wins to start the season as the convoy heads to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix.