Lando Norris held off Max Verstappen to win Formula One's 2025 season-opener, coming out on top in a dramatic Australian Grand Prix.

The race was punctuated by an aborted start, crashes, three safety cars and on-off rain, but the Brit and McLaren made the right choices, allowing him to hold off Verstappen in the closing stages.

George Russell finished third for Mercedes, a result that had looked unlikely, while his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished 10th on his Ferrari debut.

The McLarens had dominated qualifying and that form translated into the race, with Norris holding the lead for the majority of the 58 laps from Oscar Piastri.

However, when the rain began to fall in the latter stages, Piastri slid off the track and fell down the pecking order, allowing Verstappen, who had at one stage trailed the leaders by 16 seconds, to close in.

Though the Dutchman, who had led early on before a mistake saw him drop back, got in front as the weather changed, a pit stop gave Norris the chance to regain his lead, which he then successfully held onto despite Verstappen's best efforts.

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, staged a brilliant recovery drive to go from 16th to a fourth-place finish. He was initially demoted a place for an unsafe release in the pits. However, the penalty was later overturned on appeal.

Home-favourite Piastri recovered to finish ninth between the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton, who briefly held the lead with 10 laps to go, but the team's gamble to stay on slick tyres did not pay off.

The drama had begun before the race officially started, with rookie Isack Hadjar spinning out on the formation lap, leading to a 15-minute delay. Once the race was underway, Jack Doohan crashed his Alpine between Turns Four and Six, while Carlos Sainz – on his Williams debut – lasted just one lap as he crashed at the final corner.

A RACE WIN TO START 2025!

What a drive, @LandoNorris #McLaren | #AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/FirfltXhR3

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 16, 2025

Data Debrief: Norris on top

Norris is only the second British driver in F1 history to take pole position and win the first race of the year for McLaren. Only Hamilton had done so before, also in Australia (2008).

After taking pole position with victory at the final Grand Prix of 2024 in Abu Dhabi, Norris has now strung together two races with pole and victory for the first time in his F1 career. It is the fourth time he has achieved this after Abu Dhabi, Singapore and the Netherlands (all in 2024).

Having claimed the early points advantage, he has also ended Verstappen's 63-race sequence at the head of thee drivers' championship, a run that dated back to mid-2022.

Top 10

1. Lando Norris (McLaren)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. George Russell (Mercedes)

4. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

5. Alex Albon (Williams)

6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

7. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

10. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers'

1. Lando Norris - 25

2. Max Verstappen - 18

3. George Russell - 15

Constructors'

1. McLaren - 27

2. Mercedes - 25

3. Red Bulls - 18