Australian GP win shows we “learned from our mistakes”

Lando Norris said his Australian Grand Prix victory shows McLaren have learned from the mistakes they made last year.

Periodic rain showers in Melbourne meant teams had to make split-second calls about whether and when to change tyres.

Norris went off the track when one shower hit and pitted immediately afterwards to switch from slicks to intermediates. This was potentially a pivotal moment in the race, as his pursuer Max Verstappen tried to stay out on slick tyres.

But the Red Bull driver eventually pitted for intermediates as well, which dropped him back behind the McLaren. They finished at the front of the field in that order.

It was a satisfying win for the McLaren driver who lost potential victories in similar circumstances during 2024.

“We got it wrong a lot last year so I guess we learned from our mistakes,” he said afterwards. “We lost out in Silverstone and Canada through a race like this, so we’ve learned from our mistakes, I think.”

His victory gives him the early lead in the drivers’ championship. “It’s still only round one of 24,” he said. “But dealing with the pressure, dealing with Max, dealing with Oscar behind me, I was pushing the whole way through.

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“I could relax inside, but I wasn’t relaxing from how much I was pushing. So it was a tough one. To not make too many mistakes, to not have a mistake that costs me anything, I guess I can take a little bit of credit for that.

“A tough, challenging race, but for McLaren I need to give a big thanks because they’ve given me an amazing car, so I have to start with them.”

Following a late restart, Norris resisted pressure from Verstappen to clinch victory. “Max was quick,” he said. “I knew I had good pace, but I made one mistake in turn six and he got within the DRS.

“The DRS around here is probably [worth] a second or something, so that allowed him to keep staying within that second and have a couple of little looks.

“I had to check my mirror a few more times than what I would have liked. But I stayed calm and I kept it together and I listened to Will [Joseph, race engineer].”

Norris also came under pressure from Oscar Piastri at one stage in the race. He admitted it had been a “stressful” afternoon.

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“It’s not easy to put a weekend together like this, especially when I got a lot of pressure from Max and from Oscar, because they’re hungry and they’re competitive and they want it just as badly.

“So it was stressful, but I know what I’m capable of, I know what I can do. But like you said, it’s just round one. So, we need to go and do it again next weekend and then continue from there. So a long season ahead, we just got to keep our head down and keep pushing.”

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