Albert Park, Sunday, 16 March

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella, after the Australian Grand Prix.

As it happened

• During the Formation Lap, the race start is aborted due to an incident with Hadjar
• At lights out, Lando keeps P1, while Oscar loses P2 to Verstappen
• As the track gets wetter, the Safety Car is deployed following multiple incidents
• After a clean restart, P2 is regained by Oscar as Verstappen runs wide
• Another Safety Car is deployed after Alonso retires. A double-stack pit stop is executed, and both drivers switch to Hard tyres
• Following another clean restart, rain begins to fall. Oscar runs off track and gets stuck on the grass
• Lando pits for Inters and rejoins in P6
• Oscar recovers the car, boxes for Inters, and rejoins at the back, a lap down
• Lawson and Bortoleto spin, triggering another Safety Car
• The race restarts cleanly once again. Lando is back in P1
• Oscar battles through the field to finish P9
• Despite pressure from Verstappen, victory at the Australian GP is secured by Lando

Started	1st
Finished	1st
Fastest Lap	1m22.167s on lap 43 (1st)
Pit stops	2, lap 34 [Inter/Hard] (2.8s) and lap 44 [Hard/Inter] (2.5s)

“It’s an incredible start to the year and the team have given me an amazing car from the get-go. Whilst it was a tough race due to the unpredictable conditions and the pressure from Oscar and Max, I felt comfortable and confident out there in the package the team have given us.  

“It’s been a great weekend. We now need to go to China, do it again, and continue from there. There’s a long season ahead, and we have to keep our heads down and keep pushing.”

Started	2nd
Finished	9th
Fastest Lap	1m23.242s on lap 43 (+1.075s) (4th)
Pit stops	2, lap 34 [Inter/Hard] (3.7s) and lap 44 [Hard/Inter] (3.3s)

“A disappointing result after a really positive weekend. I had the speed and I felt in very good shape to fight for the win. Unfortunately, at the end, I just lost it in the sudden rain. Thanks to the team for all their efforts and thanks to all the Australian fans who have given me so much good energy and support over the last few days. It means a lot.” 

“It is very satisfying to begin the season with a victory, but we definitely have mixed feelings today because for a long time, it looked like we were on for a one-two finish. Lando and Oscar were both driving brilliantly until they hit a sudden wall of rain in the final sector where, effectively, Oscar just paid a bigger price than Lando when they both went off track. He was just a little bit unlucky, but if the car keeps performing at this level of competitiveness, he won’t have to wait long to secure big results.  

“Lando was very impressive today.  Controlling the restarts, withstanding the pressure from Oscar and later Max in such challenging conditions, particularly as he was running with damage in the last stint, was a great display of how he continues to develop as a driver. 

“I’m very happy with the way the drivers have supported each other through the weekend by learning from each other, and the front row lockout was the result of this collaboration.  

“As to the pace of the MCL39, I think today, the gap we were able to open in the first stint, before the Safety Cars, demonstrated both that the car is competitive, but also that it is gentle on the tyres. It’s meeting the objectives we have set for ourselves over the winter, so congratulations to the whole team for a lot of hard work – but it will take a few more races until we can better understand the true competitive order. Here in Australia, I don’t think we’ve seen everything our competitors have to offer. We’ll learn more next weekend in China.”