Lando Norris endured everything in Australia and took a sheet with his McLaren

The English needed such a triumph to strengthen its image in F1: it endured the rain, a mistake and the pressure of Max Verstappen to win in Melbourne and lead for the first time in the World Cup.

Lando Norris needed a victory of the caliber he got in the Australia GP that opened the 76th Formula 1 season. McLaren’s English had already shown skills to fight for victories, but he lacked a cooking blow that gave clear signs of being contender to the crown. In 2024 he had had the chance of putting Max Verstappen in trouble when the Woking team managed to have a competitive car, but in critical situations he failed. They were not his sons -in -law, there were also from the team, because he did not know how to handle well, time, the internal duel with his partner Oscar Piastri. And, to top it off, San Pablo’s GP was in the memory, in the rain, when he demonstrated a large clarifies, important errors and ceded by knockout before the imposing Verstappen. With that combo reached the start of 2025, with a previous speech that I had to endorse on the track: “I learned from my mistakes last year and now I am ready to win the World Cup,” he said in January.

Norris probably will never have imagined that on the first date of the year I would have to demonstrate that their sayings had livelihood. McLaren is, without a doubt, the car to beat at the start of the year. Point in favor for those of Woking with respect to 2024, who just had the competitive car in the fifth appointment. The English pole, with his partner Piastri completing the first row, was the final sample of the power of the MCL39. Under normal conditions, he was insured triumph. But of normal little and nothing had the Australian race.

Normal little and nothing had the Australian race. Drawed, frantic and dramatic was the competition at Albert Park. The rain that fell early complicated the entrance track. So much, that the start had to abort for Isack Hadjar in the formation return. Absolute tension Especially when the competition could finally begin and Verstappen surpassed Piastri. But The Red Bull’s rhythm could not endure McLaren’s and was demonstrated when the Australian recovered second place after a slight dismissal of the tetrampeon, who could no longer fight against the papaya chassis. But the incidents continued, the security car returned to the track and Norris’s tension continued.

McLaren had another point in favor: he made the decision to interfere directly in the fight of his pupils and avoid repeating errors of 2024. When Piastri approached Lando and traveled with more rhythm, the message of maintaining the positions came. End of the story. On the first date they made it clear that they will make calls every time they believe it necessary. It seemed that everything was finished, but on the end the sky turned black again and the rain came. And Norris’ greatest error came: he lost the footprint and was clueless, but controlled it to pure doll. Behind, his partner Piastri ended up skating in the Pasto and Verstappen was a threat again. The blows of Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto again made the security car and the boxes were a pilgrimage.

If any more show should give Norris in the two final turns, when Verstappen went over. His soft norris nickname was again in check. But this time he endured everything to celebrate the victory, his fifth in F1 and that allows him to lead the World Cup for the first time in his personal history. “It was a hard race with Max behind. I was pushing, especially in the last two laps. It is an exceptional way to start the year. Everything was unpredictable with the rain, I had a mistake. Last year we were very wrong and learned a lot. We lost too much in Canada and Silverstone. Today I made several mistakes, but none that cost me a lot, in a very challenging race, the team gave me a big car to start the year. Max was fast. I’m leaving as a leader, but it’s just the first race, ”Lando analyzed.

There are an eternity of 23 races to end the 2025 season, but Norris took a candidate sheet. Not only for having the best car at the start of the season, something that could already be suspected after the end of 2024 that had McLaren as champion of builders. But the English had to take a temperance exam, he had to endorse his January words, when he said he had learned from his mistakes. And in Australia a situation fell that in San Pablo left it almost ridiculous, with a success that has much more value than the trophy that took Melbourne.

Restored from the Australian GP