Melbourne (Australia), 16 Mar (LaPresse) – McLaren's Lando Norris won a chaotic Australian Grand Prix in the rain, his first at Albert Park, with the Briton managing to stay ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen after a third safety car at the end of Sunday's race. Lewis Hamilton had a poor debut with Ferrari. The seven-time champion finished tenth, while Charles Leclerc was eighth. Norris started on pole position in the wet race, his first in Melbourne since 2010. But while he was initially pressured by Piastri, who put in a series of fast laps until his team told him to hold his position, the Australian spun at the penultimate corner on lap 44 as the rain intensified and dropped down the standings, with a late-race comeback to ninth place, taking two points. Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished second, 0.895 seconds behind Norris, after starting third on the grid, and took advantage of Piastri's bad luck, the final safety car and pit stops. Mercedes' George Russell rounded out the top-3.