Zak Brown hails ‘unbelievable’ Lando Norris drive and ‘perfect’ McLaren strategy after season-opening victory in Australia

McLaren boss Zak Brown has praised the team effort behind Lando Norris’ victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Norris mastered the treacherous Melbourne conditions to take victory over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, putting himself at the top of the F1 Drivers’ Championship standings for the first time in his career.

With the race starting in wet conditions, a dry line gradually appeared around the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, and after changing from intermediate tyres to slicks, Norris and team mate Oscar Piastri were able to gap Verstappen.

But a heavy late-race shower threatened to derail all of their good work, with both drivers sliding through the Turn 12 gravel. While Norris was able to recover and make it back to the pits, Piastri dropped a lap down as he carefully returned to the track, having continued his previous slide onto the grass at Turn 13.

Piastri eventually recovered to finish the race in ninth position, adding to the 25 points achieved by Norris.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 16: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 — Norris, Verstappen and Piastri battled for supremacy in the tricky, mixed conditions

Talking to Sky Sports F1 about Norris’ victory, McLaren Racing CEO Brown said: “It was an unbelievable drive. The team called a perfect strategy in very difficult conditions.

“I feel terrible for Oscar; he drove such a brilliant race. They both came up on that rain at the same time and Lando was able to collect it up, while it was a little bit more tricky for Oscar. He drove great to get back to P9, but an awesome team effort.”

With conditions rarely stable across the 57 laps, Brown conceded that deciding on the moment to change from intermediates to slicks, and vice versa, was “really tough”.

He explained: “We kept thinking the rain was going to come, but it might not come, when is it going to come, how bad is it going to be, how long is it going to be? We just had to react to the circumstances.

“The team did a great job. Everyone back at McLaren, all the men and women, they’ve built a proper race car.”

Race Highlights: 2025 Australian Grand Prix

Last year, Red Bull began the season as the dominant force, finishing 1-2 at three of the first four Grands Prix, and with both cars on the podium in the fifth.

But even with Verstappen’s early record of seven wins from 10 Grands Prix to begin that campaign, Red Bull were unable to retain the Teams’ Championship crown, as McLaren swooped to secure the honour.

Cautious that McLaren cannot sit back after a strong performance at one round, Brown said: “We definitely have a very quick race car, but we’ve seen how quickly things change in the sport.

“We need to make sure we keep developing, but that’s what everyone back at McLaren has done an awesome job of in the last few years.”