Norris beats Verstappen in dramatic Australia opener

Lando Norris mastered treacherous, changing conditions in a dramatic, incident-packed race to beat Max Verstappen and win the Australian Grand Prix.

Norris and his McLaren team made the right calls in a race punctuated by crashes, three safety cars and an aborted start as the Briton put together a statement drive at the start of a season he intends to end as world champion.

Norris was forced to fend off a late threat from Verstappen, brought back into contention by a late safety car, but held on to take his fifth career victory.

Lewis Hamilton finished 10th on a difficult day for Ferrari with his former team-mate George Russell third for Mercedes.

Seven-time champion Hamilton was leading on lap 46 but only because Ferrari had made the wrong decision to stay out on dry-weather slick tyres as a heavy shower hit the track.

He and team-mate Charles Leclerc then had to pit as a safety car was sent out for the final time following a series of crashes and dropped to the bottom of the top 10.

To add insult to injury, Hamilton was overtaken by Leclerc on the final restart, the Ferraris touching wheels lightly in the incident, and then lost a further place as McLaren's Oscar Piastri sought to recover from a spin that had cost him second place in the late rain.

More to follow