Lando Norris heaped praise on his McLaren team for their strategy call which boosted him to Australian Grand Prix victory.

However, McLaren did not quite manage to put their work on trimming the fat on their radio communication into practice, as at times Norris felt he like was having “story time” with his race engineer Will Joseph.

Lando Norris: Strategy key to Australian GP win?

McLaren were the class of the field in the opening qualifying of F1 2025, but the weather turned for Grand Prix Sunday in Melbourne, as wind, rain and cool temperatures arrived.

The skies dried up as the race got underway, as did the track as the laps passed, but the weather had another twist to deliver, as a heavy downpour arrived late in the race.

Hitting the final sector, Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri both had an off – they the first to encounter the now treacherous final few turns – as Norris dived into the pits for intermediates, Piastri doing the same but some time later, having spun into the grass.

Norris ultimately won the Australian GP by less than a second from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and after the race, he expressed his gratitude to his McLaren team.

Though, after “a lot of work on trying to make sure we’re snappier and better with communication”, Norris still sees some room for improvement there based on this chaotic race.

He said: “We lost out on a few races last year. Not even ones where it was a guaranteed win, but I think Silverstone was probably a guaranteed win. I don’t know what call we made, but it was a shocking one and we accepted that. Canada wasn’t a guaranteed win. George was quick, Mercedes was quick, and Max was quick. But we didn’t nail the strategy.

“We knew we had to improve in certain areas. There’s been a lot of work on trying to make sure we’re snappier and better with communication. To be honest, today, I wouldn’t say it was snappy – I felt like I was having story time with Will on the radio. We were talking so much every lap; I might as well have left my radio open the whole race.

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“It’s a difficult situation being first and not knowing what to do with tyres. You just know someone behind will get it right behind you, because they’re going to gamble something, and it’ll work out for them. I didn’t want to lose out to someone in the middle of the pack who gambled and somehow won.

“So, I was just making sure we were prepared. I was making sure the guys on the pit wall and everyone back in Mission Control at MTC were aware of what was going on. Making sure we were on top of it, ready to make the right call. That right call was made literally half a second before I boxed, as I was still trying to save the car and didn’t shunt.

“It turned out to be the right decision.

“It was more about relaying information and making sure we’re not overdoing it, it’s a good amount of information and I’m giving them my feelings.

“A little drizzle seemed to make a big difference for us today, especially for me on the hard tyres. That’s what allowed us to make that call to box as quickly as we did.

“There’s a lot more behind the scenes that even I don’t know. A lot of it is the strategy team doing their work. I owe them a lot of credit today because they’ve put in a lot of time and effort over the winter. It’s not just about driving a car quickly on a day like today, strategy is a big part of it too. I owe a lot to Will and the strategy team today.”

McLaren – the reigning Constructors’ champions – are tied with Mercedes at the top in the very early F1 2025 standings.

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