Lando Norris narrowly survived a late shower and worrying slither into the gravel to win a wet and wacky Australian Grand Prix by a whisker.

It looked bleak for him at this worrying moment after so many sure-footed laps in tricky conditions after starting on pole and holding off Max Verstappen gallantly at lights out. But as other cars came into the pits to be reshod, he moved up into the lead again.

His one pursuer had been McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, but at the same spot as Norris went off he too detoured off track a second or so later. He, though, could not right his car and ended up stuck on the grass, his race-winning prospects over, though he recovered to finish ninth.

Norris drove well under pressure at the end, despite a small mistake at Turn 6, as Verstappen hounded him all the way and got within DRS range, but he held on to triumph by 0.8sec. George Russell was third for Mercedes – a very decent drive by him.