A tough start for Oscar Piastri as Max Verstappen gets past on Lap 1. But with the home crowd behind him, there was plenty of fight left in this race. 

Lap 17: Piastri capitalises on a mistake from Verstappen at Turn 11 to move into P2. The home crowd is on its feet. 

Lap 33: Both McLaren drivers are free to race, but Piastri runs wide at Turn 6, losing 1.5 seconds to Norris. A costly moment in the battle. 

Lap 34: Alonso crashes, bringing out the safety car. A wave of pit stops follows, with Piastri holding position and switching to hard tyres. 

Lap 42: The safety car comes in, with rain still looming. Piastri holds position, but the weather is closing in.

Lap 45: The rain proves costly—Piastri spins in turn 13. He recovers from the grass, switches to intermediates, and rejoins in P15, one lap down with 11 laps to go. A tough break, but the fight isn’t over yet. 

Lap 47: The safety car, triggering another wave of pit stops. Piastri moves to P13 as the race heads into its final stages and Lawson and Bortoleto spin out.

Lap 53: Piastri gains two spots, moving up to P11.

Lap 55: With DRS enabled, he makes a clean move on Gasly to break into the top 10. A strong recovery drive in tough conditions.

Final Lap: Piastri fights to the end, making a late move on Lewis Hamilton to take P9. A resilient drive in front of the home crowd as teammate Lando Norris secures victory at Albert Park. Teammate Lando Norris takes the win at Albert Park, delivering a huge moment for McLaren. 

Other fun facts

Record crowd of about 465,000 through the gates over four days, a new record for Melbourne

McLaren haven’t lead the world championship since 2012

Three safety cars meant Motorsport Australia officials were on full swing clearing six cars