Norris featured towards the front for much of the race, and won despite an off-track moment as the weather turned.

Oscar Piastri was not so lucky, mirroring his teammates’s error while running second but losing far more time in the process.

That dropped him out of contention for the race but he charged back to salvage a points-paying result in ninth.

Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson also had difficult days, the pair both caught out by the slippery track as they failed to reach the flag.

There were bizarre scenes before the race even started when Isack Hadjar spun his car out of Turn 1 on the formation lap.

The Racing Bulls backed into then barrier on the outside of Turn 2, ending the Frenchman’s race before it had begun.

It prompted an aborted start as the rest of the field circled back around to the grid – apart from Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman who remained in the pit lane.

At the eventual start, Norris clung on to the lead, moving into the middle of the track to fend off the fast-starting Max Verstappen.

Piastri held on to second through the opening corner but fell to third behind Verstappen as the Dutchman got better purchase out of the first corner.

Racing lasted less than half lap before Doohan crashed heavily at Turn 5.

It immediately drew the Safety Car with the Alpine stranded in the middle of the road after spinning on a white line.

With the field under Safety Car conditions, Carlos Sainz also crashed out.

The Williams driver lost the rear as he rounded the final corner to crash out after seemingly also lighting up the rear wheels on a painted line.

During the clean-up, the field was filed through the pit lane before racing resumed at the start of Lap 8, with Norris heading Verstappen and Piastri.

It remained status quo, with George Russell holding down fourth from Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, and Fernando Alonso at the end of the first full racing lap of the race.

After the restart, the top three quickly skipped clear, pulling out at a rate of around a second a lap over Russell in fourth.

Kimi Antonelli was lucky to get away with a spin at Turn 4 after he dipped his right-rear wheel onto the grass, losing a place to Nico Hulkenberg in the process.

Soon after, it was Verstappen’s turn to make a mistake.

The Dutchman went deep at Turn 11, opening the door for Piastri to scamper through into second.

He was unable to live with the pace of the two McLarens ahead while Piastri began chipping away at Norris’ 2.9s advantage.

By Lap 28, that gap had reduced such that Piastri was in DRS range of his team-mate as they came across traffic, namely Bearman, for the first time.

A lap later, the instruction came through from the pit wall: hold position.

That order lasted only four laps when the shackles were taken off once more, the McLaren duo having opened a pit window to Russell in fourth.

Seconds later, Alonso found the fence out of Turn 6 to draw another Safety Car.

That prompted a flurry of activity in pit lane, with a host of driers swapping on to slick tyres.

McLaren took the opportunity to swap its drivers onto the hard compound tyres, while Red Bull opted for mediums for Verstappen.

The race got back underway at the start of Lap 42, Norris leading from Piastri and Verstappen.

Norris quickly pulled away, establishing a 2.7s advantage over his team-mate in two laps.

Predicted rain then arrived, with the McLaren duo bowling it off the road at Turn 12 on Lap 44.

While Norris was able to gather it up quickly, Piastri was unable to and slid off the road at the penultimate corner, his car stuck in the grass.

The Australian didn’t panic, dragging the car clear on the slippery grass by engaging reverse before diving into the lane for intermediate tyres.

Norris had already been in, handing the race lead to Verstappen who remained on track.

Hamilton was second ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, with Gasly fourth over Leclerc and Norris sixth.

Liam Lawson also gained significantly, rising to seventh after running towards the back for the opening half of the race.

Having been initially told to stay out, Verstappen boxed at the end of Lap 46 for intermediate rubber.

That left Hamilton out front on slicks, ahead of Leclerc who is also on slicks.

As Verstappen pulled out of the pits, Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto came unstuck.

The Red Bull was spun at Turn 2 and backed it in much as Hadjar had done earlier.

Bortoleto, meanwhile, was off at the penultimate corner.

It proved a dramatic period in the quickly changing weather, jumbling the order with Norris emerging in the lead from Verstappen and Russell.

Piastri’s off had cost him the better part of a lap and seen him tumble to 13th, ahead only of Bearman.

The Safety Car was withdrawn with six laps remaining with Norris leading from Verstappen, Russell, Albon, Antonelli, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, Gasly, Hamilton, and Leclerc.

The Ferrari pair swapped places at the first corner, Leclerc going around the outside of his team-mate to steal the position in a move for ninth that left little on the table.

Piastri battled his way back to 11th with three laps remaining, locking on to a scrap that had developed between Gasly and the two Ferraris.

The Alpine driver had made a mistake at the opening corner on Lap 54 and fallen behind his two red rivals, and saw him quickly come under attack from the McLaren behind.

He got the move done at Turn 3 on Lap 55 to move back into the points.

With a lap remaining, Verstappen was all over the back of race leader Norris, closing with DRS around the back of the circuit on the final tour but he ultimately fell short.

Norris held on to win with Verstappen second over Russell and Albon fourth ahead of Antonelli, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Hulkenberg, and Leclerc.

A last lap pass on Hamilton saw Piastri rise back to ninth, with the seven-time champ rounding out the points on his Ferrari debut.

Gasly, Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, and Bearman missing out on reward as only 14 cars saw the chequered flag.

Results: Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit