In a race riddled with safety car interruptions and six drivers crashing out, Piastri became the latest Australian to be hit by the curse on local drivers.

Piastri followed Norris for more than 40 laps and was poised for a podium finish before spinning off the track. He tried valiantly to weave through the field in the dying laps.

Piastri saw the lighter side about his run-in with the Albert Park turf. “Mow the grass a couple of inches shorter,” he joked.

Norris was rapt to see off the challenges from both Piastri and Verstappen.

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“I was pushing, especially the last two laps. It got a little bit stressful, I’m not going to lie,” said Norris, who started in pole position.

“We [both McLarens] went off, we made some big mistakes, we went through the gravel… just tricky conditions, but these are the ones that are enjoyable and fun, and unpredictable. This time we got it right and ended up on top.

“My weekend’s been amazing … it’s not easy to put a weekend together like this, especially when I’ve got a lot of pressure from Max and from Oscar, because they’re hungry and they’re competitive, and they want it just as badly.

“It’s just round one. We need to go and do it again next weekend and continue from there.”

Piastri described his predicament as “frustrating” but was proud about his performance.

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“It would be pessimistic of me to write off the whole weekend because of one mistake,” he said.

Mercedes’ George Russell completed the placings after 57 laps of high drama.

“I was quite enjoying it [the conditions] to be honest, because I was hoping the two guys ahead would make a mistake and I could slip through but that just didn’t seem to be the case today,” he said. “It was really, really tricky. “That’s what F1’s about.”

Verstappen took an optimistic tone after his close run effort to snatch victory.

“It was fun, those last laps – pushing, at least when you’re fighting for the win,” he said.

“I’m just very happy to bring it home and score good points.

“This is a decent starting point for us [Red Bull].”

Australian driver Jack Doohan crashed out on the opening lap, ramping up the pressure on him to keep his seat at Alpine.

Doohan lost control on turn six, spinning on the slippery track and crashing into the wall.

The Australian has been forced to contend with speculation that he could be replaced by Alpine’s reserve driver Franco Colapinto.

When Doohan crashed out early his father, motorcycle legend Mick, shook his head in the garage.

He was one of six drivers in the 20-man field to officially record a did not finish.

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Rookie driver Isack Hajar was gone from the race even before it began, sent back to the garage after crashing out in the formation lap.

“Usually I take things step by step and working on having the best out lap possible for the race start,” Hajar said.

“So … early in the lap, you try to warm those tyres and I overdid it.”