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The Australian Grand Prix made F1 history last weekend with three red flags being issued throughout the race
The Australian Grand Prix had three red flags and several safety cars throughout the race and Lando Norris has now singled out Pirelli tyres as being a cause of the chaos in Melbourne. 
Round three of the Formula One season saw the championship return to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. Whilst the circuit isn’t a new addition to the calendar, the weekend saw a lot drama on track.
Across the free practice sessions and Qualifying, there was a total of four red flags. The feeder series, who raced at Albert Park for the first time last weekend, also saw their fair share of red flags. So when it came to the F1 Grand Prix, it was no surprise that we would we see red flags as well.
However, throughout the race there was a total of three red flags, which is reportedly the highest number of red flags in a Grand Prix. The first was brought out by Alex Albon, who lost the rear of his Williams. Kevin Magnussen then caused the second red flag after he hit the wall on lap 54, causing his right rear tyre to bounce off.
It was after this second red flag where things got a bit chaotic. All drivers returned to the pits during the stoppage and made the switch onto the fastest compound tyre – the softs. However, on the standing start restart, six drivers were involved in incidents.
Lando Norris of McLaren, who scored his first points this season, has now given his thoughts on the restart and the cause of the chaos.
Since 2022, Formula One has used the 18-inch wheel rims on the F1 cars. The Albert Park Circuit is different compared to the first two tracks of the season; it is less abrasive and not too hard on tyre degradation.
However, Lando Norris has now called out Pirelli due to the lack of grip the tyres had during the Grand Prix. Norris said:
“We have a soft [tyre] on that’s 65 degrees [Centigrade] and I can’t describe how little grip there is on track. It’s not bad temperature.
“But the tyre doesn’t work and on this surface with this tyre temperature, I can’t describe how bad the grip is.”
Over the course of the weekend, there were mixed conditions in all on-track sessions. The Grand Prix at Melbourne was the first F1 session of the weekend that had higher temperatures and no threat of rain.
Norris continued commenting on the second restart and how the tyres affected it. The Brit said: “That’s why you see everyone going straight on in Turn 1 and locking up… it provides literally no grip, so you have to brake so early, which causes chaos and causes incidents.”
With so much chaos towards the end of the race, Norris has admitted that the Pirelli tyres felt “terrible.” The McLaren driver acknowledged that if the tyres gave the drivers some grip, “you’d be able to see a good race without chaos and some clumsiness and things like that.”
Norris continued by saying what F1 needs. He said:
“We need a tyre that gives us some more grip and actually a tyre that feels like it should be on a Formula 1 car at the top of motorsport. At the moment, on a day like today, it feels pretty terrible.”
Logan Sargeant, who on the second restart locked up into Turn 1 and went into the back of Nyck de Vries’ AlphaTauri, has reiterated Norris’ point. Sargeant said:
“When I hit the brake, nothing was up to temp: the tyres, brakes. I just touched the brakes and locked both fronts immediately.”
The ending of the Australian Grand Prix came under fire as many questioned the ending to the race. With three red flags and two restarts, the race in Melbourne was quite confusing and controversial. But for Lando Norris, the tyres seem to be the main point of question.
The FIA has opened the F1 tyre tender for 2025. With Norris’ comments and the difficulty of having any grip last weekend, we could see some rival manufacturers to Pirelli apply to become F1’s sole tyre supplier.
After the Australian Grand Prix, do you agree with Norris’ comments?
Headline Image: GettyImages
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