At the season-opening , Norris qualified in fourth place but was elevated to third after a grid penalty for Lewis Hamilton, the highest grid position of his career and the highest for McLaren since the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix. In the closing stages of the race, third-placed Hamilton was issued a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Alex Albon. Norris set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap to finish 4.802 seconds behind Hamilton, allowing Norris to claim the first podium finish of his career. This made Norris the third youngest podium-finisher in Formula One history. At the , Norris qualified sixth but was given a three-place grid penalty for overtaking under yellow flags during practice. He passed three cars in the final two laps of the race to finish fifth, in what he described as "one of the best races of [his] career".