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A second red flag induced by Kevin Magnussen clipping the wall enabled the field to switch to fresh soft tyres during the stoppage for a third standing start on lap 56 of 58.
But the Melbourne race was halted swiftly after the restart due to a chaotic Turn 1, where Fernando Alonso was spun by Carlos Sainz, the Alpine team-mates eliminated each other and Logan Sargeant hit Nyck de Vries.
Norris has called out the Pirelli tyres for their role in the incidents, saying that he “can’t describe how bad the grip is”.
The Briton, who eventually classified sixth, said of the stewards who called for red flags and standings starts over safety cars: “Nothing against them, but the people who make decisions don’t know what’s going on inside the car.
“We have a soft [tyre] on that’s 65 degrees [Centigrade] and I can’t describe how little grip there is on track.
He continued: “It’s not a 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.
“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.”
Lando Norris, McLaren, on the grid
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Norris then implied that the current specification 23-inch Pirellis – on 18-inch wheel rims – we …