Spielberg, Jul 6 (IANS): Young McLaren driver Lando Norris created history by finishing third in the first race of the revamped 2020 F1 calendar at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

20-year-old Norris, who finished third in season-opening race on Sunday, became the youngest British driver in the history of the sport to register a podium finish.

Earlier, the record was held by Lewis Hamilton, who finished third in his debut race at Melbourne GP in 2007 as a 22-year-old.

Overall, Norris became the third-youngest podium finisher ever after Max Verstappen (18 years and 228 days) and Lance Stroll (18 years and 239 days).

"I'm speechless," said Norris immediately after the race as per formula1.com. "I think there was a few points in the race where I thought I fudged it up quite bit.

"I dropped to fifth with a few laps to go, Carlos (Sainz) was almost getting past me. I managed to get past (Sergio) Perez, and I ended up on the podium.

"It was a long race but I kept going, I was trying to give it my all, (it was) a pretty cool last few laps having to push as much as I can – you can tell I'm a little bit out of breath," he added.

Six-time champion Hamilton, meanwhile, didn't get off to the best of starts in his title defence as he finished fourth with teammate Valtteri Bottas taking the first place. Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty that dropped him from second place.

The Mercedes pair of Bottas and Hamilton enjoyed a comfortable performance advantage throughout the 71-lap encounter.

It was only in the last 10 laps that the race burst into life, with Hamilton handed his penalty after nerfing Red Bulls' Alexander Albon into a spin on a Safety Car restart on Lap 61. Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari.