Lando Norris withstood pressure from team-mate Oscar Piastri to claim a crucial win over his title rival in the Austrian Grand Prix and get his F1 world championship bid back on track.
In a race where reigning champion Max Verstappen retired on the first lap after being spun out by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, the McLaren drivers dominated the battle for victory around the Red Bull Ring – with Norris eventually prevailing to cut Piastri’s lead over him to 15 points heading into his home British GP this coming week.
A fortnight after hitting the back of his team-mate in Canada, polesitter Norris capped a crucial bounce-back weekend in the Styrian hills by fighting off his team-mate’s challenge in the first stint as the McLarens went wheel to wheel and then keeping his cool to stay ahead as Piastri came back at him into the closing laps.
But Verstappen is now 61 points off the pace approaching the season’s halfway mark after his race on Red Bull’s home track lasted a mere three corners.
The Red Bull driver’s car was hit after a mistake from Antonelli into the braking zone when in combat with cars behind saw the Mercedes slam into the side of the Dutchman.
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There was chaos at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix as Kimi Antonelli crashed into Max Verstappen on the opening lap
Although never in contention for the win after being passed for second by Piastri at the start, Charles Leclerc capped an improved weekend for Ferrari by taking third for his and the team’s fourth podium finish of the year.
Leclerc finished nine seconds ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, whose wait for a first podium at the Scuderia goes on to Silverstone.
The sweltering track temperatures in Austria exposed Montreal victors Mercedes’ Achilles’ heel again as George Russell came home 33 seconds behind fourth-placed Hamilton in a lonely fifth – and a full minute behind the race winner.
On one-stop strategies, Liam Lawson took a career-best sixth for Racing Bulls as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso just held off Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto – who is part of his management stable – in a late fight for seventh.
Brazilian rookie Bortoleto, though, could still be content with his maiden points in F1 after the best weekend of the reigning F2 champion’s career at the top level so far.
Nico Hulkenberg made it a double celebration for Sauber by impressively racing from 20th on the grid to ninth, while Esteban Ocon won a ding-dong midfield battle to give Haas the final point with 10th.
How Norris held his nerve to beat Piastri amid McLaren domination
What a difference a fortnight makes for Norris.
After holding up his hands for hitting the back of Piastri’s car in a botched attempt at an overtake on his title-leading team-mate in the closing laps last time out in Montreal – an error which saw the Briton record his first DNF of the season and shed potentially-crucial points – Norris finished as the lead McLaren in all the sessions he was on track at the Red Bull Ring.
But he was certainly made to work for victory by Piastri on Sunday.
The McLarens quickly found themselves in formation coming out of the first corner as while polesitter Norris went right off the line to cover off fellow front-row starter Leclerc, Piastri swept around the outside of the Ferrari to take second place.
It was lap 11 when the title leader made his first true bid for the race lead.
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Oscar Piastri goes deep into Turn 4 and narrowly escapes another team-mate collision with Lando Norris
After small errors from Norris through the final two corners of the previous lap caused him to lose momentum for the start of the next lap, Piastri with DRS overtook his team-mate up the inside on the long uphill run to Turn Three.
However, once there, the Australian locked his front brake and ran slightly wide, allowing his team-mate to draft back past him down the next short straight to Turn Four. Their battle continued all the way to the next turn, but Piastri thought better of a move down the inside and so Norris stayed ahead.
Nine laps later and Piastri came back at Norris again, although this time came perilously close to a near carbon-copy of the Briton’s error from Montreal. On the run to Turn Four, Piastri briefly went for a gap down the inside but locked up and came within inches of careering into the sister car as Norris rounded the corner.
Disaster just about averted, Norris was then pitted first at the end of that lap with Piastri, as the second McLaren on the road, given the option by his engineer to either stop himself next time around or run slightly longer. The Australian chose the latter strategy, ultimately pitting four laps later on lap 24.
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McLaren team-mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were in the cooldown room to watch back the key moments from a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix
The pit stop-offset meant the two cars were not as close in the middle stint but Piastri came back at Norris again after the second and final stops, although nearly saw his challenge ended by an inattentive Franco Colapinto.
Focused on his own battle at the back of the field with Yuki Tsunoda as he exited Turn Three, the Alpine driver squeezed the oncoming McLaren onto the grass – driving which earned the Argentine driver a five-second time penalty.
As they continued to navigate through traffic – everyone up to sixth-placed Lawson were all lapped – Piastri got back within 2s of Norris but not ever close enough to activate DRS again.
Reflecting on their battle after securing his third win of the season, Norris said: “We had a great battle, that’s for sure! It was a lot of fun. For me, a lot of stress but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar.
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McLaren team-mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri gave their reaction after an exhilarating Austrian Grand Prix
“Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch, but inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in DRS.
“The DRS is so big around here, so it was hard to get him out of the gap. Once I did, I could manage things pretty well but he was still quick,”
After seeing his Turn Four near-miss behind his team-mate, Piastri’s race engineer soon told him that the McLaren pit viewed the incident as “too marginal” and that “we can’t do that again”.
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Andrea Stella says he was proud of how McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris handled their battle for the lead
“It was intense. I hope it was good watching because it was pretty hard work from the car,” the Australian said.
“I tried my absolute best. I probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. But it was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times, and probably pushed the limits a bit far.”
Red Bull’s home race hopes evaporate
After an untimely yellow flag at the end of qualifying had left him only seventh on the grid, Verstappen had been expected to fight with the Ferraris for the likely final berth on the podium.
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Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen gave their reaction to the opening lap crash, which took both of them out of the Austrian Grand Prix
But the unwitting invention of Antonelli – the teenage Italian seemingly caught out as the pack snaked into Turn Three and locking his rear brakes – meant that the four-time world champion never got that far.
Stewards later handed Antonelli a three-place grid penalty for the British GP for causing the collision with the Red Bull.
“Of course I saw the footage once I came back and it happens,” said an understanding Verstappen. “Everyone has made a mistake like that in their careers and also Kimi is a very big talent, so he learns from that and that’s all fine.”
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Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda was handed two penalty points after colliding with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto in the Austrian GP
With their standard-bearer sidelined early on, Red Bull’s near-total reliance on Verstappen was badly exposed amid a torrid afternoon for Yuki Tsunoda in the sister car.
The Japanese driver, who had started 18th, had contact with both Lance Stroll and Colapinto – the latter incident earning him a 10s penalty – and finished two laps down in 16th and last place.
It brought up Red Bull’s first scoreless race since the very first event of the current ground-effect rules era – the 2022 Australian Grand Prix – and leaves them adrift of their rivals in fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
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There was drama on the formation lap after Carlos Sainz found himself stuck on the grid, which was quickly followed by a rear-brakes fire at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Williams endured a similarly dismal day.
Carlos Sainz caused the first start to be aborted after his Williams initially failed to leave the grid for the formation lap. While he eventually got going and made it back to the pit lane, the Spaniard’s car then suffered a terminal rear-brake fire as he waited to join the delayed race.
Alex Albon was running seventh in the early laps but was forced to retire with an unspecified technical problem.
Next up in the 2025 Formula 1 season is the big one, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone – live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Showcase with coverage from Thursday to Sunday’s race at 3pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
