Lando Norris rebounded from his disastrous race in Canada in the best possible way by leading a McLaren one-two in the Austrian Grand Prix.
He led his team mate to the chequered flag by 2.6 seconds and cut Oscar Piastri’s lead in the drivers’ championship to 15 points.
The McLaren drivers stretched their advantage in the championship as Max Verstappen’s race ended on the first lap. The Red Bull driver was taken out by Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli at turn three.
That prompted a Safety Car period, after which Norris came under fierce pressure from his team mate. Piastri made several attempts to get by and even nosed past on one occasion only for Norris to retake him.
Matters almost came to a head when Piastri locked up heavily at turn four and nearly hit his team mate – as Norris did to him two weeks earlier. That prompted an admonishment from the McLaren pit wall.
“The manoeuvre in turn four with the front lock-up was too marginal,” said his race engineer Tom Stallard. “We can’t do that again.”
Norris dived for the pits straight afterwards, while Piastri stayed out longer. That put some distance between the two drivers, though Piastri closed within range over the final laps.
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Piastri’s pursuit of Norris was not aided by Franco Colapinto, who put him on the grass at the exit of turn three while the McLaren driver tried to lap him. Colapinto received a five-second time penalty for the incident.
There were nervy moments for the race leader as he lapped Yuki Tsunoda and then the battling Gabriel Bortoleto and Fernando Alonso as they neared the chequered flag. But he made quicker progress through them than his team mate and the gap between the pair opened up from 1.5 seconds to 2.6 by the time the chequered flag fell.
Charles Leclerc completed the podium after losing second place to Piastri immediately after the start. Lewis Hamilton backed him up in fourth place despite briefly going off at turn three.
Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso gambled on making a single pit stop each. The tactics delivered sixth and seventh places respectively after George Russell passed the pair of them.
Bortoleto’s manager Alonso gave him a lesson in defensive driving over the final laps as he held on to seventh. Nonetheless Bortoleto collected his first points in F1 with eighth place ahead of team mate Nico Hulkenberg. Esteban Ocon scored the final point.
Red Bull endured a dire home race following Verstappen’s retirement. Tsunoda clashed with Lance Stroll and Colapinto, collecting a penalty for the latter, was lapped twice and finished 16th and last.
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2025 Austrian Grand Prix
- McLaren’s warning over turn four more on Norris was “fair” – Piastri
- Red Bull need to understand cause of Tsunoda’s “horrible” race – Horner
- Colapinto given penalty point for forcing Piastri off while being lapped
- Antonelli gets three-place grid drop for Silverstone after taking Verstappen out
- Norris resists Piastri to lead McLaren one-two after Verstappen is taken out
