Lando Norris delivered a compelling response to his critics with a dominant victory at Sunday`s Austrian Grand Prix. Displaying strong race craft, composure under pressure, and impressive speed, he effectively reset the narrative surrounding his title aspirations, which had seemed in doubt after a challenging Canadian Grand Prix two weeks prior.
Throughout the three days at the Red Bull Ring, Norris consistently held an edge over his McLaren teammate and championship rival, Oscar Piastri. Piastri struggled to match Norris`s pace in practice, qualifying, and the race itself. Even when the Australian briefly took the lead on Lap 11, Norris immediately reclaimed the position at the following corner, maintaining control.
While a single win doesn`t define a season, Norris still faces a significant challenge to overcome the 15-point deficit to Piastri in the standings. Had he failed to secure the victory in Austria – a possibility that seemed real during the opening phase of the race when Piastri applied pressure – his championship hopes might have suffered a severe, possibly irreversible, setback.
Given his history of self-inflicted errors that have sometimes raised questions about his championship credentials, the Austrian Grand Prix could indeed represent a pivotal moment in Norris`s career.
“It`s certainly fulfilling for me,” Norris commented after the race. “It builds confidence. I don`t feel the need to prove anything to others, honestly. I`m more focused on proving things to myself.”
He added, “This weekend, from FP2 onwards, was clean and comfortable. I felt completely in tune with the car and performed exactly as required. It was simply a solid weekend.”
Consistency and clean weekends have been areas where Norris has previously faltered this year. Mistakes, particularly in crucial qualifying sessions, have been common even when his underlying pace suggested he had an advantage over Piastri.
However, at the Red Bull Ring – a circuit where he previously achieved his first F1 podium and consistently performs well – Norris appeared convincingly faster. While his pace advantage has been evident at several recent races, maximizing it with pole position and victory in Austria presents his title capabilities in a distinctly different light.
“It`s not that I haven`t been capable of this before; the speed has often been there,” he explained. “There have just been various reasons for different outcomes. But delivering this performance today and yesterday is certainly something I`m pleased with. It doesn`t come easily. It`s not just about turning up; I`m putting in significant work away from the track with the team, on the simulator, and with my own support staff, striving to improve in all aspects.”
“Seeing this hard work pay off immediately is a positive step in the right direction. We still need more, so we`ll keep pushing.”
Team Principal Andrea Stella revealed that post-Canada conversations with Norris focused on support and rebuilding confidence rather than assigning blame. Norris had already taken responsibility for the incident, and the team quickly shifted focus to preparing him mentally for Austria.
“The discussions centered on the fact that the speed is clearly there,” Stella stated. “He took pole position and won in Monaco. He was on track for pole in Canada before hitting the wall and was the fastest car in the Canadian race. He also secured pole here in Austria. The pace is evident; we just needed to refine the execution, and the results, as demonstrated by Lando here, would follow.”
“I`m very proud of Lando and how the team handled the situation in Canada. We emerged more unified and stronger.”
Despite the lost points in Canada, Norris has actually outscored Piastri 86 to 85 over the past five races. This perspective, combined with his performance relative to his teammate, reinforces Norris`s position as a credible contender despite past errors.
Piastri Tests the Limits
During the initial phase of the race, Norris`s victory was far from guaranteed. Piastri closely challenged his teammate, positioning his car right behind the leading McLaren until Norris made his first pit stop on Lap 20.
The battle involved intense wheel-to-wheel action. Piastri had a notable opportunity when Norris ran wide on Lap 14, presenting a risky chance at Turn 1, which he passed up. However, five laps later, he appeared bolder, aiming for a gap on the inside of Norris at Turn 4. The gap closed, forcing Piastri to lock up and run wide.
From McLaren`s perspective, this move pushed the boundaries of acceptable racing between the drivers. Piastri was informed over team radio that the manoeuvre was “too marginal” and later apologized after the race.
“Oscar acknowledging this and apologizing indicates he understood that, especially with worn front tires at that stage of the stint, attempting that gap carried a risk of losing control due to a lock-up,” Stella explained. “Our interpretation is that the issue was the tire lock-up, which leads to loss of control, and we don`t want the cars` proximity dictated by factors beyond our full control. I believe his understanding aligns with ours. We will review this situation together, as always, through constructive conversations, and fine-tune our approach for the future.”
This near-miss effectively ended the close wheel-to-wheel combat. Norris pitted on Lap 20, while Piastri stayed out four laps longer. This created a strategic divergence; Norris gained track position on fresher tires, but Piastri emerged with younger tires expected to offer a performance advantage later in the stint.
Before committing to this offset strategy, Piastri had the choice: pit immediately after Norris and rejoin about 1.5 seconds behind with similar tire wear, or delay the stop for a tire advantage and rejoin roughly four seconds adrift. He opted for the latter, though the actual gap was closer to six seconds when he returned to the track.
While hindsight shows Piastri couldn`t close the six-second gap with his younger tires, Stella attributed this partly to Norris`s strong pace during the second stint.
“In such situations, you have two options,” the McLaren boss stated. “Pit immediately after the leading car, putting you a couple of seconds behind with similar tires, or delay the stop to build a `tire delta` and rejoin three or four seconds back but with better tires for the final stint. On tracks with high tire degradation like this, staying out usually offers an advantage. However, today it wasn`t as apparent because we cannot separate the strategy`s outcome for Oscar from Lando`s actual speed.”
“I think Lando was genuinely fast on the hard tires in the second stint. This prevented Oscar from fully capitalizing on the tire delta he had built. Without the constant pressure of defending, Lando perhaps utilized a slight pace advantage to make Oscar`s strategy appear less effective.”
A `Two-Horse Race`
With Kimi Antonelli`s collision with Max Verstappen`s Red Bull on the opening lap, the reigning champion`s championship aspirations seemed to collapse by Sunday evening. A 61-point gap to Piastri and a car currently lacking consistent performance across various conditions make it highly improbable that Verstappen can overtake both McLarens to retain his title.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner was hesitant to declare Verstappen`s title hopes over but acknowledged the reality of the situation.
“I think the buffer McLaren has is significant this season,” Horner admitted. “It really appears to be a two-horse race now. For our part, we will just focus on each grand prix and try to seize every opportunity.”
Encouragingly for fans, this `two-horse race` exhibits all the characteristics of a genuine title battle that could extend to the season`s final race. Predicting the winner of the next race, let alone the championship, is currently impossible.
“With both drivers, we need to approach it race by race,” Stella concluded. “In each race, we must maximize potential, stay out of trouble, and race each other according to our established principles. Then, in Abu Dhabi, we will see what the final outcome is.”
