Lando Norris secured a crucial victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, triumphing over his teammate and title contender, Oscar Piastri, following an exciting on-track battle.
Norris successfully defended his position against Piastri for 20 laps during the initial phase of the race and then withstood pressure towards the end to secure his third victory of the season.
This victory came two weeks after his collision with Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix and reduced the Australian`s championship lead from 22 to 15 points.
After crossing the finish line, Norris commented over the team radio, “Well done everyone, beautiful one-two.” In his post-race interview, he added, “We definitely had a great battle. It was a lot of fun, though quite stressful for me! But it was a good fight.”
“Well done to Oscar. I hope everyone enjoyed watching it. It was tough, especially when he had DRS.”
Reigning champion Max Verstappen`s already faint title aspirations suffered a potentially critical setback when Kimi Antonelli forced him off track on the first lap, although McLaren demonstrated dominant performance throughout the weekend.
Norris and Piastri quickly pulled away from the Ferrari cars at the start and maintained a close formation during the initial laps.
Piastri briefly took the lead, diving to the inside at Turn 3, but Norris immediately retook the position using the inside line at the subsequent corner.
Championship leader Piastri almost ran into the back of Norris on lap 20 while attempting a pass, before the pit stops provided Norris with the necessary gap to manage the remainder of the race.
After the race, Piastri commented, “Sorry for the move in Turn 4. My mistake.”
The race results suggested that the 2025 season might become a two-way title fight, as Verstappen retired and the Montreal race winner, George Russell, finished a distant fifth.
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:23:47.693 |
| 2. Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +2.695 |
| 3. Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +19.820 |
| 4. Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +29.020 |
| 5. George Russell | Mercedes | +62.396 |
| 6. Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +67.754 |
| 7. Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1 lap |
| 8. Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1 lap |
| 9. Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 1 lap |
| 10. Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1 lap |
Charles Leclerc secured a podium finish for Ferrari, although he finished 17 seconds behind the second-place car. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth.
Liam Lawson, who was replaced as Verstappen`s teammate after only two races this season, achieved an impressive sixth place for Racing Bulls by executing a flawless one-stop strategy.
Yuki Tsunoda, Lawson`s replacement, finished last after another difficult performance in the challenging Red Bull car.
Fernando Alonso finished eighth for Aston Martin using a strategy similar to Lawson`s, defending his position from his protege Gabriel Bortoleto in an engaging battle during the final laps.
Bortoleto secured eighth place, earning the first points of the reigning Formula 2 champion`s debut season. His Sauber teammate, Nico Hülkenberg, maintained the team`s recent strong form by finishing ninth. This was the first time since 2018 that both Sauber cars finished in the top ten.
Esteban Ocon of Haas secured the last points-scoring position in tenth place.
Williams had a difficult race. Carlos Sainz could not start the race because his brakes caught fire during the formation lap, causing a 15-minute delay to the start.
Sainz`s teammate, Alex Albon, retired in the pit lane later in the race.
