Lando Norris recovered from a non-finish at Canada to take race victory at the Austrian Grand Prix with a commanding drive from pole to race victory at the Red Bull Ring. His McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri had to settle for second, scoring Papaya an 1-2 finish while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third.
As for the home crowd favourite Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver was unable to complete a lap as he was innocently taken out by an out of control Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Turn 3. Having to start in P7 on the grid was a disappointment and to be knocked out on lap 1 was painful for the defending champion. At least the Mercedes driver was feeling and saying sorry for an early exit.
It was an intense battle between the McLarens as there was no team orders for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The championship leader tried to get ahead but Norris was in control and this was a perfect comeback after a collision from Canada. The next race is Lando’s home race so expect a big welcome in Silverstone.
Piastri had been given permission to battle for the lead before being warned by the McLaren pit wall that one of his attempts had been too close. In the final stages of the race, a late push was not quite enough to give him the chance to threaten Norris for the lead due to the backmarkers.
Charles Leclerc took the final step on the podium, coming home a distant third for Ferrari, which proved to be the best of the rest as Lewis Hamilton took fourth position.
George Russell, race winner in Canada, was over half a minute behind Hamilton in fifth, with Liam Lawson an impressive sixth for Racing Bulls.
A battle of master and apprentice saw the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso hold off a late challenge from Gabriel Bortoleto for seventh, the Sauber rookie picking up his first points of his Formula 1 career.
Nico Hulkenberg also scored points for Sauber in ninth, with the Haas of Esteban Ocon rounding out the top ten.
The initial start was aborted as Carlos Sainz failed to get his Williams off the starting line and was only able to be pushed away from the starting grid as Norris led the formation lap into the final corner.
Sainz eventually got going but, after coming into the pits, the rear of his Williams caught fire and his mechanics sprinted to the end of the pitlane to quell the flames – only for Sainz to be forced to retire before the restart.
Once the five red lights finally went out, Piastri passed Leclerc into turn one as Russell got past former teammate Hamilton, it was behind them, though, where the action happened. Reigning world champion Verstappen was left waving to his adoring fans as Antonelli locked his rears and steamed straight into the world champion at Turn 3.
The incident brought out the safety car just moments after Hamilton had retaken fourth from the Mercedes of Russell, with the Ferrari able to hold Russell at the restart.
Up front, McLaren gave Piastri the clearance to race Norris and he kept the pressure on the leader, who was racing in the clean air.
It was lap 11 where Piastri made his move into Turn 3 after a small error from Norris, who kept a cool head and cut back underneath the rear wing of his teammate to retake the lead.
Alex Albon compounded a dreadful afternoon for Williams, retiring at the end of lap 16 to leave both cars in the garage.
Meanwhile, out front, Norris came in for his first stop at the end of lap 20, having survived a late lunge from Piastri that saw the McLaren driver lock up slightly.
Norris switched to the hard compound but a stop of 3.1s gave Piastri a chance to push – even if he reported a flat spot from the earlier dive at Norris into Turn 4. McLaren asked Piastri if he wanted to follow his teammate into the pits or stay out and have fresher tyres later in the race.
Piastri came in on lap 24 and it was another slow stop from McLaren, 3.4 seconds stationary in his box as he emerged over five seconds adrift of Norris – he was then given a message over the radio that his Turn 4 attempt was too close for comfort at McLaren.
Yuki Tsunoda, struggling for performance as the sole Red Bull remaining in the race, was battling further down the field and clipped Franco Colapinto at Turn 4, Tsunoda requiring a new front wing and dropping to the back of the field before the Red Bull driver was handed a 10-second penalty for the collision.
As the race passed the midway point, Piastri started to close in on Norris as he took a whole second out of the leader on lap 40.
The positions remained the same heading into the second round of stops, Norris boxing a lap earlier while Piastri ended up behind the Tsunoda/Colapinto battle and was almost crashed into by the latter, who appeared oblivious to the fact he was being lapped and was handed a five-second penalty as a result.
Heading into the final ten laps, Piastri cut the gap once again, getting to within two seconds of Norris who pleaded over the radio – “I need some pace, please help.” He was later told that he had front-wing damage that the team could not address.
Norris would hold on to take the win, managing to put the battle of Alonso and Bortoleto between himself and Piastri for the closing lap.
So a fantastic pole to win for Lando Norris. He needed this to regain his confidence after a crash in Canada. His home race is next so expect a warm welcome from the passionate crowd at Silverstone.
Austrian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:23:47.693
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +2.695s
3 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari +19.820s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +29.020s
5 George Russell Mercedes +62.396s
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +67.754s
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
11 Oliver Bearman Haas +1 lap
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
16 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull +2 laps
Alexander Albon Williams DNF
Max Verstappen Red Bull DNF
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Carlos Sainz Williams DNS
Lando Norris returned to winning ways at the Austrian Grand Prix after getting the better of McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri in a head-to-head scrap for victory – title rival Max Verstappen having been eliminated in a first-lap incident.
Norris converted pole position into the lead at Turn 1 but soon came under intense pressure from championship leader Piastri, who launched several attacks and at one point muscled his way past, only for the positions to be swiftly reversed.
After a particularly close call under braking for Turn 4, which saw Piastri lock up and almost run into the back of Norris, the Australian went slightly longer on his starting set of tyres in an attempt to build an advantage for the remainder of the race.
While Piastri lit up the timesheets in phases across the second and third stints, Norris had just enough pace in hand to hold onto P1 and take the chequered flag – marking his third win of the season and first victory since last month’s Monaco Grand Prix.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-fends-off-piastri-for-austrian-gp-victory-in-thrilling-race-long.2CH71wVvRP1FaU8s04Tj7f
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has been eliminated from the Austrian Grand Prix after being tagged by Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap.
In the uphill run towards the Turn 3 right-hander, ninth-place starting Antonelli appeared to miss his braking point, ducking to the inside to avoid the cars ahead of him. He then locked his tyres to spear straight into the back of Verstappen at the apex.
Both Verstappen and Antonelli were out on the spot with terminal damage to their cars, with the incident bringing out the safety car.
Lando Norris successfully defended his pole position to lead on the lap 4 restart, with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second.
Lewis Hamilton was fourth after a prolonged fight with the second Mercedes of George Russell.
Antonelli risks a further grid drop for next week’s British Grand Prix in Silverstone as the FIA race stewards are set to investigate the collision after the race.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-out-of-f1-austrian-gp-after-antonelli-clash/10737632/
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has addressed his opening lap crash with Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver locked his rear brakes at Turn 3 and collided with the side of the four-time Formula 1 champion. Both were forced to retire from the race as a result.
The Italian driver confirmed that it wasn’t late braking, but rather locking up the rears that caused him to lose control.
“I didn’t necessarily brake too late, it’s just that when I braked, I braked hard because I was behind other cars, and in that moment I locked the rears,” he explained to Sky Sports. “Then I just couldn’t stop the car.
“I locked the rear and then lost the car, and then had to avoid Lawson. Then it was too late because I was arriving just too quick. I started to lock the front and instead of decelerating, I was accelerating. The car was just taking speed and the crash was inevitable.”
Taking responsibility for the crash with Verstappen, Antonelli issued an apology to the Mercedes team and the Red Bull driver. The 18-year-old driver acknowledged that the incident could result in a penalty which would carry over to the British Grand Prix next week.
“Just feel super sorry to the team, and to Max of course, because obviously he was just a passenger,” he continued.
“Of course, it’s a big mistake. Now we need to move forward and focus on Silverstone. We’ll see if we get a penalty or not, but it’s going to be important to get back and start doing like I did in Canada.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kimi-antonelli-details-verstappen-crash-was-inevitable/10737654/
Max Verstappen’s championship hopes look well and truly dashed after a disaster weekend at Austria’s Red Bull Ring. Not only did the reigning champion start in a disappointing seventh place, but his race barely began before he was clipped by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli at Turn 3 of the opening lap. Following the race, he reacted to the incident with the young rookie.
Just moments into the race at Red Bull’s home circuit, the four-time champion pushed hard during an impressive start. But a collision with the Mercedes driver saw both cars sustain enough damage to end their races.
“The start of the race] was, I think, a nice improvement from the last three races, where I was not particularly happy with the start.
“At that point I didn’t know what happened,” Verstappen explained to Motorsport.com and other media. “We had quite a bit of damage, and the car needed [to be] turned off.
“So yeah, I guess unlucky a little bit yesterday in qualifying, and unlucky today in the race. But of course, if you look at the weekend, we were not where we wanted to be I guess in terms of pace. We have to try and analyse that and hopefully have a little bit of a more positive weekend next week.”
Verstappen’s reaction to the clash was relaxed, with him accepting the fact that it was a simple mistake from the Silver Arrows driver as he revealed what he’d asked Antonelli after the two were out of their cars.
“I just asked what happened because he was the only guy that was there with me, with his wheel hanging off. So I was like… maybe I’m – well, I’m pretty sure that he hit me.
“Then of course I saw the footage once I came back. And it happens, you know. I mean, every driver has made a mistake like that. Everyone has made a mistake like that in their careers. And also, you know, Kimi is a very big talent. So he learns from that, you know, and that’s all fine.”
The Italian spoke to Verstappen following the crash, too – something the Dutchman was appreciative of.
“It’s of course very nice, you know. But for me, it was already case closed anyway. You know, I saw what happened and no one does these things on purpose. It can happen.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-addresses-antonelli-austria-go-crash-no-one-does-these-things-on-purpose/10737702/
Lando Norris was delighted to lead a McLaren 1-2 with his victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, which came following a “tough” race-long battle with team mate Oscar Piastri that caused the Briton “a lot of stress”.
Both papaya cars made a good start when the race got underway at the Red Bull Ring, Norris maintaining his lead from pole position while Piastri took a position from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to move up into P2.
A thrilling scrap then ensued across the opening stint which saw Piastri make several attempts at overtaking Norris. The Australian briefly got ahead at one stage, only for the other McLaren to quickly surge back in front.
The fight started to heat up again during the final stages of the 70-lap encounter, but Norris managed to maintain enough of a gap to seal his third win of the season, crossing the line 2.695s clear of Piastri.
Asked after jumping out of the car about how he had handled the pressure throughout the race – which took place in hot conditions in Spielberg – Norris admitted that it had not been an easy afternoon at the wheel of the MCL39.
“It was a tough race,” the 25-year-old conceded. “Pushing the whole way through. [It was] tricky, hot, tiring, but a perfect result for us a team – a 1-2 is exactly what we want and we did it again, so I’m very happy.”
The result marked a strong turnaround for Norris following the nightmare end to his race last time out in Canada, in which he collided with Piastri during the closing laps and was forced to retire from the running.
This time the intra-team duel remained clean, but Norris acknowledged that Piastri gave him quite a tough challenge throughout the event in Austria.
“We had a great battle, that’s for sure,” the British driver said. “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.
“Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch, but inside the car it was obviously tough, especially when he was in DRS. The DRS is so big around here, it’s hard to get him out of the gap, but once I did I could manage things pretty well. But he was still quick, so it was good fun.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-hails-perfect-result-after-victory-in-austria-as-he-reflects-on-tough.3z48pUzkW8JEeJpWPEbP9x