
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