Lando Norris achieved his third victory of 2025 following a competitive race-long battle with teammate Oscar Piastri, enabling McLaren to secure a commanding one-two finish at the Austrian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finishing in third place. Defending champion Max Verstappen was eliminated in the opening lap after a collision with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli.
Initially, Norris successfully maintained his position from pole position to assume the lead. However, Leclerc experienced a slower start from the opposite side of the front row and was subsequently overtaken by Piastri.
Behind them, Verstappen also made a strong start and advanced to sixth position at Turn 1 by overtaking Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson. The Dutch driver then attempted to challenge Mercedes’ George Russell into Turn 3; however, the race ultimately ended for Verstappen due to contact with another Mercedes driver, Kimi Antonelli.
“It was a tough race. You know, pushing the whole way through,” Norris said. “Tricky, hot, tiring. But the perfect result for us as a team, a one-two is exactly what we want, and we did it again. So, I’m very happy. Probably the best comeback after Canada.”
The Italian driver, attempting to improve his starting position from ninth on the grid, moved to the inside but misjudged his braking point. He lockfully his wheels, slid through the corner, and made contact with the side of Verstappen’s Red Bull. “I’m out, I got hit,” stated the champion as his vehicle came to a stop.
Both drivers were excluded from the race, and the Safety Car was promptly deployed. Norris maintained the lead ahead of Piastri and Leclerc, with Hamilton’s second Ferrari in fourth position, followed by Russell and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
“I hope it was good watching because it was pretty hard work from the car. So yeah, I tried my absolute best and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily, but yep, it was a good battle,” Piastri said. “A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far. But yeah, it was a good race. You know, that’s what we’re here to do, try and race each other and then try and fight for wins, and that’s what we did today. It was close for me but not quite enough. So, thanks to the team. To have the kind of pace we did whilst battling each other was very impressive. So, I can’t thank the team enough for the car we’ve got.”
When the Safety Car departed the track, the competition between the leading McLarens intensified. Piastri made an attempt to overtake on lap 6, but Norris successfully defended his position. Undeterred, the Australian continued to pursue his teammate closely over the subsequent laps. On lap 11, Piastri challenged again, attempting a move on the inside into Turn 3. Norris allowed the maneuver to develop, and as Piastri moved toward the outside of the corner, Norris then cut inside and executed an overtake. This sequence resulted in Norris regaining the lead heading into Turn 4.
The intense competition persisted throughout the initial stint, with Norris maintaining a narrow edge over his teammate. As the first pit stops approached, Piastri made an aggressive move on lap 20, attempting to overtake into Turn 4. However, he locked his brakes and nearly collided with his teammate.
Norris responded to the signal by entering the pits to change onto hard tires. Piastri was released into open track but subsequently reported a flat spot; on lap 24, he also pitted for hard tires.
Piastri was losing ground to Norris, and following the pit stops of the Ferraris, the Briton regained the lead and established a 6.5-second gap over his teammate. Additionally, the Australian driver was advised by his pit wall that his aggressive late-braking maneuver into Turn 4 was considered “too marginal,” and he was instructed not to attempt a similar pass again.
As the race progressed into its second half, the gaps between competitors continued to widen. Piastri had extended his lead to 15 seconds over the leading Ferrari driven by Leclerc, with Hamilton closing in further behind. Meanwhile, the Ferraris maintained a 17-second advantage over Russell.
The competition between the McLaren drivers remained intense; however, Piastri continued to close the gap to his teammate. By lap 40, he had decreased the time deficit from 6.5 seconds to just over three seconds.
Norris made his final pit stop on lap 53, switching to medium tires. Piastri completed his final pit stop on the subsequent lap. The Australian observed Norris passing by and then re-entered the track behind the battling drivers, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda.
Entering Turn 3, Colapinto attempted to overtake but momentarily locked his brakes and ran wide. Tsunoda then advanced to secure P15, while Colapinto maneuvered to rejoin and benefit from the Red Bull’s slipstream. In doing so, however, he caused Piastri to run onto the grass on the right side of the track, nearly causing a loss of control for the championship leader. Subsequently, the Argentinian driver was issued a five-second time penalty.
“I rate our weekend as a team really well. But unfortunately, the pace today was just not enough. In the first corner I was thinking about going, but Lando closed the door, and then that left the door open to Oscar,” Leclerc said. “I lost second place there. But anyway, I think they were too fast for us to stay in second, so third was the best we could do. I don’t regret much of what we’ve done today. I think we’ve done our maximum, just not enough pace.”
The incident resulted in Piastri falling four seconds behind his teammate, but he subsequently began to close the gap. “I need more pace; can you assist, please?” Norris requested from his race engineer, Will Joseph. After receiving advice on minimizing time loss through Turns 1 and 3, the gap stabilized.
And after 70 intensely thrilling laps Norris crossed the line to take his third win of 2025 and his seventh overall. Piastri finished 2.6s behind, while Leclerc was a distant third, almost 20 seconds off top spot. Hamilton took fourth in the other Ferrari ahead of Russell and Lawson delivered Racing Bulls a strong sixth place at the flag. Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin ahead of protégé Bortoleto who took his first F1 points with P8. The Brazilian’s team-mate Nico Hülkenberg made its double points finish for Kick Sauber with P9 after a 20th place start and the final point went to Haas’ Esteban Ocon.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:23’47.693
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:23’50.388 2.695
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 1:24’07.513 19.820
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 70 1:24’16.713 29.020
5 George Russell Mercedes 70 1:24’50.089 1’02.396
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 70 1:24’55.447 1’07.754
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 69 1:23’49.130 1 lap /1.437
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:23’49.645 1 lap /1.952
9 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:23’55.413 1 lap /7.720
10 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 69 1:23’57.679 1 lap /9.986
11 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 69 1:24’12.547 1 lap /24.854
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 69 1:24’15.650 1 lap /27.957
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 69 1:24’20.748 1 lap /33.055
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 69 1:24’22.155 1 lap /34.462
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 69 1:24’30.385 1 lap /42.692
16 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 68 1:23’50.672 2 laps /2.979
Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 15 20’00.228 Retirement
Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 0 – Accident
Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 0 – Accident
Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 0 – Not started
Photo/FIA/X
