Lando Norris won the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, with Charles Leclerc finishing in third place.
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| Photo: Steven Tee |
The drama began even before the race started, when Carlos Sainz was left stationary on the starting grid. He eventually got moving and headed into the pits, where his brakes caught fire—ending his race before it even began. Because of this incident, the start of the race was delayed slightly.
More drama unfolded just moments after the race began, when Kimi Antonelli locked his rear brakes going into Turn 3 and collided with Max Verstappen. The crash meant the end of the race for both drivers. Meanwhile, Lando managed to maintain the lead, and after the safety car period caused by the Antonelli-Verstappen crash, Piastri stayed close behind his teammate. He attempted an overtake in Turn 4, but locked up and came dangerously close to causing a repeat of what happened two weeks ago in Canada—only in reverse. In Canada, it was Lando who tried to pass Oscar for the lead, failed, and then crashed into the back of his car, taking himself out of the race. Fortunately, this time Oscar managed to avoid contact, and both drivers continued without incident.
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| Photo: Sam Bagnall |
Lando went on to claim his third victory of the season, reducing Oscar’s lead in the championship standings to just 15 points.
Charles Leclerc joined the McLaren duo on the podium, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth. Both drivers are eagerly awaiting the much-anticipated rear suspension upgrade, which Ferrari was expected to debut at Silverstone. However, it now seems the update will be postponed to the following race weekend.
As for Mercedes, it wasn’t a great race. Kimi Antonelli’s collision with Max Verstappen earned him a three-place grid penalty for next weekend’s British Grand Prix. George Russell could only manage a fifth-place finish. It’s not entirely surprising, though—today’s hot conditions at the Austrian Red Bull Ring didn’t suit Mercedes, as has often been the case.
It was also Red Bull’s worst race weekend since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix—the last time the team failed to score a single point in a race. The same happened today. Max was out after the first-lap collision, and Yuki Tsunoda struggled with his car and finished only 16th.
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| Photo: Sam Bloxham |
However, we must highlight the Sauber duo. Nico Hülkenberg climbed from last place to finish ninth and score points, while his young teammate finished eighth, claiming his very first Formula 1 points.
The whole F1 circus is now packing up and heading from Austria to Great Britain, where the next race weekend will take place already next week.