F1 | Race | Austrian GP | Norris fends off Piastri to take victory in Austria - Motorsport

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After topping both sessions on Saturday, Lando Norris started from pole position for the F1 Austrian GP, view the full race report and results below. Charles Leclerc started from P2, followed by Oscar Piastri in third position. With intensely high track temperatures in Spielberg, the drivers had to fight to preserve their tyres this afternoon.

Carlos Sainz retired his Williams car before seeing the lights go out due to a severe brake issue. As a result, the start was delayed. Fernando Alonso was heard on the radio complaining about the sweltering heat inside his Aston Martin.

Antonelli divebombs, collecting Verstappen into turn three

19 cars saw the green flag in Austria, with Lando Norris getting a great jump on Charles Leclerc. Piastri quickly overtook the Ferrari of Leclerc and was setting his sights on Norris when a collision between Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen brought out a safety car. The Mercedes rookie went for a bold move down the inside of turn three. The brakes locked, which sent the young Italian straight into the sidepod of Verstappen.

The safety car was deployed for only three laps before the green flag was waved once again. The front-runners all retained their positions on the restart, however Norris came under pressure from teammate Piastri straight away.

The two Ferraris fell away from the battling McLarens, saving their tyres. Behind them, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly battle for P6, sitting well in the points early on in the race before soon pitting.

McLaren v. McLaren

Oscar Piastri charged up to the back of Norris into turn three and successfully got past. In the run-up to turn four, however, Norris got DRS, which propelled him back into the lead. The fight was still on for the remainder of the lap, Piastri dancing in Norris’s mirrors in a flurry of papaya.

After already pitting once, Albon was called into the pits once again to retire the car on lap 17. A devastating day for Williams Racing at the F1 Austrian GP.

Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll battled for tenth, making contact in turn three but causing minimal damage. Gabriel Bortoleto, who started the race in P8, was sitting comfortably in P5 on lap 20, followed by Liam Lawson.

The McLaren battle raged on into lap 21, almost making contact after Piastri locked up in turn four. Norris came into the pit on the same lap, dropping to P4 on pit exit in front of Bortoleto. Piastri stayed out, leading by over six seconds to Leclerc and Hamilton. The Australian was heard on the radio complaining about flat spots on his medium tyres, but the team reported that the data did not show a hindrance to his pace. Piastri stayed out, opting to go longer for the favourable tyre delta.

Piastri pitted on lap 25, a slow 3.4s stop put him 6.2 seconds behind Norris in net-P2. Leclerc came into the pits on lap 26, Hamilton on lap 27. Hamilton came out behind Alonso in P6, Leclerc behind Lawson in P4.

The two Sauber cars felt some tension on lap 28 when Hulkenberg did not let Bortoleto past him as fast as the Brazilian rookie would have liked.

Yuki Tsunoda collides with Franco Colapinto, recieves penalty

Gasly’s Alpine struggled intensely for grip up in P10 on lap 31, heard complaining over the radio. Immediately after the radio message aired, fellow Alpine driver Franco Colapinto made contact with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, which sent him into a spin. The Japanese driver‘s move was never on, and the incident was put under investigation. Tsunoda pitted for a new wing, and was soon handed a 10 second time penalty for the incident with Colapinto.

On lap 36, Norris still leads from Piastri, who then sat 5 seconds behind him. Gasly was heard complaining once again over the radio, warning that the car was becoming undrivable. Both Haas cars sat in the top ten, Ocon in P8 and Bearman in P9 behind both Sauber cars. With Sainz, Verstappen, Antonelli and Albon all retired, points opportunities opened up for the midfield teams.

Gasly came in for medium tyres on lap 40. Norris’s pit wall began agonizing over their upcoming second pit stop on lap 42, Piastri ~3 seconds behind but lapping quicker than him.

Second pit stops for the front runners

George Russell sat in P5, 20 seconds behind former teammate Lewis Hamilton on lap 44. Russell came into the pits on lap 47, coming out into P10 behind Isack Hadjar. It looked to be a rough day for the 2024 Austrian GP winner as he came closer and closer to being lapped by Norris.

Leclerc and Bortoleto pitted on lap 50, Leclerc now on mediums, Bortoleto on hards. Hamilton was brought into the pits for mediums despite insisting over the radio that he go to the end on his hard tyres. Norris came in shortly after for mediums, coming back out to P2 and crucially in front of a lapped Yuki Tsunoda.

Piastri pitted on the next lap for mediums. Piastri narrowly avoided getting strong-armed off the track by Franco Colapinto after coming out into lapped traffic. Franco Colapinto was handed a 5-second time penalty on lap 57 for his moment with Piastri.

Piastri tries to close up on Norris for the lead as time winds down

Piastri’s pace was ticking up by lap 60, creeping back towards DRS range with 10 laps to go. Tsunoda pitted to serve his 10-second penalty on lap 63, sitting in last place. On lap 64, a radio message from Norris’s race engineer aired, alerting the driver to some front wing damage. Piastri continued to chase his teammate down, seeming stuck at the ~1.7-second interval approaching three laps remaining.

Lawson, Alonso, and Bortoleto duked it out for P6 in the late stages. With the tyre advantage, Bortoleto chased down his manager, Fernando Alonso, on lap 68. Bortoleto briefly got ahead of the veteran driver with two laps to go, but the Spaniard retook the position, executing the switchback. The Bortoleto-Alonso battle interfered with Piastri’s attempt to catch his teammate on the last lap, running out of time and finishing P2.

Victory for Lando Norris

Norris held onto victory after 70 laps around the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, a historically successful track for the young Brit. Piastri took home the fastest lap and finished P2, ahead of Leclerc in P3. A massively successful day for Sauber saw Hulkenberg finish P9, Bortoleto in P8. Lawson took home a sneaky P6, receiving little broadcast coverage, a triumph of a result for the Kiwi driver.

Williams and Red Bull had a tough Sunday. Double DNFs cost the Williams team dearly, making for a rough weekend overall. Verstappen failed to finish one lap after Antonelli’s dicey move; Tsunoda’s race was gritty at best, earning him a 10-second penalty and a last-place finish. Ferrari, while they did not have the pace to challenge for the lead, came home with a great haul of points for their P3-P4 result.