F1 Austrian Grand Prix 2025 Recap: Lando Norris holds on for nervy win

McLaren’s Lando Norris returned to the top of the podium, holding on against his teammate and current championship leader, Oscar Piastri, to win the 2025 F1 Austrian Grand Prix. 

Piastri finished second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who rounded out the podium places — the Scuderia left the Red Bull Ring with a good haul of points. 

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was unable to leave with any points. The reigning world champion was taken out by Andrea Kimi Antonelli on Lap 1, which ended his race before it could even get going. 

Sauber, meanwhile, had another strong outing as both their drivers took advantage of the incidents around them to finish in the points. Gabriel Bortoleto scored his maiden points in Formula One, while his teammate Nico Hülkenberg drove a tremendous race, finishing P9 after starting P20.

A delayed start, due to Carlos Sainz’s Williams catching fire on the formation lap, pushed the race back by ten minutes and reduced it to 70 laps. Once the lights went out, it was pole-sitter Lando Norris who got things going, but rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes locked up going into Turn 1, taking Max Verstappen out of the race and bringing out an early Safety Car as the Dutchman got beached in the gravel. The Safety Car came in on Lap 4, and Norris once again got the pack going.

After seeing off an initial charge by Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri left the Ferrari in his mirrors and began putting pressure on the race leader. By Lap 10, the gap at the top was under half a second. Further down the grid, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was making moves, getting past Pierre Gasly at Turn 5 on Lap 11.

The race saw its fourth retiree after Verstappen, Antonelli, and Sainz (who didn’t join the restart) in Alex Albon, with Williams suffering a double DNF due to technical issues. George Russell, meanwhile, was the first of the front-runners to pit — on Lap 19 — and rejoined in P11.

Norris and Piastri almost came together on Lap 20 at Turn 4. While Piastri suffered a lock-up, Norris came in for his stop as a result of this near-collision. Norris came out in P4, with Piastri taking the lead of the race and the two Ferrari cars behind him. The Australian eventually came in a couple of laps later — on Lap 24 — having to nurse a flat spot on his tyre. He came out in P4, five seconds behind his teammate, with Leclerc leading from Lewis Hamilton at the top, though both Ferrari drivers were yet to pit.

Norris retook the lead on Lap 27 when Hamilton pitted, with Piastri slotting in behind him. Leclerc moved back into the podium places on Lap 30, while the only remaining Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda tapped and spun the Alpine of Franco Colapinto around at the eventful Turn 4.

By the halfway mark of the race, Norris held a lead of over five seconds from his teammate, with Leclerc, Hamilton, and Russell making up the top five — though none of the three were anywhere close to the two McLaren racers at the top.

Norris eventually came in for his second stop on Lap 52 and rejoined the track in P2, almost 17 seconds behind his teammate at the front. Piastri was called in the following lap for his second stop, and he came out three seconds behind Norris — the original order restored. Piastri then had a moment with Colapinto, who surprisingly wanted to race the Australian and pushed him off the track despite the blue flags.

As the race entered its final ten laps, Piastri was catching up to Norris and was within two seconds of him by Lap 61, charging for the race win.

While Piastri chased Norris at the front, the final few laps also saw Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto involved in a tight scrap for P7, with the rookie pushing the double world champion to his limits. Alonso managed to hold on to his P7 spot, however, as Norris held on for the win, finishing just over a second clear of his teammate — McLaren locking in yet another one-two.

Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, finished third to pick up a much-needed podium for Ferrari, with Hamilton and Russell making up the top five. Liam Lawson, Alonso, Bortoleto, Nico Hülkenberg, and Esteban Ocon rounded out the points places, with Sauber picking up crucial points.

The Austrian GP win for McLaren sees them lock in their fourth one-two of the season and continue running away with the Constructors’ title, sitting well clear of Ferrari.

In the Drivers’ standings, meanwhile, Piastri’s lead at the top is now 15 points after his teammate’s win.

Racing will resume next weekend as the grid moves to England for the 2025 British Grand Prix.