Lando Norris secured a composed and hard-fought victory at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix, fending off intense pressure from team-mate Oscar Piastri to lead home a commanding McLaren one-two at the Red Bull Ring.
Starting from pole, Norris kept Piastri at bay for the entire race despite several close encounters between the pair. The result cuts Piastri’s lead at the top of the drivers’ standings to just 15 points and confirms McLaren’s status as the team to beat in the current pecking order.
The pair were in a class of their own, leaving Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to claim a distant third, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Austrian Grand Prix - Race results
Drama from the start
The race began with chaos even before the lights went out. Carlos Sainz’s Williams failed to get off the line for the formation lap, forcing a delayed start. Though the Spaniard eventually got going, a fire in the rear of his car in the pitlane forced a dramatic retirement before the race had even restarted.
When the race did get underway, Piastri immediately moved past Leclerc into second, while George Russell briefly got the better of his former team-mate Hamilton.
But it was Turn 3 that delivered the biggest drama, as reigning world champion Max Verstappen was sensationally taken out by Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Italian locked up his rear brakes and slammed into Verstappen, ending the Dutchman’s race on the spot and triggering an early Safety Car.
Hamilton soon re-passed Russell after the restart and from there Ferrari settled into a lonely chase behind the front-running McLarens.
Intra-team battle heats up
At the front, Norris and Piastri were given the green light by McLaren to race each other, and Piastri wasted no time in applying pressure. On lap 11, he pounced at Turn 3 after a small Norris error, briefly taking the lead—only for Norris to immediately cut back underneath and reclaim position with a clean move.
Their battle intensified after Norris pitted at the end of lap 20 for hard tyres. Piastri, having locked up in an earlier lunge, stayed out a few more laps in search of fresher tyres for the second half of the race. But a sluggish 3.4-second stop on lap 24 saw him rejoin over five seconds behind Norris.
Adding to the tension, Piastri received a radio warning from the team, who felt one of his moves had pushed the limits of acceptable intra-team racing.
Midfield fights and rookie milestones
Behind the leading quartet, Russell couldn’t keep pace and finished fifth, over half a minute behind Hamilton. Liam Lawson delivered a stellar performance for Racing Bulls to secure sixth place, while Fernando Alonso used all his experience to hold off Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in a spirited battle for seventh. The result marked Bortoleto’s first-ever points finish in Formula 1.
Nico Hulkenberg brought the second Sauber home in ninth, while Esteban Ocon rounded out the points for Haas.
It was another miserable race for Williams. With Sainz already out, Alex Albon also retired on lap 16. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda, the lone Red Bull finisher after Verstappen's early exit, clashed with Franco Colapinto at Turn 4 and was handed a 10-second penalty after damaging his front wing in the contact.
Final push and tight finish
As the race passed the halfway mark, Piastri began clawing back time on Norris, taking nearly a second out of his lead on lap 40. Both drivers made their final pit stops in the closing stages, with Norris pitting a lap earlier.
However, Piastri found himself delayed by backmarkers Tsunoda and Colapinto, the latter earning a 5-second penalty for failing to yield while being lapped. The delay proved costly for Piastri, who was forced to re-close the gap once more in the final 10 laps.
He cut Norris’s advantage to under two seconds, but a desperate plea from Norris—“I need some place, please help”—was answered when Alonso and Bortoleto unwittingly acted as a buffer between the two McLarens.
Despite nursing front wing damage, Norris was able to use the traffic to his advantage, crossing the line just clear of his team-mate to claim his second win of the season.
Championship implications
The result tightens the fight at the top of the drivers’ championship, with Norris now just 15 points behind Piastri. Verstappen’s early retirement deals a blow to his title defence, and with McLaren clearly in the ascendancy, the momentum has firmly swung in the Woking team’s direction.
Austria once again delivered thrilling racing at the front, while McLaren’s decision to let their drivers race freely—within reason—was rewarded with another dominant performance and maximum points.
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