Lando Norris won the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday. The British McLaren driver won at the Red Bull Ring after a fierce duel with his teammate Oscar Piastri and a quick retirement of Max Verstappen.
Norris and Piastri fought some beautiful duels, especially in the opening phase of the race. Norris defended the lead in the race tooth and nail, and Piastri was constantly looking for a gap to overtake his teammate.
In the twentieth round, things almost went wrong when Piastri braked too late and narrowly missed Norris’ car. McLaren thus escaped a similar drama as two weeks ago in Canada, when Norris crashed into the back of Piastri and retired.
Norris then drove to victory, although number two Piastri came close in the final phase. As a result, he gained seven points on the Australian World Cup leader, who now has a lead of fifteen points. There are still thirteen races to go. Next weekend, the premier class will be held at the British Silverstone.
Behind Norris and Piastri, Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished third and fourth respectively. George Russell finished fifth and is hot on the heels of the retired Verstappen in the World Cup standings. Verstappen is third with 155 points and Russell follows as fourth with 146 points.
Norris and Piastri duel in opening phase
The start of the Austrian Grand Prix was fifteen minutes later than planned, because Carlos Sainz had stopped with brake problems when he wanted to start the warm-up lap. It proved to be a harbinger of even more suffering in Austria.
After half a round, Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli were already eliminated. Antonelli braked too late in Turn 3 and hit Verstappen hard in the spin. The Mercedes driver took the blame, but the day of the Limburgian and the tens of thousands of Dutch fans was no less ruined.
Without Verstappen, Norris and Piastri made it a spectacle for a few laps. The two McLaren drivers seemed to be dueling with each other without instructions, which almost went wrong at the Red Bull Ring.
McLaren decided to bring Norris in immediately afterwards, which took the sting out of the battle for victory. Piastri drove a few laps longer on his tires and thus lost more and more time on his teammate.
Tsunoda completes Red Bull’s disastrous weekend
Behind that, enough happened. As if the cup of poison for Red Bull was not yet empty after Verstappen’s crash, Yuki Tsunoda caused a collision. Franco Colapinto went into the spin and Tsunoda received a ten-second time penalty.
As a result, Tsunoda finished sixteenth and last, because in addition to Verstappen, Antonelli and Sainz, Alexander Albon also dropped out. Red Bull could not have imagined a worse weekend on its own circuit.
After several pit stops, Piastri seemed to revive the battle for victory, as he approached leader Norris to within two seconds. The counter stopped there. Overtaking a few stragglers also did not cause any problems for Norris.
The Ferraris, which have clearly become stronger after a major update, were nevertheless unable to get close to the McLarens at any point. The race in Austria was thus a good reflection of the Formula 1 season. McLaren stands head and shoulders above the rest.