Lando Norris Victorious at Austrian Grand Prix

Lando Norris secured a significant win at the Austrian Grand Prix, successfully defending his position against strong pressure from his McLaren teammate and title rival, Oscar Piastri. This victory marks a crucial step for Norris, getting his Formula 1 world championship campaign firmly back on track.

The race began dramatically with reigning world champion Max Verstappen retiring on the very first lap. Verstappen was spun out following contact with Mercedes` Kimi Antonelli. With the dominant Red Bull out early, the battle for the lead became an intense internal fight between the two McLaren drivers at the Red Bull Ring. Norris ultimately prevailed, reducing Piastri`s championship lead over him to just 15 points ahead of the upcoming British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Two weeks after taking responsibility for hitting Piastri in Canada, pole-sitter Norris delivered a strong bounce-back performance in Austria. He defended against Piastri`s initial challenges in the first part of the race, with the teammates going wheel-to-wheel. Norris then maintained his composure to stay ahead as Piastri mounted another charge in the closing laps.

Verstappen`s early retirement means he is now 61 points behind the championship leader as the season approaches its midpoint. The Red Bull driver`s race ended after Antonelli made a mistake under braking while battling other cars, causing the Mercedes to collide with Verstappen`s side.

Although not competing for the win after being overtaken by Piastri for second place at the start, Charles Leclerc finished third, securing his and Ferrari`s fourth podium of the year. Leclerc finished nine seconds ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who is still awaiting his first podium finish with the Scuderia before heading to Silverstone.

The high track temperatures in Austria exposed Mercedes` weakness once again. George Russell finished a distant fifth, 33 seconds behind the fourth-placed Hamilton and a full minute behind the race winner, after a lonely race.

Employing one-stop strategies, Liam Lawson achieved a career-best sixth place for Racing Bulls. Aston Martin`s Fernando Alonso held off a late challenge from Sauber`s Gabriel Bortoleto for seventh place. Bortoleto, a Brazilian rookie, earned his maiden F1 points after his strongest weekend in the sport to date.

Nico Hulkenberg completed a strong day for Sauber, impressively climbing from 20th on the grid to finish ninth. Esteban Ocon won a tight midfield battle to secure the final point for Haas in tenth place.

Norris and Piastri`s Intense Battle

Lando Norris`s performance was a stark contrast to his previous race in Montreal. After taking responsibility for hitting the back of Piastri`s car in Canada, which resulted in his first retirement of the season and lost points, Norris was the leading McLaren driver in every session he participated in at the Red Bull Ring.

However, Piastri made him fight hard for the victory on Sunday. The two McLarens settled into formation quickly after the first corner. Pole-sitter Norris moved right to cover Charles Leclerc, while Piastri swept around the outside of the Ferrari to take second place.

Piastri launched his first serious bid for the lead on lap 11. After slight errors by Norris on the previous lap caused him to lose momentum, Piastri used DRS to overtake on the uphill run to Turn Three. However, Piastri locked a front brake there, running wide and allowing Norris to retake the lead on the next straight towards Turn Four. Their battle continued, but Piastri decided against a move into the following turn, leaving Norris ahead.

Nine laps later, Piastri attacked again, coming dangerously close to a repeat of Norris`s error in Montreal. On the approach to Turn Four, Piastri briefly went for an inside gap but locked up, narrowly avoiding a collision with the sister car as Norris turned into the corner.

With disaster narrowly avoided, McLaren pitted Norris first at the end of that lap. As the second car on track, Piastri was given the option to stop on the next lap or extend his stint slightly. He chose the latter, pitting four laps later on lap 24.

The staggered pit stops created some distance between the cars in the middle part of the race. However, Piastri closed the gap again after the second and final round of stops, although his challenge was almost hampered by an inattentive Franco Colapinto. The Alpine driver, focused on his own battle at the back, squeezed the approaching McLaren onto the grass exiting Turn Three, earning Colapinto a five-second penalty.

As they navigated through traffic, with everyone up to sixth-placed Liam Lawson eventually being lapped, Piastri managed to get within two seconds of Norris but never close enough to activate DRS again.

Reflecting on the battle, Norris commented: `We had a great battle, that`s for sure! It was a lot of fun. For me, a lot of stress but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar. Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch, but inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in DRS. The DRS is so big around here, so it was hard to get him out of the gap. Once I did, I could manage things pretty well but he was still quick.`

After Piastri`s near-miss at Turn Four, his race engineer informed him that the team considered the incident `too marginal` and that `we can`t do that again.`

`It was intense. I hope it was good watching because it was pretty hard work from the car,` Piastri said. `I tried my absolute best. I probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. But it was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times, and probably pushed the limits a bit far.`

Red Bull`s Challenging Home Grand Prix

After a yellow flag incident at the end of qualifying left him starting seventh, Max Verstappen was expected to compete with the Ferraris for a podium spot. However, Kimi Antonelli`s mistake, appearing to be caught out as the cars entered Turn Three and locking his rear brakes, meant the four-time world champion`s race ended after only three corners.

Stewards later issued Antonelli a three-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix for causing the collision.

`Of course I saw the footage once I came back and it happens,` a gracious Verstappen commented. `Everyone has made a mistake like that in their careers and also Kimi is a very big talent, so he learns from that and that`s all fine.`

With their lead driver out early, Red Bull`s heavy reliance on Verstappen was evident. Yuki Tsunoda had a tough afternoon in the sister car. Starting 18th, the Japanese driver had contact with both Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto, the latter earning him a 10-second penalty. He finished 16th and last, two laps down.

This marked Red Bull`s first scoreless race since the opening event of the current ground-effect era at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix. They are currently fourth in the Constructors` Championship.

Williams also endured a challenging day. Carlos Sainz caused the initial race start to be aborted after his car failed to leave the grid for the formation lap. Although he eventually got moving and made it to the pit lane, his car then suffered a significant rear-brake fire while waiting to join the delayed race, leading to his retirement.

Alex Albon was running seventh in the early stages but was also forced to retire due to an unspecified technical problem.

Austrian GP Result: Top 10