Lando Norris’ dominant Austrian Grand Prix win jolts F1 title race

While the entire Formula 1 grid heads to Silverstone this week for the British Grand Prix, there are still some hours remaining until we need to turn the page.

That gives us just enough time to take a final look at the Austrian Grand Prix.

As with the dramatic Canadian Grand Prix, once against McLaren teammates were fighting for position on the track. However, unlike in Montreal where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fighting for P4, this time a win — and momentum in the title race between the pair — was at stake.

Norris came out on top as both drivers came home after a clean, and thrilling, battle. That allowed McLaren to extend their Constructors’ Championship while closing the gap between the pair in the Drivers’ title race.

It also made Norris one of our winners from the Austrian Grand Prix. Here are some more teams and drivers who can leave Red Bull Ring with a smile on their face, as well as two teams that probably could not wait to board their flights home.

Winner: Lando Norris

Several times this season Lando Norris entered Q3 as the prohibitive favorite for pole position, only to see one of his rivals take P1.

That was not the case Saturday, as Norris delivered a thunderous final lap to take pole position in dominant fashion.

Still, the job was not done, not until Norris fought off teammate Oscar Piastri in a thrilling opening stint that had fans and McLaren management alike on the edge of their seats. While Piastri fought hard to get back to Norris’ rear win in the closing laps, the British driver had enough pace to fend him off over the final stages, taking his third win of the season.

A win that put him right back in the thick of the Drivers’ Championship race.

Norris now sits just 15 points behind Piastri, with almost half of the season remaining. He now gets to head to his home race, where a grandstand in his honor now sits alongside Stowe Corner at the historic Silverstone circuit.

Saturday’s qualifying session, as well as the race itself, took on an air of significance given what happened at the Canadian Grand Prix between Piastri and Norris, and the questions over how the British driver would respond.

He responded in dynamic fashion, and as Alex Jacques wondered during the broadcast Sunday, this may be a day we look back on in December as one that truly transformed the title chase.

Winners: Sauber

What a week it was for Sauber at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto began the week in search of his first points in F1. But the young driver got off to a strong start at Red Bull Ring, posting the sixth-fastest time in FP1, and advanced to Q3 for the first time in his career on Saturday, ultimately qualifying eighth.

That is where he finished on Sunday, on an afternoon that saw him running in the top five at one point, and battling for seventh with a member of his management team, Fernando Alonso, in the closing laps. While Bortoleto did not win that fight, he still brought home his first F1 points, and it was Alonso who was the first to greet him when the rookie parked on pit lane:

That result alone would have made Sauber winners on Sunday, but Nico Hülkenberg delivered a stellar recovery drive to finish ninth, after qualifying at the back of the field on Saturday. Hülkenberg was among the first drivers to make a pit stop, coming in on Lap 12, but the strategy worked as the veteran driver worked up into the top ten before the day was through.

Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley hailed the results.

“A fantastic result for the team here in Austria. Nico becomes the first Sauber driver since Valtteri in 2022 to score points in three consecutive races – and it’s only the eighth time in our 32-year history that a driver has climbed from 20th or lower to finish in the top nine. We hadn’t finished in the top eight here since 2001 – so this result is something very special for the team,” said Wheatley.

“Gabriel was on a medium – medium – hard strategy and showed strong pace but, unfortunately, got caught in traffic and lapped by the McLarens near the end – otherwise, I think he could have finished higher. He’s shown impressive pace and consistency all weekend and truly deserves his first points in Formula One. With Nico, we took a bold approach on a soft – medium – medium strategy, and his smart, measured drive delivered our first double points finish of 2025,” added the Sauber boss.

“Huge credit to everyone at the factory – Mattia and the whole team have done an outstanding job bringing these upgrades. The tools are correlating well, the car is responding, and the team is executing to increasingly high standards. We leave Austria energised for Silverstone and ready to fight for every place and for every point.”

Losers: Red Bull

While it was a week to remember for Sauber and Wheatley, his former team cannot wait to turn the page to the British Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen’s race ended before it began, as the defending Drivers’ Champion started seventh and was wiped out at Turn 3 shortly after the start, left victim to a lockup from rookie driver Kimi Antonelli.

Yuki Tsunoda was the sole Red Bull driver left in the fight, but he started at the back of the grid after a difficult qualifying session and could not fight his way through the field. While a finish in the points looked possible for him, a collision with Franco Colapinto not only required him to stop for a new front wing but also saw the stewards hand down a ten-second penalty.

When the checkered flag flew, Tsunoda was back in P16.

“It was a horrible race for us and desperately unlucky for Max to be taken out at turn 3 when he had done nothing wrong, he had a good start and made good progress,” said Team Principal Christian Horner after the race. “It’s a shame, I don’t think we would have been racing the McLarens today but we would have been racing the Ferraris pretty hard. With Yuki it was again not a great race, he had damage to the front wing, a penalty and so on, unfortunately for us it was a weekend to forget.”

Winner: Liam Lawson

Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images

While Liam Lawson’s former team struggled, the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver enjoyed his best day in F1.

Lawson advanced to Q3 for just the second time this season on Saturday, qualifying sixth for the Austrian Grand Prix. He backed up that performance with a similar drive on Sunday, fighting inside the top ten for most of the day and coming home with a sixth-place finish.

Lawson was also one of just two drivers who made a one-stop work, the other being Fernando Alonso. He began the day with just one set of medium tires, and one set of hard tires, and after stopping on Lap 32 to make the switch to hard tires, he saw them through to the end.

“It was a great weekend, and it feels good to execute everything well,” said Lawson. “It’s been a tough season so far, with a lot of potential, and in this race, we were quick where it mattered and managed to see it through. After the first lap, I thought it might be over, but the team made a brave call with the one-stop strategy, it worked out perfectly. Full credit to them, they’ve been working incredibly hard behind the scenes, and I’m super proud.

“The car was really fast all weekend, we’re constantly pushing and making small adjustments to make it more comfortable. The goal now is to carry this momentum through the rest of the season. We need to take the positives, keep fighting, and keep scoring points.”

Team Principal Laurent Mekies praised Lawson’s performance.

“Today’s race began with Liam starting from the third row in P6, thanks to an exceptional performance yesterday that showcased his speed. It’s never easy to start in a new team midseason, and he needed time to get used to our car. Yesterday’s great laps show the progress he is doing, together with the team,” described Mekies.

“The pace and the race execution were brilliant, Liam was unstoppable and defended for 70 laps to Fernando.”

Winners: Ferrari

The McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri may have finished up the road from them, and as is often the case there are some strategy decisions that the team and their fans may want to revisit. But when the checkered flag flew Charles Leclerc was on the podium for the fourth time this season — and the third time in four races — and Lewis Hamilton was just behind him in fourth.

On a day when both Red Bull and Mercedes struggled, Ferrari took advantage in the fight for second behind McLaren. The results were enough to propel Ferrari into P2 in the Constructors’ Championship race, just one point ahead of the Silver Arrows.

“I rate our weekend as a team really well. We brought some upgrades which helped us to take a step forward and start closing the gap to McLaren. Unfortunately, they were just faster today,” described Leclerc. “In the first corner, I wanted to close in on Lando (Norris), but that left the door open for Oscar (Piastri) who was able to pass me for second place. I pushed a lot on the first stint and had quite a bit of degradation, but that’s part of the game. We don’t have any regrets today. We gave it everything and extracted the maximum from our race. We will continue to work hard to make more progress with the aim of getting back onto the top step of the podium. That’s our main priority and the whole team deserves it.”

Despite some frustration over the radio from Hamilton, particularly at the end of one stint where the veteran driver wanted to stay out but the team called him in to pit, the seven-time champion described the Austrian Grand Prix as a “solid weekend” for Ferrari.

“It’s been a solid weekend for the team – we continued to improve our qualifying pace and the team did a great job throughout. We didn’t have the race pace we expected, but still, we came away with some solid points and a podium, which is something we can be proud of,” said Hamilton. “We’ll analyze the data carefully to understand where improvements can be made. Thank you to everyone at the track and at the factory for their hard work and commitment. We remain focused and I’m looking forward to my first home Grand Prix with Ferrari.”

Losers: Williams

Another team looking ahead to the flight home?

Williams.

Shortly after the race began a dear friend and fellow F1 fan sent me a text that read in part: “[f]eels like Williams is bouncing between legitimately pushing for fifth and looking like old Williams.”

It is hard to disagree with that assessment.

After a tough qualifying session on Saturday left him at the back of the grid, Carlos Sainz Jr.’s day never got started. When the first attempt at a formation lap began Sainz could not get out of his starting spot on the grid, and when he finally got rolling he came back to pit lane after race officials called for an aborted start, with his rear brakes on fire.

His day was over.

Things were not much better for Alex Albon. While he was able to get underway, Albon retired after just 15 laps.

It is his third consecutive DNF.

“A very disappointing day. We had the pace today to comfortably finish sixth, and yet we walk away with a double DNF,” said Team Principal James Vowles. “We had two different issues that need to be understood to make sure we rectify them going forward. We’re on a good journey towards building a fast car but we’re not complete yet in terms of operation and reliability.

“We [have] 13 races in front of us this season and they’re key races to build this muscle and this capability to make sure that, as we move up the grid and we get faster and faster, we’re able to fight at the front with the very best.”