Lando Norris takes the victory in a chaotic Austrian GP

Lando Norris took an impressive victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, his third of the 2025 season. The Briton dominated from start to finish in a weekend that already looked set to be his own from free practice. From the second practice session at the Red Bull Ring, Norris looked unbeatable, something he confirmed with a sensational lap in Saturday's qualifying that earned him pole position. Today, he rounded out the effort with a solid and well-deserved victory. He was joined on the podium by his teammate Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.

Photo; Mclaren

However, although the result was overwhelming, the race unfolded in chaos. From the formation lap, drama erupted when Carlos Sainz's car failed to start, and when it finally did, his brakes caught fire, forcing him to retire before even setting off. A few laps later, his Williams teammate Alex Albon also retired.

At the start, Norris held onto the lead, while Piastri, starting from third, quickly overtook Leclerc and secured a 1-2 for McLaren. But at Turn 3 on the opening lap, Kimi Antonelli made a serious mistake: he locked all four wheels and took out Max Verstappen, putting them both out of the race. 

The Red Bull Ring, despite being the shortest track on the calendar, offered constant action and plenty of overtaking. At the front of the field, the first 20 laps were a wheel-to-wheel battle between the two McLarens. Piastri and Norris gave each other no respite, engaging in an intense but fair battle. Although at times it seemed that contact between them was inevitable, especially when Oscar made a mistake that nearly ended in disaster both managed to maintain their composure. Ultimately, it was Norris who emerged victorious from that duel.Then, strategy, tire wear management, and on-track traffic came into play. McLaren executed their plan perfectly, allowing Lando to cross the finish line first and achieving his 35th Formula 1 podium.

Ferrari, for its part, took a step forward with the improvements introduced this weekend. Leclerc achieved his second podium of the year, while Hamilton finished fourth. These results propelled the Scuderia to second place in the constructors' championship, surpassing Mercedes.

For Mercedes, it was a disappointing weekend: Antonelli retired due to the incident with Verstappen, and Russell lacked competitive pace, finishing fifth, more than a minute behind the winner.

There were no shortage of positive surprises. Liam Lawson achieved his best result in Formula 1 with a sixth-place finish. Fernando Alonso scored points again, followed by rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, who scored his first points in the category. Along with Nico Hülkenberg, Sauber achieved a valuable double points finish, moving them away from the bottom of the standings. Esteban Ocon scored a point for Haas, just ahead of his teammate Oliver Bearman, who was just short of the points.

In contrast, there were negative surprises. Isack Hadjar, who had been one of the most consistent drivers of the year, had a weekend to forget and left Austria without any points. At Alpine, both Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto suffered with the performance and reliability of their cars. The Argentine was also penalized for taking Oscar Piastri off the track in the final laps while battling Yuki Tsunoda, despite the Australian having already gained a lap on him. The maneuver could have ruined the McLaren driver's race.

With this new 1-2 finish, McLaren strengthens its lead in the constructors' championship, while Verstappen, with his DNF, loses ground in the title fight. Lando Norris, on the other hand, reduces his gap to Piastri to just 15 points, and the drivers' championship heats up heading into the second half of the season.