Norris happy to battle with Mercedes and Ferrari in Austria

Lando Norris said he had fun in Austria after battling with Mercedes and Ferrari for position early on in the race.

Norris finished in P6 after starting in P5 for McLaren. However, it was a splendid race for the British driver - who even went wheel-to-wheel with his compatriot Lewis Hamilton in the opening lap.

The 19-year-old was encouraged with McLaren's pace and the fact they were battling with the top teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari in the early stages of the race in Austria.

"It was a fun race," Norris said. "A good start, managed to go forwards and battled the Mercedes and the Ferrari for a lap or so, but had to concede those positions and think of my own race. The Alfa (Romeo) got past me on the first-lap, around the outside of Turn 4.

"Not much I could've done and dropped back to fourth and then fifth, then had Max (Verstappen) behind me for a little bit, so I was in there. I saved my tyres for the first few laps, had it under control then pushed and did what I needed to do, pulled a gap, boxed, and managed the pace from then on.

"I was on the medium (tyre compound), so was a little bit unsure about what we could do, or what the tyres would do towards the end of the stint. (Pierre) Gasly was pushing me for the last few laps, but I was doing what I had to do in terms of saving the tyres and not taking any risks - there was a lot more in it if I really needed to push.

"A massive thanks to the McLaren team at the circuit and back at the factory. Looking forward to my home race now!"