Norris withstands intense pressure from Piastri in thrilling 2025 Austrian GP battle

At the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, polesitter Lando Norris covered off the challenge of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari into the first turn, allowing Oscar Piastri to go around the outside of the Monegasque driver to move into second. George Russell passed Lewis Hamilton in a similar move, only for his former teammate to retake fourth later in the lap.

Further back in the pack, Antonelli, who started ninth, attempted to gain places with a late braking move but made contact with Max Verstappen, eliminating both drivers on the spot - ultimately, a costly DNF for Verstappen in his title fight against the two McLarens.

Oscar Piastri put pressure on Norris after the safety car period and took the lead on Lap 11 around the outside of the Remus corner. Norris, not one to give up on a fight easily, used DRS to pull alongside then repass Piastri at Schlossgold to retake the lead.

Nine laps later and Piastri came back at Norris again, although this time they came perilously close to another collision following Norris' error in Canada, where a collision led to him retiring from the race. On the run to Turn 4, Piastri went down for a gap down the inside but locked up and came inches within crashing into Norris.

Nine laps later and Piastri came back at Norris again, although this time came perilously close to a near carbon-copy of the Briton's error from Montreal. On the run to Turn Four, Piastri briefly went for a gap down the inside but locked up and came within inches of careering into the sister car as Norris rounded the corner.

Norris pitted on Lap 21, with Piastri pitting three laps later, which resulted in the two McLarens not racing as closely during the second stint of the race. However, the Australian continued to close the gap on Norris in the second stint and after their final pitstops, but ultimately finished 2.695 seconds behind his teammate at the chequered flag.

Although never in contention for the win, Leclerc showed some solid pace to finish in third, 19 seconds behind racewinner Norris and nine ahead of his teammate Hamilton who was fourth. A positive result for the Monegasque, something which he will be hoping to repeat this weekend and get the upper hand on Hamilton after his recent struggles in 2026.

Unlike in 2026, Mercedes were well off the pace with George Russell finishing fifth and over a minute behind Norris in the McLaren. A number of drivers benefitted from one-stop strategies to move up the field with Liam Lawson sixth, Fernando Alonso seventh and Gabriel Bortoleto eighth. Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon completed the points positions.

Despite retiring on the opening lap last season, Verstappen has a strong record in Austria winning on four occasions, five if you include the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix. However, he arrives into Austria this weekend with speculation rising on his future at Red Bull.

Ahead of the race at the Red Bull Ring, 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve argued that Red Bull must do everything possible to keep Verstappen, as he issued a stark warning. "They need to find a way to try and keep him there because he's the only good thing in the team right now. Other than the engine, because as we found out the engine is very good. It's become a very political place in the last two or three years. It seems that there's so much internal strife on who's going to lead, who's going to do that, and everybody's been kicked out. It's really, and it's very difficult to see a good future at Red Bull it's really odd. It looks like they've read the wave. Right now they're going down, and they haven't reached bottom yet. So that's a tough one."