2025 Austrian Grand Prix Recap

By Ryan Wu

Bounce Back for Norris

After a costly mistake at the Canadian Grand Prix, Lando Norris bounced back in style, reaffirming his Championship credentials with a superb performance at the Austrian Grand Prix. He outpaced his teammate and title rival, Oscar Piastri, to claim victory and cut the Championship gap to just 15 points.

Norris' weekend began on a high note, as he outqualified Piastri by a remarkable 0.521 seconds. The fierce rivalry between the two continued from Montreal, with thrilling wheel-to-wheel battles throughout the race.

Piastri took the early lead from third on the grid, while an oversteer moment on lap 14 saw Norris run wide into the gravel, briefly losing ground. However, McLaren opted to pit Norris first on lap 20, undercutting Piastri, who stopped four laps later. The team executed a second successful undercut on lap 53, which played perfectly into Norris's hands. He managed to pass Piastri just before the Australian rejoined the track, where he was momentarily forced off by Colapinto—who was being lapped at the time—compromising Piastri’s ability to immediately respond but fortunately all drivers stayed in the race.

Despite a late charge from Piastri, who at one point closed the gap to around 1.4s, Norris finished the race strong roughly 2.7 seconds ahead.

Nightmare Weekend for Red Bull

Max Verstappen, starting from 7th, knew he had a tough challenge ahead after reporting issues with car control and tire grip. Over the radio during qualifying, he described his car as “completely undriveable.”

His frustration must have peaked when, on the very first lap, he was T-boned by Kimi Antonelli at Turn 3 — an incident that took both drivers out of the race. Antonelli was later handed a three-place grid penalty after the stewards found him fully at fault, but moral victories will likely mean little to Verstappen, who now trails Oscar Piastri by 61 points in the Championship standings.

Adding to Red Bull’s misery, Yuki Tsunoda once again failed to score points — his ninth race for the senior team since debuting in Japan. He was engaged in a duel with Franco Colapinto and ultimately caused a collision which spun the Argentine driver and was punished with a 10-second penalty as a result.

While his debut performance at Suzuka can be forgiven given the circumstances, this marked his fourth consecutive non-points finish and the fifth overall. To make matters worse, Liam Lawson — the very driver Tsunoda replaced — has outscored him since the switch, with 12 points to Tsunoda’s 7. Lawson even managed to outperform both Red Bull drivers with an impressive 6th-place finish at the Red Bull Ring. After the weekend, Christian Horner summed it up bluntly, calling it a “home race to forget.”

It would be unfair to place all the blame on Tsunoda for what to-date had been an underwhelming performance. The issue speaks to broader mismanagement within the team. The driver swap was an early panic move — part of a pattern Red Bull has shown in recent seasons. Tsunoda’s struggles may suggest the team was right not to promote him last winter, but they also placed him in a role with sky-high expectations that were nearly impossible to meet. This recurring cycle of promoting young academy drivers only to quickly lose faith in them is clearly not a sustainable path to long-term team success.

Strong Race Pace from Stake F1 plus Midfield Updates

Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto delivered an impressive performance for Stake by qualifying 8th, marking his first-ever Q3 appearance. Meanwhile, it looked to be a difficult day for his veteran teammate Nico Hülkenberg, who started from the back of the grid. However, Hülkenberg fought his way through the field, and both drivers ultimately finished in the points, securing Stake's first double-points finish of the season.

Elsewhere on the grid, it was a disastrous day for Williams, who suffered a double DNF. Carlos Sainz didn’t even make the start, as his car failed during the formation lap and caught fire in the pit lane, ending his weekend before it began. Alex Albon was also forced to retire after just 17 laps, marking his third consecutive DNF. Williams has scored only 4 points over the last four races, and their current fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship is now under serious threat from a resurgent Racing Bulls team.

As a reminder, Williams has opted not to further develop their 2025 car, instead focusing resources on next year’s entry ahead of major regulation changes. Nonetheless, the car has shown solid pace in the midfield, and resolving their recent mechanical issues will be crucial if they hope to maintain their position in the standings.

Racing Refresh Driver of the Day

Lando Norris, McLaren

Final Points Finishing Positions

1st: Lando Norris

2nd: Oscar Piastri

3rd: Charles Leclerc

4th: Lewis Hamilton

5th: George Russell

6th: Liam Lawson

7th: Fernando Alonso

8th: Gabriel Bortoleto

9th: Nico Hulkenberg

10th: Esteban Ocon

Next on the F1 Schedule:

British Grand Prix: July 4th-6th