Austria - Race

Saturday's qualifying saw the biggest pole margin of the season, with Lando Norris's best attempt being half a second quicker than that of his closest contender, Charles Leclerc. Many predicted that the McLarens would be all but unbeatable around the short circuit. But were they right in their assumptions?

The race disappointed Williams' fans before it could even properly start. As all other drivers slowly began their formation lap, Carlos Sainz stayed in his grid box, unable to move his car. He turned on the radio to inform his team that it was stuck in first gear. Eventually, he did manage to get it going, but at that point, the start had already been aborted. Sainz drove towards the garages, preparing for a pitlane start, but as he got to the end of the lane, the brakes of his car caught on fire. Although the danger was neutralised relatively quickly, he retired from the race before the second formation lap could begin. 

19 cars waited for the lights to go out, signalling the beginning of the Austrian Grand Prix. Norris had a decent launch off the line and kept the lead despite being attacked by both Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. The latter used the power of his McLaren to get ahead of the Ferrari. A few places down the order, Max Verstappen was trying to make the most out of the first corner. He did manage to move up a place, but the viewers never got to see what he had up his sleeve. A short while after the race began, the Mercedes of the young Kimi Antonelli locked up and hit the back of Verstappen's Red Bull. Both drivers found themselves out of the Grand Prix. 

Their accident brought out an early safety car, which ended before lap four. The McLarens quickly moved away from the rest of the field. By lap ten, there was already a four-second difference between them and Leclerc in third. Since they were allowed to race, a heated few laps saw Piastri on Norris' heels. They provided a few laps of good-old wheel-to-wheel racing before Norris pitted on lap 20, leaving his teammate as the temporary race leader. Piastri didn't hold onto the tile for long as he changed his tires on lap 24. For a few laps, the Tifosi could rejoice at the sight of a Ferrari 1-2, but proper order was restored after both Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton went for their first stop. 

While there was plenty for McLaren and Ferrari to be happy about, the same couldn't be said for some of the other teams. Williams had already seen one of their drivers retire, and on lap 17, they were forced to watch the second one also make his way to the garages. Red Bull was in a similar, although slightly less drastic situation. With Verstappen out of contention, all their hopes rested on Tsunoda. Unfortunately, the driver first made contact with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and then with the Alpine of Franco Colapinto. While there were no consequences after the first incident, the second had earned him a ten-second penalty and forced him to pit for a new front wing, effectively ending his chances of finishing the race in the points. 

After their pit stops, the McLarens were a few seconds away from each other, with Norris being the one holding the advantage. Piastri pushed hard and was slowly catching up to his opponent, but did not manage to get close enough for a proper fight until the two pitted for the second and last time. There were over three seconds between them with less than 20 laps until the end of the race. The fight for the win was on. Piastri put in a great effort but was hindered by Colapinto. As he tried to pass him, the Alpine driver effectively forced him off the track, costing the Australian a few precious tenths of a second. Colapinto received a five-second penalty for the offence. 

Piastri tried to regain his pace and catch up to Norris before they ran out of laps, but he came just short of providing the fans with a proper fight for the win. Yet again, it was a McLaren crossing the finish line first, but this time, Lando Norris sat behind the wheel. Leclerc stood on the third step of the podium, with his teammate right behind him. They were followed by George Russel and a somewhat strange pair: Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso, who were the only drivers brave enough to try a one-stop strategy. It seemed to have paid off brilliantly. 

A team whose effort is also worth mentioning was Kick Sauber. Gabriel Bortoleto finished the Austrian Grand Prix eighth, and Nico Hulkenberg was only a place behind. It was a great effort for the team, which had spent most of the 2024 season with no points to their name. 

UPDATE: After the race, Kimi Antonelli was hit with a three-place grid drop for causing a collision with Verstappen. It will be added to his Silverstone qualifying result.

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. Oscar Piastri

3. Charles Leclerc

4. Lewis Hamilton

5. George Russell

6. Liam Lawson

7. Fernando Alonso

8. Gabriel Bortoleto

9. Nico Hulkenberg

10. Esteban Ocon

11. Oliver Bearman

12. Isack Hadjar

13. Pierre Gasly

14. Lance Stroll

15. Franco Colapinto

16. Yuki Tsunoda

DNF: Alex Albon, Max Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli

DNS: Carlos Sainz