Lando Norris overcame his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to claim victory in the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday while Max Verstappen suffered the agony of a DNF, Afrosport reports.
The race start was initially aborted when the Williams of Carlos Sainz Jr failed to move away from his grid slot before the formation lap. The Spaniard made his way to the pits where his car overheated and ultimately failed to start the Grand Prix.
Norris bounced back from a previous weekend in Canada where he made contact with Piastri and ultimately retired, this time fighting off his Australian teammate in intense wheel-to-wheel battle to cross the chequered flag in first place for only the third time this season.
Norris’ victory has now cut his deficit to championship leader Piastri to 15 points heading into the British Grand Prix this weekend.
Meanwhile, Verstappen is now a mammoth 61 points behind in the quest to defend the championship after he retired from Red Bull’s home race on lap one following a collision with the Mercedes of rookie Kimi Antonelli whose tyres locked up under breaking as he approached turn three. Antonelli was handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Silverstone because of the collision.
It brought to an end the Verstappen’s 31-race points-scoring streak stretching back to the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix. It twas also his first DNF since the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc capped an improved weekend for Ferrari by taking third place, his fourth podium finish of the year. He finished nine seconds ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton whose wait for a first podium with the Scuderia continues.
George Russell was a lonely fifth as the sole finisher for Mercedes after Antonelli’s retirement while Liam Lawson took a fine sixth for Racing Bulls.
🏁 RACE CLASSIFICATION 🏁
Lando Norris takes the chequered flag for the third time this season 👏👏👏#F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/Ta8ZpRIfZE
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 29, 2025
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso held off Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, the latter scoring his first-ever F1 points in the Sauber.
Nico Hulkenberg made it two Saubers in the points after starting from last on the grid to finish ninth, while Esteban Ocon scored the final point in 10th for Haas.
