The Austrian Grand Prix provided a thrilling weekend of action for Round 11 of the 2025 F1 season, with plenty of big talking points emerging from the Red Bull Ring.
Lando Norris bounced back from his Canada crash to seal victory, coming out on top after another nail-biting scrap with McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri – while, behind them, Red Bull endured a nightmare outing at their home event, Gabriel Bortoleto broke his points duck and several famous faces watched on. Here’s our round up of all the highlights from the Austrian Grand Prix weekend…
An epic McLaren battle for the win
A badly judged overtake attempt last time out in Canada saw Norris and Piastri clash, with the former retiring from the race while Piastri’s eight-race streak of podium finishes also came to an end.
The pair reset for another round at the Red Bull Ring, with Norris clearly meaning business as he established a comprehensive gap over his team mate in Qualifying, but Piastri was far from fazed, declaring he was “not planning on finishing third”.
He quickly followed through on his words at lights out, charging past Charles Leclerc and immediately launching a challenge on Norris for the lead of the race. In possibly one of the most thrilling intra-team battles of the last few years, the two engaged in a race-long fight that involved each side of the McLaren garage going head-to-head, bringing strategy and tyre management into the on-track contest.
Norris had the clear advantage of starting on pole position, but Piastri rapidly shut down the gap and pursued the Briton with DRS for the entirety of the first stint.
In a moment that surely saw the team pit wall hold their breath, Piastri darted past Norris on Lap 11, snatching the lead albeit for only a short time. The original leader remained by his side and prevented him from edging further ahead, reclaiming first place as quickly as he’d lost it.
The tension didn’t end there as the Australian endured another heart-in-mouth move soon afterwards – closing in on Norris once again, he locked up just behind and came agonisingly close to colliding with the rear of his car, but fortunately only emerged with an uncomfortable flat spot.
With the first round of pit stops beginning to kick off, the pair never got quite as near each other on track again, as Piastri’s choice to stay out for four laps longer than Norris led to a six-second gap between them. A seemingly endless stream of backmarkers, including Franco Colapinto who forced Piastri off onto the grass unaware he was behind, further halted the Australian’s ambition to return into DRS range, and Norris was able to endure the constant pressure until the chequered flag fell.
A nightmare home race for Red Bull
Looking at past results, this weekend should have been a return to glory for the Milton Keynes-based outfit – Max Verstappen holds the most pole positions and most victories in Austria and, of course, the circuit itself bears Red Bull’s name in the team’s home country.
Hordes of people rocked up in orange for the occasion, ready for another Verstappen masterclass in the Styrian hills. But they were swiftly disappointed by the conclusion of Qualifying as the Dutchman ended up in P7, deterred from setting a second flying lap due to the yellow flags shown whilst Pierre Gasly recovered from a late spin.
The session was similarly, if not more, disastrous for Yuki Tsunoda, who failed to progress to Q2 for the second time in the last three rounds and was resigned to start the race from P18 on the grid.
While Verstappen labelled the result “painful”, he also admitted that there could be “some surprises in the race”, which certainly proved to be accurate. Maybe he was expecting some drama at the front that he could capitalise on, but the drama actually ended up involving him.
Just a few corners into the opening lap, Kimi Antonelli locked up his rear tyres and found himself unable to make the corner, instead plunging straight on into the lead Red Bull to take both himself and Verstappen out of the race.
His remorse was evident as the two were seen talking whilst their cars were recovered, and the rookie confirmed that he had apologised immediately after the incident that caused the reigning World Champion’s first DNF since the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. Antonelli still received a three-place grid drop for the upcoming round at Silverstone for causing a collision.
Tsunoda was forced to take on the role of the sole remaining Red Bull, but little went well for him. On Lap 30, he was passed by Colapinto’s Alpine and, determined to reclaim the position, he threw caution to the wind and ended up clipping the Argentine’s right rear tyre to send him into a spin.
He then headed to the pits to replace his damaged front wing and dropped to last in the order, with things going from bad to worse as he was handed a 10-second time penalty for the collision, well and truly confirming his P16 result.
Bortoleto takes his first points and Lawson shines
Amid a wealth of collisions and mechanical failures, it’s nice that at least one driver experienced the best weekend of their F1 career so far – enter Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
The combination of returning to a circuit he performed superbly at in his junior career and finding the rhythm he has been searching for in the C45 came together to produce the rookie’s first F1 points.
After making it into Q3 for the first time this season, Bortoleto raced those around him masterfully, including his manager/mentor Fernando Alonso – the two engaged in a heartwarming battle for P7 in the final laps of the Grand Prix, with the former World Champion clinging onto the position.
He was later seen hugging the Brazilian and congratulating him on defending his Qualifying position to finish in eighth place, just ahead of his team mate Nico Hulkenberg.
Aside from Alonso, another driver to make the one-stop strategy work was Liam Lawson, who achieved his best Qualifying result so far (P6), in a similar vein to Bortoleto. He started and finished as the lead Red Bull-backed racer, securing an important six points for Racing Bulls as he escaped up the road from the Alonso-Bortoleto battle on the penultimate lap.
The biggest pole margin of the season so far
Saturday’s Qualifying was an exciting affair, with Norris grabbing pole for Mclaren. Having sat out FP1, Norris topped FP2, FP3, Q1 and Q2 – so it was no surprise when he grabbed the P1 grid slot.
What was a surprise was the margin, the biggest of the season so far at 0.521s. That is a mighty gap at any circuit, but at Austria where the track is one of the shortest of the calendar, it laid down a form marker that Norris is back in business.
Yes, there was the caveat that a few drivers including Piastri did not get to complete – or even start – their second runs in Q3 thanks to yellow flags, but even so, Norris looked untouchable over one-lap.
It was the perfect response to some Q3 mistakes earlier this season, and his race-ending collision with his team mate in Canada.
Stars turn out for Austria, with the race here to stay
News broke on Sunday that Austria has been handed a contract extension and will be on the calendar until 2041. It is a firm favourite with fans and drivers alike, and one of the most picturesque tracks the F1 circus visits.
Plenty of stars wanted to judge that for themselves, with Liverpool’s former manager Jurgen Klopp attending the race on Sunday. He spent time in the Racing Bulls garage and perhaps that was what inspired such a strong performance from the team, with Liam Lawson grabbing a brilliant sixth-place finish.
Eric Bana was also spotted in the Austria paddock, the actor no stranger to the world of F1 as a big sports fan.
It remains to be seen if Pierre Gasly approached him for tips – after F1 The Movie star Brad Pitt cited Gasly as the driver most likely to make it in Hollywood, Gasly joked he might have to turn to acting as a second career unless he started scoring points.
And what did he fail to do in the race? Score points. Hollywood might beckon for Pierre.
