Formula 1 in Austria
McLaren dominates wild races-Verstappen debacle
Updated on June 29, 2025 – 5:01 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Shortly after the start, the race in Spielberg is overshadowed by an accident that has a significant impact on the further course. The McLaren deliver an internal team in front – there are positive surprises behind it.
Lando Norris won a spectacular Grand Prix of Austria. The McLaren pilot prevailed on the traditional course in Spielberg in front of his team-mate Oscar Piatri, third became Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
World champion Max Verstappen, however, experienced a race on his favorite route to forget: The Red Bull Pilot was already cleared in the third curve by Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, for both the race was already over (read more about this).
Due to his third win of the season, Norris (now 201 points) was able to shorten the distance in the World Cup ranking to the leading Piatri (216). The McLaren drivers delivered spectacular duels at the top several times in the race.
For the German Nico Hülkenberg, the Grand Prix ended with a success: started from the last place, the clean pilot went into the points in ninth place. Team colleague Gabriel Bortoleto celebrated its premiere points in Formula 1. For the first time this season, the Swiss racing team drove into the top 10 with both cars.
Norris was wide awake and got a strong start, Piatri passed Leclerc – but after just a few curves the field was braked again. Kimi Antonelli misjudged three enormously in the brake on curve and congregated out of Verstappen. The Safety Car came on the track, both the RB21 and the silver arrow were too damaged to continue. A bitter disappointment for the many Dutch fans.
Significant position changes failed to stop at the restart and Piatri blew to attack for a duel worth seeing of the McLaren pilots. At first he was able to overtake Norris in curve three, but promptly set a counterattack. Despite her duel, her distance grew steadily, Leclerc could not follow. Especially the sunshine in Styria, which results in high air and asphalt temperatures, played the Papaya team in the cards.
In round 20 there was an almost crash: Piatri breathe and missed the rear of his team-mate. As a result, nervousness broke out at the McLaren Command. “The maneuver was too borderline, we can’t do that,” the people in charge sparked on Piatri. Meanwhile, Norris remained cool and expanded his lead over a few seconds.
After changing tires, the gap between the McLaren settled in about four seconds and they dominated at will. In the last section of the race, Piatri then experienced a shock when he was pressed into the grass by Franco Colapinto when he was over, put pressure on it again.