At the Grand Prix of Formula 1 in Austria, the McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piatri once again impressively demonstrated that the World Cup crown will probably be put up in the Papaya camp this year. When some top competitors weaken, the lesson of the underdogs.
In your sport.de-Barrief see F1 expert Christian Danner and RTL-data analyst Steffen Kosuch back to the Spielberg spectacle, illuminate the narrow but fair struggle of the two McLaren pilots. They explain what teams like Mercedes are missing at the top – and why drivers in Austria in particular were able to go out from the second role.
When the established top teams stumbling, the stage is free for the outsider – and that was exactly what was impressive at the Grand Prix of Austria in Formula 1.
Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso in particular used the favor of the hour. With cleverly chosen one-stop strategies-while all other top drivers took two stops-they kept in midfield and were rewarded with strong placements on P6 (law) and P7 (alo). For their teams, the important counter in the close struggle for the Formula 1 constructor evaluation meant.
Hülkenberg rounds off strong Formula 1 weekend
Gabriel Bortoloto also convinced with a strong performance. After reaching the Q3 in qualifying with a remarkable eighth place, the clean pilot crowned his weekend with 8th place in the race.
In the end, the young Brazilian was served an educational DRS demonstration of his sponsor Alonso: In a gripping finish, the old master impressively showed how to assert yourself against a recurring rookie using the traffic and perfect timing.
Nico Hülkenberg rounded off the strong clean weekend with a great catch-up. After a mistake in qualifying, he had to tackle the race of start place 20, but with a courageous performance he fought his way forward. The clean team, from 2026 as an Audi work team at the start, shows a further rising form and makes an appetite for more.
The last World Cup counter of the day secured Esteban Ocon, who gave his Haas team at least a small sense of achievement with 10th place. In a Formula 1 race that was all about the surprises, it was the day of the underdogs-and they took their chance impressively.
Formula 1: Norris defends himself against Piatris attacks
Lando Norris showed the perfect answer to his mistake in Canada in Spielberg and secured a highly competitive victory at the Grand Prix of Austria. After an impressive pole position, he implemented the start optimally and only briefly released the tour during the pit stops.
Shake (sec) About racing rounds of the individual cars on racing winners Nor
It will be shown whether Norris only achieved this achievement because he was on his parade route, or whether he also caused a change in the World Cup fight.
Oscar Piatri was behind his teammate all weekend and only got a little unfortunate in qualifying three. Although he was able to secure P2 at the start, Norris put pressure on the first stint, but it was not enough for a continuing overtaking maneuver.
McLaren tried to open him opportunities with a slightly different strategy (overcut), but Norris thwarted this with a strong second stint. At the end of the race, Piatri came closer again, but had to let them tear down because of the afterturns. So it ultimately remained with P2 and a defended World Cup lead.
Mercedes did not understand the problems
Charles Leclerc won the podium with third place, while Lewis Hamilton underpinned a position as the second best team on P4 Ferrari’s. However, the distance of 20 (LEC) or 30 seconds (Ham) showed that at no time was there a danger to McLaren.
Video: Formula 1 expert: McLaren “declasses” the competition
It looked even worse for Mercedes: George Russell still got P5, but had a minute behind. The high route temperatures dramatically add the tire. Mercedes has been pursuing this problem for a long time and it does not seem to be silent about a solution for the silver.
Mercedes-Rokie Kimi Antonelli showed how quickly the times can change in Formula 1. Third in Canada, he built a colossal burner in the race in Spielberg in the second real curve of the first round and bricked Max Verstappen out of the race. It is precisely these mistakes that you forgive a quick newcomer, but they are always annoying.
But it is even worse: Red Bull missed the dot length with both cars. Verstappen might have had a chance of a maximum of 3, but the victim of Antonelli.
Yuki Tsunoda, who has replaced the hapless Liam Lawson in the second car since the third race, was completely off the role.
After leaving Q1 (SP18), things went seamlessly in the race. Various collisions with opponents, repair stops, a ten -second penalty and, above all, lack of performance meant two round gap and the last place of the cars finished.