Lando Norris claimed victory in a dramatic 2025 F1 Austrian GP the ended with Piastri in a close second following a fire in the pit lane with Sainz and crashes between Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen.
The Papaya duo led a strong race from the start. Flying past charles leclerc in Turn 1 and having fights between the two drivers to secure P1.
But, it was the intense midfield battles, staregic gambles from Lawson and Alonso, and a racing incidents all througout that made it one of the most exciting races in the F1 2025 season.
Preparing for lights out
Lando Norris shocked the paddock with the biggest pole position so far in the 2025 F1 season at the Austrian GP, with a blistering 1:03.971 lap, which led by 0.521 seconds over the second-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri continued his impressive form with P3, ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes’ George Russell and surprising P6 with Liam Lawson.
The pace-filled Qualifying capped off a weekend of rookies in FP1, with the Drivable Williams FW47 for Carlos Sainz, and a disappointing upset for the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda.
With a tightly matched grid and the unpredictability of the Red Bull Ring, Sunday’s Race was high stakes and high rewards, with even more drama to unfold.
Carlos Sainz troubles
With the Formation Lap starting, Carlos Sainz had not moved as he was stuck in first gear and remained on the grid, having to be pushed forward by his mechanics.
On such a short track and lap, an aborted start was been called by race control, Carlos Sainz had to start from the pit lane. There was a ten-minute warning, as the mechanics touched the car.
But as he pulled into the end of the Pit lane, his right brake caught fire, with the team running to extinguish the flames.
Unsuprisingly, Carlos Sainz was taken into the Williams garage and would not be participating in the 2025 F1 Austrian GP, due to smoke and the overheating brakes.
Due to the fire in the pit lane, The race would be reduce in distance by one lap, to take account of the extra Formation Lap that is now needed for all drivers.
The heat at the Red Bull Ring is getting to all the drivers and mechanics on the grid with the track temperature nearing 51 Degrees Celsius.
After the incident with Sainz, the Formation Lap offcialy started again, with Norris leading the charge in the sweltering heat as they all line-up to take their place for the 2025 F1 Austrian GP at the fast-paced Red Bull Ring.
Lights out
It was lights out, and away we go and Lap 1 was mayhem as into Turn 1 Leclerc was taken back to P3 as Piastri took P2 with both hands, and Norris defended his position from Piastri, as he was hoping to take the charge.
With a lock-up on Turn 3 by Antonelli and a safety car deployed. Verstappen and Antonelli were both out of the race for the Austrian GP, as the tractors came straight on to track to clear away those two cars.
With Lawson and Bortoletto caught up in the mess, but Lawson losing three positions from P6 to P9.
The aftermath
Red Bull only had Tsunoda, and Mercedes only had Russell to take charge for their teams and score valuable points for thier team.
In the midfield, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly used the crash to gain 5 and 4 positions respectively. They were making the most out of the situation.
By Lap 4 and we were back racing from the safety car, as Hamilton and Russell fought for P4 with Hamilton barely kept him away.
With DRS enabled as Norris crossed the line for Lap 5, Norris remained being eight tenths ahead of his teammate. But, Piastri was all over Norris and was using the DRS to his full advantage to take the first spot, but how long could Piastri keep his tyres viable as he powered through, with Norris in the clean air.
But the McLarens were flying ahead of the rest of the pack as Piastri was already 3.695 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, who sat in third.
Just a few laps later, Alex Albon kept his head down and has charged through. Gasly and took 6th position after overtaking Pierre Gasly, who was on the softs.
By Lap 11 and Piastri and Norris were fighting for first position. Swapping 1st position back and forth using DRS to get the best of each other. whoever took the spot would be the first to get the first pit stop. The Papaya team were exchanging blows as their team gave them the go ahead.
Pit Stops start
Down in the midfield, Pierre Gasly’s soft tyres were failing him as Bortoletto overtakes Gasly and used the opportunity to pit for Hard compound tyres, along with Bearman.
Lap 14 and Piastris’ hard push of his McLaren led him to be careful. He was warned about his gearbox, which is overheating.
On Lap 15, Albon went in for an a pit-stop and retired his car. Williams was not having a good day at the 2025 F1 Austrian GP. With both cars officially retired with a car issue. This was the third straight DNF for Albon.
Stroll and Tsunoda had a little scrap back in Lap 17 as the two wheels collide as they fight for positions. Points are up on the table for the midfield due to the four DNFs.
Back in Lap 18, Norris was told he can pit ahead of Bortoleto in P5, but as the two papaya cars continued fighting Piastri had a lock-up in Turn 4 scupering his chances for an overtake.
Norris pits with a 3.1-second pit stop, they barely got ahead of Bortoleto in P5, as Piastri led the race for the time being with Norris on the hard tyres.
Bortoleto pitted on lap 23, for some well-deserved mediums as he rejoined the track in P12. As he fought for his first point in the F1 Season.
Piastri finally pit on Lap 25 after having pushed them to the absolute limit. With a 3.4 second stop, which was three tenths slower than Norris’ stop, Piastri returned to the track in fourth, as they also put him on the hard tyres.
Sauber troubles
Lap 26, and Sauber were having some internal troubles as Bortoleto was asking to be let through. But Hulkenberg was refusing as they both overtook Gasly to get into the points, which could hinder the Brazillians chances at points.
On the other side of the grid. Norris and Piastri kept their 1-2 positions, but there wouldn’t be any fighting for the pair as of lap 28, the gap 6.5-second gap between the two drivers due to the pit-stops.
But not all drivers came into pit as Lawson and Alonso were making their tyres last. As Lawson fought Hamilton for that P4 position, and were the only two drivers to do so on the grid.
Yuki and Colapinto
By Lap 30, Alpine were in shambles as Gasly complained about a lack of grip as he was frantically losing position after position. Meanwhile Colapinto was spun out by Tsunoda, who was fighting for P13. Tsunoda came in for a new front wing and some medium tyres and came out in last position.
Tsunoda’s aggressive move landed him a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Colapinto. Red Bull’s day could not be going any worse for the team.
Alonso and Lawson both came in from their long stints of 34 laps for a pair of hard tyres. Both drivers sat just outside the points at P12 and P11 respectively, as they both went for a cheeky one-stop manoeuvre for the 2025 F1 Austrian Grand Prix.
But as the laps continue, Haas kept their head down and let their racing do the talking as Ocon and Bearman were cruising in P8 and P9.
Halfway mark
Lap 35 and Norris and Piastri were still going head to head as Piastri was slowly closing the gap from 6.5 seconds to 5.4 seconds as the race came to the halfway mark.
Gasly believed he might have damage as he complained once again that his car was not handling well.
Lap 37, and the Racing Bulls were racing better than their sister team. Isack Hadjar pulled off a sneaky move onto Colapinto for P13, as Lawson kept on the pace for his one-stop stategy, along with Alonso.
Papaya Victory in sight?
On Lap 40, Piastri picked up his pace as he charged ahead to close the gap even further by another 1.4 seconds. He was only 4 seconds away from race leader Norris.
And on Lap 42. Piastri was just going after every second as he breaks the gap down by another 1 second, as traffic played a key part in Norris’s lack of pace.
Lap 43 and Bearman and Hulkenberg pitted for mediums as Sauber and Haas were having fantastic races. Along with even better pit stops in the low 2.2 and 2.3 seconds.
But Hulkenberg unknowingly put a stop to Piastri’s charge as Piastri had to overtake the German, while Norris did not. The Aussie’s gap to Norris went back up to 3.8 seconds.
But in the other Sauber, Bortoletto was having the race of his life as he sat in a comfortable P5. Ocon sat a clear 5.9 seconds behind him. The previous F2 Winner of the Red Bull Ring was feeling at home in Austria.
On the top of the grid, Lewis Hamilton had a bit of wobble and ran wide on Lap 48. He had a snap of oversteer, but he was running his race. With Bortoleto 26 seconds behind him and Leclerc, 9 seconds ahead of him. P4 looked inevitable.
Final Stops and Grass
Lawson and Alonso were sticking to the one-stop plans as Lawson sat in P7 and Alonso sat in P8 on the hard tires
Lap 50 and Leclerc pit from P3 and came back out in fourth behind his teammate, along with Bortoleto. As the Sauber crew pitted him with fist pumps all around.
On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Hamilton reluctantly pit the next lap as he argued with his engineer. As he believed his tyres felt fine and he wanted to extend his stint. He was now on a fresh set of medium tires.
Lap 53 and Piastri had taken the lead of the 2025 F1 Austrian Grand Prix as Lando Norris came into the pitlane for some fresh medium tyres, but it didn’t last long as Piastri came in right after for Norris to retake the lead.
Lap 54 and as Piastri came out to the side of Colapinto, the Argentine veered over and pushed the Australian onto the grass. The incident was investigated and Colapinto was given a 5-second time penalty.
10 Laps left
As lap 60 came into place, Norris still led the papaya charge, with Piastri behind by 2.1 seconds. Leclerc sat in a comfortable P3, and Hamilton sat 7.4 seconds behind. Russell was in P5 with Lawson only 3 seconds behind.
Piastri was once again and was charging ahead to take the lead. As Piastri took the fastest lap of the race, as Norris pleaded to his engineer to find some pace. Only 1.9 seconds was between Piastri and Norris as traffic held up Norris.
But down in the midfield, Lap 61 and Sauber were in the running for a double points finish as Bortoleto sat in P8 and Hulkenberg in P9, as Ocon took P10 with Hadjar 8 seconds behind.
It was all to play for and at Lap 64, Norris had a damaged front wing, which was causing balance issues for his McLaren, but there was nothing that the mechanics could do to help, as Piastri continued to fly on ahead.
With only three laps remaining, Bortoleto was trying to overtake Alonso and took another place as the Brazilian was on the Spaniard’s tail. As Bortoleto got the position, Alonso cut right back inside as Bortoleto had to yield.
The same could be said as Piastri was giving it his all as only two laps remained and is desperately trying to claw a win. But time had run out of time as Lando Norris won the 2025 F1 Austrian GP with Piastri sat in P2, with Leclerc in P3.
Chequered flag
Norris took the checkered flag on lap 70, securing the win as Piastri came up fast behind, as Charles Leclerc came in third with Hamilton trailing behind him in fourth.
A fantastic race by Kick Sauber, Racing Bulls and Aston Martin as their strategies landed Bortoleto his first points in F1. Liam Lawsons’s highest point finish and a very much needed Aston Martin constructors points.
Final Results at the 2025 Austrian GP
- L. Norris
- O. Piastri
- C. Leclerc
- L. Hamilton
- G. Russell
- L. Lawson
- F. Alonso
- G. Bortoletto
- N. Hülkenberg
- E. Ocon
- O. Bearman
- I. Hadjar
- P. Gasly
- L. Stroll
- F. Colapinto
- Y. Tsunoda
DNF – A. Albon | M. Verstappen | K. Antonelli | C. Sainz
