Lando Norris won the battle of the McLarens to land a morale-boosting victory in Austria, which breathes fresh life into his F1 world championship charge.
Norris kept his nerve in a thrilling duel with Oscar Piastri to take his third triumph of the season, reducing the title deficit to his teammate from 22 points to 15.
A fortnight after Norris ran into the back of Piastri in Canada, the two McLaren men came within centimetres of another collision on lap 20 of 70 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Piastri momentarily lost control of his car as he attempted a lunge at turn four, before he was warned not to attempt a similar move – a clear sign that McLaren had called off the fight.
Norris took the chequered flag 2.7 seconds clear of Piastri, with Charles Leclerc finishing third. Lewis Hamilton was fourth with the seven-time world champion’s wait for a first podium in Ferrari colours extending to his home race at Silverstone next weekend.
Max Verstappen’s race lasted three corners after he was taken out by Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli. The first-lap retirement leaves him 61 points off the championship pace. George Russell took fifth for Mercedes.
Norris departed Montreal with his championship hopes hanging in the balance after a collision with Piastri, which the British driver said made him look like a fool.
But Norris has been a driver reborn here in the Styrian mountains, securing an emphatic pole position before holding off Piastri with a statement victory.
Norris nailed his getaway to keep Leclerc behind on the run 200-metre charge to turn one, with Piastri then launching his McLaren around the outside of the Ferrari and into second place, providing him with clear sight of his teammate.
Verstappen had called his car “undriveable” in qualifying on his way to taking a lowly seventh on the grid. And his torrid weekend was over on the first lap when Antonelli arrived like a torpedo at the third corner to T-bone the four-time world champion.
“I’m out, got hit, like crazy,” Verstappen said. “F****** idiots.” In the other Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda was penalised for crunching Franco Colapinto and would finish 16th and last. A desperate weekend for Red Bull at their home event.
TOP 10 – AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
1. Lando Norris
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Charles Leclerc
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. George Russell
6. Liam Lawson
7. Fernando Alonso
8. Gabriel Bortoleto
9. Nico Hulkenberg
10. Esteban Ocon
Back to the front, and the safety car, released following the first-lap drama, came in at the end of lap three. For the next 16 laps, Norris would never be more than a second clear of Piastri.
And on the 11th lap, Piastri made the first move when he overtook Norris on the entry to turn three. Norris did not challenge, realising that a clean exit would provide him with a slingshot on the downhill drag to the next corner, and his wily decision worked when he got his man back on the inside of the right-hander.
Clean racing from both, and the gap remained at half a second.
Norris then ran wide on the exit of the final bend on lap 15, allowing Piastri a chance to close, but the Australian resisted a challenge.
It was nip and tuck before Piastri attempted a banzai dive at turn four on lap 20. Piastri locked his front-right tyre and came agonisingly close to sliding into Norris’s car.
McLaren promptly hauled in Norris for his first of two tyre changes. Piastri, perhaps as punishment, was left out on track with a flat-spotted tyre for four additional laps and was losing time – a signal that McLaren had seen enough.
By the time Piastri emerged from his stop, Norris was six seconds up the road.
“The feedback from the pit wall was that the move into turn four was too marginal and we can’t do that again,” Piastri was told by his race engineer, Tom Stallard.
Norris came in for his second stop with 18 laps to go, holding a three-second lead. Piastri would stop the next time around and was then forced to take to the grass as he attempted to lap Colapinto in 14th.
Piastri continued his charge and with 10 laps to go was back within two seconds. “I need some pace,” Norris said. “Please help.”
But Piastri would not get a sniff as Norris took the chequered flag for his seventh career win – a perfect tonic as a precursor to next weekend’s British Grand Prix.
“We had a great battle, that’s for sure,” Norris said. “It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress, but a nice battle. It was tricky, hot and tiring, but the perfect result as a team.”
Piastri said on the radio: “Sorry for my move at turn four, that was my bad.”
He added: “I tried my absolute best and I probably could have done a better job when I momentarily got ahead. It was a bit on the edge, and I might have pushed a bit too far, but it was a good race and that is what we are here to do, to race each other and fight for wins.”
