Lando Norris leads McLaren 1-2 at Austrian GP
29th June 2025Lando Norris led a McLaren 1-2 at the Austrian Grand Prix, ahead of Oscar Piastri, as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli caused a first-lap crash with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Feature image credit: McLaren Racing
The Austrian GP was Norris’ to lose as the British driver, who missed out on FP1 as he was replaced by McLaren rookie Alex Dunne. The #4 McLaren set the pace across all sessions he started, from Free Practice 2 to Q3.
Norris secured pole position on Saturday afternoon by the largest margin of the season, 0.521 seconds faster than his closest rival, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
McLaren’s #4 had to contend with an early safety car intervention as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli crashed into Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the first lap into turn three.
From there, it was a thrilling early battle as the two McLarens edged away from the field and the Australian driver looked for opportunities to snatch the race lead.
Piastri’s closest attempt came just before the first pit stops for the team, on lap 20, where the Australian locked up into turn four. The two McLarens were lucky to avoid contact in the corner as Norris sailed away without contact before peeling into the pit lane for his first of two changes.
From there, Norris did not look to be under any pressure leading the race until the later stages, as Piastri mounted a late charge to challenge for victory but it never came to fruition by the chequered flag.
Leclerc was the best of the rest as Ferrari held position in third and fourth, with Lewis Hamilton bringing up the rear, following the safety car restart.
As a result of McLaren’s 1-2 finish, it means the Woking-based team extend their championship lead to 417 points in the constructors.
With one car in the race, in Austria, for Mercedes and a third-fourth finish for Ferrari, it means the latter goes up into second, one point clear of the Silver Arrows but 207 points behind McLaren.
In the drivers standings, Norris (201 points) has cut down the deficit to Piastri to 15 points as the Australian remains F1’s championship leader on 216 points.
Next up is the British Grand Prix to complete the European double header, on July 4 – 5.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Austrian GP remains on F1 calendar until 2041
- F1: The Movie – Review
- Austrian GP: George Russell warned for pit lane infringement
- Austrian GP: who qualified where?
- Austrian GP: Norris takes pole position by half a second
- Austrian GP: Lando Norris fastest ahead of Oscar Piastri
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
