Champion Max Verstappen was eliminated on the opening lap. Autoweek rounds up the main talking points from the weekend’s action at the Red Bull Ring.

Norris Fights Back to Defeat Piastri

Lando Norris suffered his lowest ebb of the season in Canada, with his clumsy failed move on teammate Piastri, but fought back in Austria by converting a dominant pole position into his seventh career victory. Norris was commanding throughout practice and qualifying, going fastest by half a second despite a season-short lap time of 64 seconds, labelling it “easily my best qualifying of the year from a delivery point of view.”

Norris led away at the start but third-placed Piastri quickly overhauled Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, and shadowed the sister McLaren through the opening stages. Piastri attacked Norris on lap 15 of 70, taking the lead into Turn 3, but Norris fought back into Turn 4 to reclaim the track position. Piastri attempted a lunge a few laps later into Turn 4, an opportunistic move in which fortunately no contact was made, with Norris staying in front. Both drivers executed a two-stop tire strategy, with Piastri slightly extending his stints, as management also became crucial in hot conditions. The brief battle in the opening stint proved the high point entertainment-wise in a race that was tense, and simmered, but never truly burst into life. Norris’ win nonetheless allowed him to trim Piastri’s title advantage to 15 points ahead of his home grand prix at Silverstone next weekend, where he will be the focus of attention.

“I had a lot of laps looking in my mirrors out of Turn 1 and into Turn 3,” Norris said. “It was a good race, a tricky race, but well managed.”

He also reveled in him and Piastri being allowed to battle it out on track for honors, with McLaren back on form pace-wise after losing out in Canada.

“We both want to race hard and fair, and it goes both ways, we had to put Montreal behind us – behind me for sure – it was nice that we could go out and have a good battle and push things to the limits,” Norris said.

Upgrades put a happier Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into a stronger and more effective operating window.

Ferrari Makes Step But Still Trails

Ferrari introduced a new floor to its SF-25 at the Austrian Grand Prix and the updated component put a happier Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into a stronger and more effective operating window. Leclerc qualified on the front row, albeit slightly aided by Piastri’s second Q3 lap being scuppered by a yellow flag, while Hamilton was encouraged by the execution of the session as he took fourth. Piastri quickly overhauled Leclerc on the first lap, and thereafter it was a lonely race for both Leclerc and Hamilton en route to third and fourth, but those positions still marked one of Ferrari’s best weekends of a challenging year.

“From Turn 1 to the end was a very boring race, I was on my own,” Leclerc said. “I was managing – I won’t go into details – but the lift and coast was a bit frustrating, we paid a bit of price in the first stint, but the second and las stints were a bit better.”

Leclerc expanded more on the updated package that Ferrari introduced in Austria.

“They are definitely a step forward, yes, and it helped us to be on the podium today,” Leclerc said. “The team has done an incredible job to get them as early as possible, and they’re still pushing hard to get more, which I hope will make us get closer to McLaren, and Red Bull and Mercedes on their good days, we are pushing hard, and I hope we see the result as soon as possible.”

Hamilton grappled with low-speed understeer and high-speed oversteer but was still relatively buoyed by the result and overall gains.

“I’m slowly making progress, which is a real positive, we have made progress as a team, and it’s great to be the second-fastest team,” Hamilton said. “Obviously we can’t do what the McLarens can do at the moment but this is down to the upgrade we had, and we had a better execution as a team this weekend.”

Gabriel Bortoleto finished eighth – taking his first points – and Nico Hulkenberg rose from last to ninth.

Sauber Surge Continues as Bortoleto Stars

Sauber spent the opening phase of the campaign struggling for performance but an upgrade introduced in Spain has revitalized its season. Under the guidance of Jonathan Wheatley Sauber has now scored in three successive grands prix and had both cars in the points in Austria, as Gabriel Bortoleto finished eighth – taking his first points – and Nico Hulkenberg rose from last to ninth. Bortoleto has been solid through the bulk of his rookie year so far but came of age in Austria, qualifying a best of eighth, and racing to the same position – with his shot at manager Fernando Alonso’s seventh hindered by having to adhere to blue flags on the last lap.

There was also an excellent drive from Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls. Lawson, who conceded he was fortunate not to be wiped out by Antonelli on the first lap, converted sixth on the grid into the same result in the race, the lead driver on the one-stop strategy. It marked Lawson’s best result in Formula 1.

Alpine’s difficult campaign showed no sign of abating as neither Pierre Gasly nor Franco Colapinto were able to get near the points despite only 16 cars finishing. Alpine, with only 11 points, has now been firmly cut adrift at the bottom of the standings.

“Frankly, this level of performance is increasingly concerning,” boss Flavio Briatore said.

Norris Fights Back to Defeat Piastri, Ferrari Makes Step But Still Trails, Sauber Surge Continues as Bortoleto Stars , Sainz’s Troubled Run Goes On

Sainz was never even able to race. His car failed to move on the formation lap and, while it kicked into life, the rear brakes alighted as he sat at pit exit – with the damage to the components and accompanying bodywork proving terminal.

Sainz’s Troubled Run Goes On

Carlos Sainz has had a difficult opening half of the campaign with Williams, beset by misfortune and too often falling on the wrong side of close margins. His weekend in Austria marked a new low. Sainz struggled with a brake issue in qualifying, which he said made his FW47 pull to one side, and picking up floor damage left him only 19^th on the grid. But Sainz was never even able to race. His car failed to move on the formation lap and, while it kicked into life, the rear brakes alighted as he sat at pit exit – with the damage to the components and accompanying bodywork proving terminal.

“Very disappointed to not be able to race,” an understandably downbeat Sainz said. “Going through a bit of a bad run, with a lot of issues as a team, we need to regroup and see what we can do better.”

It proved to be a doubly frustrating day for Williams as Sainz’s teammate Alex Albon made a strong start, rising from the midfield to run sixth, but had to retire due to an issue shortly after his first pit stop. It marked Albon’s third straight retirement.

“We ran into this issue which looks similar to the one in Canada, but we need to review it,” Albon said. “We've had three DNFs in a row and it's the same car as it was at the beginning of the year, so we need to investigate why it was more reliable then.”

That’s now just a single point across the last three grands prix for a Williams team whose hold on fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship is looking a little looser.

“We’re on a good journey towards building a fast car but we're not complete yet in terms of operation and reliability,” Williams Team Principal James Vowles said.