Key events
Lap 33 of 70: Approaching halfway, Norris is maintaining a 5.5 second lead over Piastri, with Leclerc a distant third, more than 13 seconds behind the Aussie.
Lap 32 of 70: Bortoletto has got beyond teammate Hulkenburg and is up to eighth, while Esteban Ocon is pushing Gasly’s stricken Alpine in a battle for minor points.
Lap 31 of 70: Tsunoda needs a new front wing and will be right at the back of the field for Red Bull, who lost Verstappen on the first lap. Liam Lawson, meanwhile, is on course to pick up a top-10 finish.
Lap 30 of 70: “I have no grip! I’m almost spinning on every corner,” pleads Pierre Gasly over the radio. Behind him, Alpine teammate Colapinto is clipped by Tsunoda at turn four and spins – but is able to continue.
Lap 29 of 70: Hadjar makes his second pit stop, while teammate Lawson is still on his first set of tyres. Lewis Hamilton is made to work to get beyond the New Zealander, moving up to fourth behind Leclerc.
Lap 27 of 70: Norris returns to P1 with a six-second lead over Piastri, who gets a warning from the team over that near-miss into turn four a few laps ago. Everything coming up Lando.
Lap 26 of 70: The two bright green Saubers of Bortoletto and Hulkenburg are battling for 10th as Hamilton pits. returning in sixth place behind Leclerc.
Lap 25 of 70: Leclerc has a brief moment in the sun before being hauled in to the pit – putting teammate Lewis Hamilton in the lead (until he pits, anyway). Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso, also yet to pit, are up to fourth and fifth.
Lap 24 of 70: Piastri pits – this is a pivotal moment, and it’s a little slow – he returns more than five seconds behind Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc is the on-track leader, but is yet to pit.
Lap 23 of 70: Piastri is asked whether he wants to keep going on these tyres for now, and answers in the affirmative. His pace hasn’t really picked up, though, which is good news for Norris.
Lap 22 of 70: Piastri has a flat spot, but will keep pushing in clean air for a while before pitting. Ferrari’s Leclerc and Hamilton – both yet to pit – are second and third.
Lap 21 of 70: It’s a slightly hesitant stop from Norris, who returns on hard tyres in fourth, just in front of Bortoletto.
Lap 20 of 70: Eeeek! Piastri makes a dart down the inside but locks up, and is close to hitting the back of Norris’ car. Careful now. It’s Norris who will pit first, on the next lap …
Lap 19 of 70: George Russell pits for Williams – now McLaren have to work out their pit strategy …
Lap 17 of 70: Norris is being advised to tighten his racing line by the team radio, while in midfield, a collision between Tsunoda and Stroll is being checked by the stewards.
Lap 16 of 70: Alex Albon retires! That ends a miserable day for Williams as Albon – who was running sixth – goes into the pits and doesn’t return. Both drivers out, 16 laps in.
Lap 15 of 70: Norris again has to fend off his teammate through turns three and four, but keeps his cool and doesn’t offer Piastri a sniff. How long can Piastri keep pushing on these tyres?
Lap 14 of 70: We’re heading towards the pit window for medium tyres, with Piastri holding the fastest lap but still half a second behind his teammate. Leclerc, in third, is five seconds behind the McLaren duo.
Lap 12 of 70: Piastri has to ease off the gas slightly in order to regain momentum. Gasly, his soft tyres shredded, heads into the pits along with Nico Hulkenburg.
Lap 11 of 70: Norris and Piastri go wheel-to-wheel! The Australian has his sights locked on Norris, and gets beyond him in the latter half of this lap – only for Norris to kick in the DRS and reclaim first place! What a battle …
Lap 10 of 70: Alex Albon gets beyond Gasly and up to sixth place – he’s Williams’ only hope after Sainz failed to start the race. Piastri is still keeping the pressure on Norris …
Lap 9 of 70: Alpine’s Pierre Gasly is the only driver on soft tyres in the top 10. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar has already switched from softs to medium tyres, and is currently the back marker.
Lap 7 of 70: McLaren confirm over the team radio that they are happy to let their drivers duke it out. Here’s the top 10 as it stands:
1. Norris 2. Piastri 3. Leclerc 4. Hamilton 5. Russell 6. Gasly 7. Albon 8. Bortoleto 9. Lawson 10. Alonso
Lap 6 of 70: Piastri is very much on Norris’ tail, wanting to make his move before his tyres begin to cook. Pressure on the race leader, while the Ferrari duo are in third and fourth.
Lap 5 of 70: Russell claims Hamilton under-braked to keep him at bay over the team radio. Norris sets a fastest lap, ekeing out a 0.8s lead over Piastri, just as Verstappen trudges back into the Red Bull paddock.
Lap 4 of 70: The race has been shortened by a lap after the delayed start; as the green flag waves, Franco Colapinto runs wide and George Russell has a dig at Lewis Hamilton in fourth – but the Ferrari man closes the door.
Antonelli accepts responsibility for the collision, saying that his brakes locked up. Verstappen offers a four-letter assessment over the team radio. Anyway, things are looking up for McLaren, and the safety car is about to come in …
The safety car is out: One normal day of F1. All I ask. Will never happen. The safety car is out while the Mercedes and Red Bull cars are towed away – it’s Verstappen’s first retirement of the season, and ends a 31-race scoring streak.
Max Verstappen crashes out
As Piastri gets past Leclerc and battles Norris for first place, Kimi Antonelli collides with Verstappen – and both drivers are out of the race!
Here we go
A second formation lap is completed, thankfully without further incident. Lights out, Norris leads into the first corner …
Big efforts from the crews to keep everyone cool. George Russell urges his team to get the mechanics some water, while Fernando Alonso estimates his seat temperature to be around “200 degrees”. Lewis Hamilton’s fan malfunctions, blowing out warm air rather rhan dry ice. It’s all happening!
The other 19 drivers are still out on the starting line, preparing for a second formation lap in five minutes’ time. All of the key players – McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes – are running a two-stop strategy, with track temperatures pushing close to 50 degrees.
Sainz is told his race is over. It can’t be a huge surprise given the circumstances. It seems he had to run most of that lap with his brakes engaged. He is fine, if more than a little frustrated.
Sainz’ Williams is on fire: Sainz pulls into the pit lane, complaining that his brakes aren’t working correctly. He overshoots the paddock, and when he does come to a halt, his brakes catch fire! The Williams crew have to extinguish the flames and tow his car back down the pit lane.
Start delayed to 2.15pm (BST)
The drivers set off on their formation lap, but Carlos Sainz’ Williams, on the very back row, doesn’t move. He does eventually move but will go into the pit lane –and the race start is pushed back by 15 minutes.
A brief chat with Max Verstappen: “We just try to do our own race, I honestly don’t know how fast or slow we are. The track temperature? Probably not ideal.”
And Oscar Piastri, the world championship leader: “Today could be good for us, it’s hotter than the rest of the weekend. Will it hurt our rivals? I hope so.”
Time for the Austrian national anthem, sung by the Vienna boys’ and girls’ choirs. They do a fine job, but focus is stolen by a troupe of dancers leaping about in full F1 regalia. Why are they making them do this? It’s roasting out there.
In last year’s race, George Russell took the chequered flag after a dramatic collision between Norris and Verstappen that turned up the heat on their developing rivalry.
Some pre-race thoughts from Lando Norris:
“We’ve got a great car, so it’s just a good start and I’ll try and control things from there really. I expect a good battle from [Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri], I expect them on the first couple of laps to be punchy but that’s racing.
“It’s not like the car feels a different level but I think it’s an improvement, and to show that we’ve taken a step forward is what we want. The main thing is delivering what it should and that’s good.”
The grid
-
Lando Norris (McLaren)
-
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
-
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
-
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
-
George Russell (Mercedes)
-
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
-
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
-
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
-
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
-
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
-
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
-
Alex Albon (Williams)
-
Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
-
Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
-
Oliver Bearman (Haas)
-
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
-
Esteban Ocon (Haas)
-
Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
-
Carlos Sainz (Williams)
-
Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
Preamble
Brad Pitt may be wowing cinema audiences in the new F1 film, but if the current season is ever adapted for the big screen then Lando Norris would be the main protagonist. Tipped as the challenger most likely to dethrone Max Verstappen, the British driver struggled to deliver in the opening acts as teammate Oscar Piastri emerged as a title contender.
The McLarens’ collision in Canada marked a new low for Norris, but this weekend might see the narrative arc begin to turn. Norris is on pole here after producing his best qualifying drive of the season, while an angry Verstappen starts down in seventh. Piastri is in third place on the grid, with Ferrari making an overdue cameo – Charles Leclerc starts second, Lewis Hamilton fourth.
With Silverstone and the season’s halfway mark coming up next week, this could be a pivotal chapter for Norris and the F1 title race. It’s lights out at 2pm (BST) at a sweltering Red Bull Ring, where we can expect more absolute cinema.
Leave a Reply