Norris keeps his cool in Spielberg to keep his title hopes alive
LANDO NORRIS won the Austrian Grand Prix by the skin of his teeth as his teammate Oscar Piastri hunted him down from start to finish.
There was no rest for the two McLaren drivers in their brewing title fight as both had their claws out again following their crash in Canada.
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Lando Norris keeps his title hopes aliveCredit: AP
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McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrates after winning the Austrian GPCredit: Reuters
Piastri is the silent assassin, going about his business quietly, but absolutely lethal on track, particularly when it comes to inflicting the fatal blow on his teammate.
The Aussie was driving so fiercely it was like he wanted to get his own back for Norris crashing into the back of him in Canada last time out and on the final lap was just over ONE SECOND behind him.
He was snapping at his heels from start to finish, easily dispatching Charles Leclerc at the start to cruise into second, but Norris kept his cool to win the race and keep his title hopes alive.
Leclerc finished third and LewisHamilton took fourth while Max Verstappen was out on the first lap after Kimi Anontelli smashed into the side of him after locking up his brakes.
He slammed the “f***ing idiots” on the team radio with it being his first retirement in 462 days.
Red Bull’s disastrous weekend at their own stadium is symbolic of their decline in general as Yuki Tsunoda finished in last place.
Drama began before the race had started in the sizzling hot Styrian mountains as Carlos Sainz’s car caught FIRE on the formation lap.
Things went from bad to worse after a terrifying qualifying where he finished in 19th, he was then stuck to the starting line at the formation lap.
He said on the team radio at the time: “Something is stopping the car from moving forward” and the start was aborted by 10 minutes before he finally got going.
His rear brakes both then caught fire at the end of the pit lane with mechanics armed with extinguishers rushing to put the blaze out.
As the fire continued to burn, Sainz was told on the radio: “Game over” before stepping out of his Williams with them left with one car in the race.
When things got going Kimi Antonelli was the culprit of his first rookie mistake as he smashed into the side of Verstappen.
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Carlos Sainz was forced out of the race after his car caught fire
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The problem began at the start of the formation lapCredit: Reuters
The fuming four-time world champ slammed the “f***ing idiots” on his team radio.
It was Verstappen’s first retirement in 462 days and a huge moment for the championship.
Piastri had squeezed past Leclerc at the start and it didn’t take long for the Aussie to be snapping at the heels of Norris.
On lap 11 Piastri had even taken the lead but Norris nosed back ahead with DRS.
Piastri nearly bulldozed into the back of his teammate on lap 20 after going very deep at turn 4 before Norris pitted.
The day couldn’t have gone much worse for Red Bull as Yuki Tsunoda was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for making contact with Franco Colapinto on lap 31.
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Max Verstappen was wiped out by Kimi Antonelli as they went around turn threeCredit: @f1
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The collision sent Verstappen spinning out the Austrian Grand Prix
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Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli exchanged words after the crashCredit: Reuters
The McLarens were storming ahead and Leclerc in third was a whopping 20 seconds off the lead.
Hamilton was involved in a tense stage with his race engineer over whether to pit with 20 laps to go.
The seven-time world champ wanted to extend while Ferrari wanted him to come in and he reluctantly followed orders.
Norris was told a cryptic message on the radio of “this is the Germany situation” with him still leading before both McLarens pitted.
Franco Colapinto nearly took Piastri out though, veering into the Aussie’s path and forcing him off track and onto the grass.
The Argentine Alpine driver was eventually hit with a five-second penalty for the wild move.
Piastri was not giving up without a fight and with one lap to go he was just over a second behind Norris, who managed to survive.
