Austrian GP result: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in scary near miss as F1 rivals duel again

Lando Norris held off team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri to win the Austrian Grand Prix. McLaren dominated proceedings at the Red Bull Ring but it very nearly ended in another disaster as the title rivals almost collided again.

Norris crashed out in Canada two weeks ago when he botched a move on Piastri, immediately accepting responsibility. This time, it was the Aussie who almost got it all wrong when he locked up while attempting an overtake which saw him come within inches of the back of the other McLaren.

Contact was luckily avoided but Piastri spent much of the rest of the race piling the pressure on his nearest challenger in the championship. But despite front wing damage, Norris held on for his first Formula 1 victory on Austrian soil.

But it was a miserable day for the owners of the Spielberg track, with Max Verstappen taken out by Kimi Antonelli on the first lap and Yuki Tsunoda dead last by the end after a miserable afternoon. Mercedes also struggled for pace but Ferrari had a good day, well off the pace of the McLarens but Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton comfortably finished third and fourth respectively.

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The drama began before the lights even went out with formation lap chaos when everyone got going, except for Carlos Sainz who appeared rooted to his grid box. He reported over the radio that he was stuck in first gear and that "something" was stopping him from moving.

It turned out it was his rear brakes. After a push from a group of marshals, the Williams got moving but, by the time he returned to the pit lane after causing an aborted start, both those brakes at the back of the car caught fire and his day was done.

It wasn't long before he was joined in the paddock by a couple more of his fellow drivers who also suffered much earlier ends to their day than they would have liked. That was Antonelli and Verstappen who trudged back to the garages after their collision on the first lap which was wholly the fault of the Mercedes rookie.

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Red Bull were already enduring a dreadful home race weekend when Tsunoda made things a whole lot worse when he span Franco Colapinto when attempting an overtake he was never going to make stick. He picked up damage which dropped him to the back of the pack when he stopped for a new front wing, and also copped a 10-second time penalty.

And things were no better for Williams who also ensured a pointless day when Alex Albon also retired, following Sainz into the garage much earlier than either of them would have liked. Meanwhile, at McLaren, there will have been a few people relieved that both of their drivers were still in the race.

Piastri had spent much of the opening stint harrying Norris ahead and they were both racing hard but fair as they traded positions a couple of times. But then things got a little too close when the Aussie locked up while sniffing up the inside of his team-mate and very nearly initiated contact between them.

He was told not to try anything so risky again and McLaren hastily pitted first Norris and then Piastri for the first time. The Brit then built a sizeable gap but perhaps used too much of his tyres as, by the end of that second stint, the second-placed McLaren driver had begun to eat away at his team-mate's advantage.

Norris again got priority for the second round of tyre changes because he was the car in front, though Piastri enjoyed a much quicker stop. But he was almost taken out by a backmarker after exiting the pit lane as Colapinto, while battling with Tsunoda again, seemed to not know the McLaren was there and squeezed the Aussie onto the grass.

Luckily, Piastri kept control and managed to get back onto the circuit, though he did lose valuable ground to Norris who was around four seconds ahead. But, with 10 laps to go, Piastri was within two and Norris was feeling the pressure, asking his team over the radio: "I need some pace, please help."

But he didn't need it as he responded to the pressure well, not allowing Piastri to get any closer. That was despite encountering troublesome traffic on the final two laps with Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto duelling furiously for seventh place.

Norris got through unscathed, though, and took the chequered flag and his third Grand Prix victory of the year. Piastri sounded perhaps slightly frustrated to have to settle for second having displayed strong pace throughout the race, but without getting the overtake done.