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2025 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Vintage Verstappen dominates at Monza; McLaren engineer Norris-Piastri to secure P2 & P3; Leclerc P4, Hamilton P6 in difficult weekend for Ferrari at home race

For one race weekend in the countryside of Northern Italy on the occasion of Round 16 of the Formula 1 World Championship and the Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, it seemed just like old times for four-time champ Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team. Imperious on Saturday in setting the Monza lap-record en route to pole, Verstappen survived an early lap kerfuffle with McLaren rival Lando Norris in the Grand Prix that saw the Dutchman have to give up the lead after forcing Norris off track at the very start of the race. But mighty Max would not be denied this Sunday and he forcefully took the position back on Lap 4 with a perfectly gauged late-braking maneuver steaming into the first chicane. And despite being so early in the course of this 53-lap contest, once Verstappen regained the lead, it was lights out for any other aspirant on the day. In a vintage performance by Verstappen and in a Red Bull that more closely resembled the fearsome rocket that dominated the sport just a few years ago, Verstappen ran away from both McLarens with apparent ease, intuited that their overcut gamble would not thwart his pursuit of victory when he pitted some ten laps earlier than the Papaya duo eventually would, and then easily maintained his lead when Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri did finally come in for fresh rubber on Lap 46. And while McLaren denied to run that long first stint purposely to try and get an advantage by running their final short stint on Soft Pirellis in opposition to Verstappen’s older Lap 37 switch to Hards, it didn’t really work out and Verstappen headed the McLaren duo by a whopping 19.2 seconds when the checkers flew. It was Verstappen’s first victory since the other Grand Prix in Italy this year, Emilia-Romagna, way back in Round 7. Now, whether he and Red Bull can replicate this Monza resurgence at the very different animal that is Azerbaijan in a fortnight remains to be seen. But for one race weekend, at least, the Dutch king and his court were back in action.

McLaren, meanwhile, had a bit of a kissing your sister kind of experience here at Monza. Already surprised at their usually superior pace being bettered easily by Verstappen’s Red Bull, the team’s braintrust found themselves at pains to keep everything civil between their two gentlemanly pilots, Norris and Piastri. While their gamble to run a long first stint on Mediums and then make the late switch to Softs was a sound one in the face of Verstappen’s dominance and their own cushion to the runners behind them, things got complicated when they finally did call their drivers in. Running in third behind his teammate, Piastri was first in for service, with Norris being assured that despite staying out an extra lap, Piastri would play the team game and not fight it out via the undercut when they reemerged on track. But Norris’s stop was painfully slow with a sticky front left tire change costing him about four extra seconds stationary compared to his teammate and championship rival. So, Norris now emerged behind Piastri in P3 after all that time spent on pit lane. The team quickly ordered Piastri to swap back since the loss of position was no fault of Norris’s and they had all been down this road together in Hungary last year. With only the mildest grudging hesitation, Piastri ceded P2 back to Norris cleanly. Despite being told he was free to race after that, the young Aussie points-leader could never find the pace to really execute any sort of overtake in the final few laps of this fast moving race. With a lot of extra championship points in hand after Norris’s unfortunate mechanical DNF in Zadvoort last Sunday, Piastri could well afford to spot Norris three here at Monza.

Charles Leclerc was the best placed Ferrari in P4, the Prancing Horses never really in contention for a podium this year with that eventual lightning fast top three in front of them. Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton did manage a very solid effort to work his way up from a penalty-induced tenth place start on the grid to P6 at the finish, but it was hardly a weekend to remember for the Scuderia or the hoards of loyal tifosi in the stands. Mercedes’ George Russell split the Ferraris in P6, while rookie Silver Arrows teammate got a confidence boosting result with a solid if unspectacular P9. Alexander Albon had an excellent drive for Williams to come home P7, while Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continued his upward trajectory with a P8 finish. And Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar, yet another impressive rookie from this year’s bumper crop, had another superlative drive a week after his first podium in the Netherlands, willing himself from a pit lane start all the way into a points-paying P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

53

1:13:24.325

25

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

53

+19.207s

18

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

53

+21.351s

15

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

53

+25.624s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

53

+32.881s

10

6

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

53

+37.449s

8

7

23

Alexander Albon

Williams

53

+50.537s

6

8

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick SGabrielauber

53

+58.484s

4

9

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

53

+59.762s

2

10

6

Isack Hadjar

  

Racing Bulls

53

+63.891s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two week’s time at the very entertaining Baku City Street Circuit in Azerbaijan. A horse of a very different color than flat-out Monza, it will be interesting to see if Verstappen and Red Bull can keep their Italian mojo working there or if it will be a return to McLaren’s mostly dominant form this season. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Verstappen pulls a classic lap out of the bag for pole at Monza, betters P2 Norris, P3 Piastri; Ferrari forced to settle for fourth and fifth fastest at home race

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen proved once again why he is still a top driver in Formula 1 even without the superior equipment he’s had in the past, pulling out a final lap during Saturday Qualifying  good enough for pole at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Despite the best efforts of the normally blindingly fast McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who run one-two in the points, it was Verstappen who wrested pole away from them both with a brilliant final flying lap here at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the Temple of Speed. The put paid to Norris’s brief moment atop the pylon after finally hooking up all three sectors during his final attempt, putting some rather disjointed earlier efforts that risked dropping him perilously down the grid in the rearview. And Piastri, while solid, will have to try and get by both aces, as the young Aussie Drivers’ leader was relegated to P3.

For a brief, shining moment Ferrari’s faithful tifosi thought one of their pilots might just pull off the pole on their home turf. But once Verstappen and the two McLaren’s really found their grooves, Charles Leclerc’s best effort in Q3 was only good enough for P4, ironically the same position the Monegasque started from when he won last year’s race here. But it’s hard to imagine Leclerc repeating that feat with this year’s Prancing Horse consistently being the third or even fourth fastest car over the long runs. Lewis Hamilton qualified P5 in his Monza debut with the Scuderia but will also be penalized five grid spots for a Yellow Flag infraction in last week’s Dutch GP.

George Russell, disgruntled by the team’s decision to put him on the Soft Pirelli tires when he wanted Mediums, could only muster P6 for Mercedes, while rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli represented well in P7. Fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continued to impress by hustling his Kick Sauber up to P8, the ageless Fernando Alonso slotted his Aston into P9 and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda qualified P10, a ways away from his team leader Verstappen.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:19.455

1:19.140

1:18.792

18

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:19.517

1:19.293

1:18.869

21

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

1:19.711

1:19.286

1:18.982

19

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:19.689

1:19.310

1:19.007

20

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:19.765

1:19.371

1:19.124

20

6

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:19.414

1:19.287

1:19.157

18

7

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:19.747

1:19.245

1:19.200

22

8

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick Sauber

1:19.688

1:19.323

1:19.390

21

9

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

1:19.658

1:19.362

1:19.424

20

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

1:19.619

1:19.433

1:19.519

18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9 AM Eastern here in the States. It should be a dogfight between the elite top three and perhaps a Ferrari will be inspired by the home crowd to get in on the action, as well — hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Piastri gets the better of Norris early in delayed wet-to-dry race as McLaren finish 1-2 again; Leclerc holds off Verstappen for P3

The legendary Spa-Francorchamps Circuit nestled into the Ardennes Forest lived up to its unpredictable nature on this Belgian Grand Prix Sunday, as heavy rains blanketed the entirety of the long, 7 kilometer track, delaying the start of the Formula 1 race by some eighty minutes. But while it looked for a while like we might be on for a repeat of the aborted 2021 race here, the weather eventually cleared enough to get the Grand Prix underway, albeit behind the Safety Car after a lengthy Red Flag period waiting for the precipitation to let up and track conditions, especially visibility, to improve. With the Safety Car coming into the pits on Lap 5 of this 44-lap contest, it didn’t take long for the decisive move to unfold. As the pole-sitting McLaren of Lando Norris attempted to speed away at La Source, his points-leading teammate Oscar Piastri tucked in behind him and used the slipstream to beautiful effect while heading up Eau Rouge, executing a nifty and authoritative pass steaming into the Kemmel Straight. Piastri then skipped away from the now second place Norris to the tune of a full second by the end of the first racing lap.

But with the track now drying out amidst the unusually warm summer weather here, the next inflection point was just when to duck into the pits to get off the rapidly wearing Intermediate Pirellis and onto slick tires. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, having very little to lose after starting form the pits due to a track limits deletion in Q1 on Saturday and the Scuderia’s decision to change the car set up after that, was the first to make the leap, coming in for Medium tires. That started the dominoes tumbling, as Piastri followed in a lap later for the same tire change, as did most of the rest of the field, but Norris stayed out, along with only Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Isack Hadjar. When he did come into the pits a lap later, his pit wall made the audacious decision to switch him to the Hard tire in hopes of making it to the end of the race on those tires while, they hoped, others would be forced to pit off the slightly moire fragile Mediums, which the rest of the field had chosen.

But it didn’t really work out for Norris, as Piastri proved a master at nursing his tires to the end, while also benefitting from running in clear air at the front. While Norris pushed hard until the bitter end and got within 4-seconds of his teammate, it seemed to be his Hards that lost their performance first and the young Briton had a handful of slight moments in the latter two-thirds of the tilt that saw him slide off track momentarily and lose whatever time he had previously gained. Piastri took the checkered flag the victor, with Norris relegated to P2 essentially from the very first action of the race. It was sweet payback for Piastri after the Aussie pilot felt hard done by a penalty in the last race at Silverstone that cost him the win, and it ended the resurgent Norris’s winning streak at two. Clearly, these two drivers have the best cars on the grid on any given weekend so, it will almost certainly come down to a two-man, intra-team battle between these exceptionally talented young Formula 1 stars for the Drivers’ Championship, even as McLaren are now running away with the Constructors’.

While it was always a going to be some combination of Piastri-Norris for the top two positions today, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the best of the rest, holding off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Saturday’s Sprint winner, to claim P3 and a step on the podium. Leclerc’s stablemate Hamilton put in a brilliant recovery drive, coming all the way from that pit lane start up to P7. Mercedes’ George Russell had a bit of lonely race but still scored valuable points for the Silver Arrows in P5 on a day where rookie Kimi Antonelli continued to falter and finished well down in P16. Williams Alexander Albon was able to stave off Hamilton’s best efforts en route to an impressive P6, and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson continued his rebound from a tough start with Red Bull and eventual demotion, taking a valuable and confidence boosting P8. Fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continued to impress by coming home in P9 for the much improved Kick Sauber outfit and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly held off a host of midfield pretenders to take the final point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

44

1:25:22.601

25

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

44

+3.415s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

44

+20.185s

15

4

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

44

+21.731s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

44

+34.863s

10

6

23

Alexander Albon

Williams

44

+39.926s

8

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

44

+40.679s

6

8

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls

44

+52.033s

4

9

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick Sauber

44

+56.434s

2

10

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine

44

+72.714s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, the Hungarian Grand Prix from Budapest, which is also the last contest before the traditional summer recess. While McLaren certainly seem have the pace on all the other contenders, the Hungaroring is a very different beast than Spa. Hope to see you then to find out whether it’s another internecine fight for the win between Piastri and Norris or if another team and driver can spoil McLaren’s summer holiday!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

Norris prevails to take victory at Silverstone after painful Piastri penalty; Hulkenberg earns first podium after 239 starts in chaotic, rain-affected race

In a thrilling and chaotic British Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris kept it clean and composed to take victory ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, who dominated the early part of the contest but made a pivotal mistake behind the Safety Car that led to a race-altering 10-second penalty. With heavy rains falling on Silverstone before the race start and more predicted for early in the GP, the field started the Formation Lap on Intermediate wet weather tires on a damp circuit. But Mercedes’ George Russell, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Haas’s Oliver Bearman, Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoletto and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar all dove to the pits to gamble on slick tires rather than line up on the grid despite the still quite wet final third of the circuit. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen leading away from the pole, followed by Piastri in P2 and Norris just behind in P3, it didn’t take long for the first incident on a day full of them. The second Racing Bul of Liam Lawson tangled with Haas’s Esteban Ocon, sending the Aussie spinning off track and out of the race. A Virtual Safety Car was quickly deployed, and Mercedes also brought Kimi Antonelli in for a set of Hard Pirellis, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also pitting to take Softs. But for some it was too soon for that maneuver, as even the slick-clad Bortoleto spun out into the gravel once the VSC ended on Lap 4, prompting another VSC just two laps later when his car stalled on track. Stroll pitted again for fresh Softs before the VSC ended during Lap 7, a key move for the Aston man that left teammate Fernando Alosno wondering why his side of the garage hadn’t executed the same tactic on the rapidly drying track.

 

;

No sooner did racing resume but the rain started to fall in earnest, with Antonelli diving to the pits on Lap 10 to get back on Inters and teammate Russell, Ferrari’s Leclerc and Stroll yet again, having made the most of his Softs to gain valuable track position, following for the same swap a lap later. Verstappen stayed out on his aging set of Inters, however, and promptly ran wide coming out of Chapel, allowing Norris to briefly take P2, with teammate Piastri diving in for fresh Inters. Norris and Verstappen followed Piastri in, with a slow stop by McLaren costing Norris the position and a clean one by Red Bull getting Verstappen out in P3, while Piastri had assumed the lead ahead of the yet-to-pit Williams of Alex Albon. With the rain really chucking it down and visibility terrible by Lap 13 of this 52-lap contest, a full Safety Car was deployed a lap later for the wellbeing of the drivers until the deluge could subside. The SC ended on Lap 17, and Piastri restarted ahead of Verstappen, Norris in P3, Stroll amazingly in P4 and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg suddenly in P5 after an early stop for fresh Inters on Lap 9 paid off handsomely for the German veteran in then increasingly wet conditions thereafter. But a lap later there was yet another Safety Car deployed for the recovery of the crashed Racing Bull of Hadjar at Copse, having run into the back of Antonelli’s Silver Arrow in the blinding spray. While Antonelli came to the pits again for fresh Inters, the rear diffuser of his Mercedes was badly damaged and he would be forced to retire a few laps later.

With the Safety Car coming in on Lap 21, Piastri made the crucial error in judgment that destroyed his race. While controlling the restart from the front, the young Aussie braked far too hard to set up his getaway, nearly causing Verstappen to ram into the back of him such was his excessive deceleration. While Piastri then scooted away, the incident was almost immediately and ominously under review by the stewards. Piastri was eventually penalized 10-seconds for the excessive braking action, a backbreaker for his hopes of victory on the day. But Verstappen was unable to capitalize on this eventuality because he spun out in pursuit at the restart on Lap 21, dropping the Dutch Master all the way down to P10. This all redounded to Norris’s great benefit, because when the penalty was handed down and Piastri eventually had to pit for Medium tries on Lap 43 due to a now-finally drying track, Norris inherited P1 while his teammate sat stationary for that agonizingly slow 10-seconds before any work could be done on his car. So, despite coming in a lap later for his own set of Mediums, he still emerged with the lead of the race, such was the impact of Piastri’s penalty. Controlling the race from the front and with no more incidents to speak of, Norris was able to keep his teammate at bay and take an emotional victory at his home Grand Prix in front of of his adoring countrymen and women in the  grandstands. For Piastri, it was a doubly bitter pill to swallow, as he not only finished P2 in a race he likely should have won but also saw his points advantage to Norris in the Drivers’ Championship slip to just eight. Obviously unhappy with how the day transpired, Piastri will have a lot to stew on before the next race at the end of the month in Belgium, while Norris will be riding high with his confidence fully restored  in the interim after his dream victory here at Silverstone.

With his team’s strategy paying off beautifully, Hulkenberg made a crucial pass on Stroll for P3 and then held off the charging Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton easily to take P3 and his maiden pole in F1 after an astonishing 239 race starts. As the saying goes, better late than never and it was the feel good story of the whole day to see the veteran German pilot rewarded for his years of skillful and professional driving with teams of various quality. Hamilton slotted in at P4 at one of his favorite tracks, bettering by far his Scuderia stablemate Leclerc, who had a miserable day in the wet with a multitude of offs and came home well out of the points in P14. Verstappen managed to recover from his ill-timed spin somewhat to take P5 but it was still a day to forget for the normally flawless four-time champion after starting from the pole. It’s distinctly possible that the team’s decision to really trim the car out hurt him when he most needed downforce during the race, despite netting him the pole. Pierre Gasly had another fine drive for Alpine in P6 and Stroll’s early race tire gambles paid off for Aston Martin even if he faded bit on his final stint, still coming home a solid P7. Teammate Alonso took P9, with Williams’ Albon splitting them in P8, another impressive drive that flew somewhat under the radar amidst all the excitement. Russell took a lone solitary point in P10 after what turned out to be a pretty awful day for the Mercedes factory team. The Monday morning debrief at Brackley should be fairly brutal and they” be looking to get back on form at Spa in three weeks’ time.

Top 10 finishers of the British GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

52

1:37:15.735

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

52

+6.812s

18

3

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber

52

+34.742s

15

4

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

52

+39.812s

12

5

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

52

+56.781s

10

6

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine

52

+59.857s

8

7

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin

52

+60.603s

6

8

23

Alexander Albon

Williams

52

+64.135s

4

9

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

52

+65.858s

2

10

63

George Russell

Mercedes

52

+70.674s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race weekend doesn’t begin until July 25th, as team’s will have loads of time to prepare for the Belgian Grand Prix at the venerable Spa-Francorchamps circuit, including the added pressures of a Sprint weekend there. For Norris, it will mean more time to savor his dream win at his home Grand Prix. For Piastri, it will mean a long time between races to stew on his nightmare penalty and his own culpability for that. And for most of the other drivers, it will mean putting Britain in the rearview and starting fresh in Belgium — except for Hulkenberg, who will surely savor his career achievement and be looking to make it two podiums in a row. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Results & aftermath

Norris prevails over Piastri in chaotic Austrian GP; Ferrari gain in Constrcutors’ with Leclerc P3, Hamilton P4; Red Bull score zero at home race after Verstappen taken out by Antonelli on Lap 1, sloppy Tsunoda finishes last

A race after crashing out in a clash with his teammate in Canada, McLaren’s Lando Norris kept his cool under the hot Spielberg sun, fending off his chief rival and fellow Papaya driver Oscar Piastri to take victory at Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. In a chaotic race that saw four retirements, including the usually impervious Red Bull of Max Verstappen, Norris reestablished his championship potential by controlling the race from the front after starting from the pole, deftly weaving his way through back-markers at the very short and intense Red Bull Ring and executing a very clean final stint under pressure to earn a valuable win. Despite a late race charge by Piastri after the final round of pit stops in this 70-lap contest, Norris withstood the challenge, as his young Aussie rival and current points leader could never quite close up enough to get the DRS and find a way by. Norris’s 25-points on the day versus Piastri’s second place 18 tightened up his deficit to a mere 15-points and, most importantly, restored the young Briton’s confidence after his error in judgement in Canada. It will be game on at Silverstone next weekend, where Norris will enjoy a slight home race advantage from the fans, while Piastri will be looking to reassert his dominance over his teammate and reignite his championship campaign.

As if to drive home the point of McLaren’s absolute dominance this Grand Prix weekend, Not only did Norris and Piastri finish 1-2 but the third place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was nearly 20-seconds in arrears when he took the checkered flag.  Still, with stablemate Lewis Hamilton slotting in at P4, it was a good day for the Scuderia in the points, especially on a day where their nearest rivals for second place in the Constructors’ had downright dismal outings. Ferrari couldn’t have drawn it up any better when Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli made an overly optimistic dove bomb move on Lap 1 steaming into Turn 3. The Silver Arrow’s rear tires locked up under breaking and Antonelli slammed into the rear of Verstappen’s Red Bull, ending both their races before they could even compete a single circuit. To show just how rare that DNF was, it ended Verstappen’s astonishing 31-race scoring streak, a catastrophe for the team, as Yuki Tsunoda ran a ragged race and came home P16 when all was said and done, plumb last among the surviving cars. Still, it must be noted that Verstappen put himself into jeopardy by only qualifying P7 and Tsunoda is only the latest in a long line of second Red Bull drivers who are unable to find any kind of pace in the car. So, Red Bull’s situation might be even more grave than their zero-points result in Sunday in Austria before most of their corporate brass. For Antonelli, it was a brutal comedown after scoring his first podium in Canada two weeks ago and a reminder that they don’t call them “rookies” for nothing. George Russell salvaged at least a little something on the day, finishing where he started in P5, but Mercedes still saw Ferrari overtake them for P2 in the Constructors’ one race after it seemed they were ascendent after a 1-3 in Montreal. They’ll be hoping to get back on terms when they fire the engines up again in Silverstone.

Places 5 through 10 were nothing but happy surprises and good vibes, with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson continuing his rebound from his short-lived tenure with Red Bull at the start of the season by scoring his best ever F1 finish in P6. Wily old vet Fernando Alonso kept his Aston Martin out of trouble and the pursuing whippersnapper Gabriel Bortoleto behind him en route to seventh place. It was still an outstanding day for Kick Sauber, with not only rookie Bortoleto driving superbly to score his first F1 points in P8 but also veteran teammate Nico Hulkenberg adding to the team total in P9. Haas’s Esteban Ocon made it two races in a row in the points with a solid P10, no doubt helped by the slew of retirements, including both midfield-running Williams.

Top 10 finishers of the Austrian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

70

1:23:47.693

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

70

+2.695s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

70

+19.820s

15

4

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

70

+29.020s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

70

+62.396s

10

6

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls

70

+67.754s

8

7

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

69

+1 lap

6

8

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick Sauber

69

+1 lap

4

9

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber

69

+1 lap

2

10

31

Esteban Ocon

Haas

69

+1 lap

1

Complete race results available via Fomula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the British GP from the legendary Silverstone Circuit, the grandaddy of them all in F1. We’ll see if  McLaren can keep pulling away from the field at a very different kind of circuit than the Red Bull Ring and, if so, whether the Piastri-Norris battle may once again lead to an internecine clash that opens the door for the other contenders. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Norris claims pole at Red Bull ring ahead of P2 Leclerc, teammate Piastri in P3

Looking to rebound from the clash with his teammate that ended his race in Canada prematurely two weeks ago, McLaren’s Lando Norris blistered the field to earn pole during Saturday Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Norris mastered the short and tricky Red Bull ring to the tune of a record-setting 1:03.971 fast lap, half a second ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and a few tenths more than that versus McLaren stablemate and current points leader Oscar Piastri. After the the Papaya duo collided late in the race in Quebec a fortnight ago, costing Norris any points at all and nearly taking out Piastri as well in the process, Lando will be desperate to get away and stay away from all of the other contenders, run a clean race and take home maximum points to reignite his championship aspirations. With Leclerc’s Prancing Horse slotting in at P2 and teammate Lewis Hamilton pulling one out of the bag good enough for the fourth fastest time, Piastri could well have his hands full just trying to fend off the Ferraris, let alone getting  back on terms with Norris, who frankly looks like he has the edge here in Spielberg.

Mercedes suffered by comparison when measured against McLaren and the Scuderia, perhaps due to the extremely hot conditions here at the circuit, with George Russell only good enough for P5 and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli scuffling his way to a lowly P9 spot on the grid. Racing Bulls Liam Lawson, who has really come on after a very rough start to the year in the senior Red Bull team, shocked his old teammate Max Verstappen by out-qualifying the Flying Dutchman, P7 to P8. Verstappen may have gotten a taste of what his wingmen usually have to deal with, as the four–time champ complained that his car was literally un-drivable. He struggled with snap oversteer repeatedly over the course of these short but demanding laps, and teammate Yuki Tsunoda fared even worse, coming home a shocking P18 and rueing his lack of front grip. On the other side of the coin, Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto achieved his best-ever qualifying result with a very impressive time good enough for P8. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the Top 10 in P10, unable to improve his time when he spun on his final quali effort.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:04.672

1:04.410

1:03.971

18

2

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:05.197

1:04.734

1:04.492

21

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

1:04.966

1:04.556

1:04.554

19

4

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:05.115

1:04.896

1:04.582

21

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:05.189

1:04.860

1:04.763

18

6

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls

1:05.017

1:05.041

1:04.926

17

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:05.106

1:04.836

1:04.929

18

8

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick Sauber

1:05.123

1:04.846

1:05.132

21

9

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:05.178

1:05.052

1:05.276

17

10

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine

1:05.054

1:04.846

1:05.649

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Norris can keep his quali momentum going and get his championship campaign back on track with a victory, or if Lady Luck — and his teammate Piastri and the two charging Ferraris — have other plans in store.

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

Piastri bookends triple header with win in eventful Spanish GP, Norris earns P2 as McLaren keep rolling; Leclerc scores opportunistic podium after late Safety Car; Verstappen loses cool while battling with Russell, penalized 10-seconds and dropped to P10 from fifth place

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri prevailed over teammate Lando Norris and a chaotic late race Safety Car restart to take victory in the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday. Despite having a reputation for fostering processionals, the circuit served up a very tense and nervy contest, with the leading teams attempting different tire strategies that put the respective pit walls under constant pressure. In the end, McLaren capped off a grueling triple header with three wins in a row after Piastri won in Emilia-Romagna and here in Spain and Norris taking the coveted Monaco Grand Prix victory a week ago. While Piastri never really seemed under threat, starting from pole and leading the first three quarters of the race with aplomb, a late Safety Car on Lap 55 of this 66-lap tilt brought his closest rivals, notably teammate Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, right back up to his gearbox as his lead was erased prior to the end of the Safety Car on Lap 60. But the young Aussie controlled the restart like a multi-year veteran, jamming on the brakes to balk Norris’s momentum and then sprinting away to reestablish his leading gap, which he would never relinquish en route to the checkered flag.

Meanwhile Norris also benefitted after the top ten runners all boxed under the SC for fresh Pirellis because, while he and Piastri still had a set of used Soft Pirellis to finish out the race after two previous stops, Verstappen only had a new set of Hards remaining due after running a counterintuitive but still quite effective three-stop strategy. One wonders if he might have been better served by staying out, as this fourth tire change disadvantaged the Dutchman greatly when things resumed and Piastri sped away to end Lap 60 and begin Lap 61. When Verstappen put his foot down for the restart from P3, his car squirmed as the cold Hards struggles for grip and he instantly fell into the clutches of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Leclerc put an overtaking move on the Red Bull down the start-finish straight, with Verstappen banging into the Prancing Horses side pod for good measure as he desperately tried to close the door.

To rub salt into the already irate Verstappen’s wounds, he next found himself going mano-a-mano with Mercedes’ George Russell, with Russell also attempting to pass as Verstappen took the escape road in an effort to avoid contact. The Red Bull team were quickly on the blower to inform Max that he would have to give Russell P4 due to leaving the track. The incredulous Verstappen instead closed the door while Russell believed he was ceding the position, smashing into the Silver Arrow’s side pods.  Fortunately, neither car was badly damaged, though Verstappen was issued a 10-second time penalty for his reckless maneuver, dropping him from P5 at the line all the way down to P10, a massive points loss for for team and driver for a brief moment of red mist.

This benefitted all the other runners from sixth to ninth, with the improbable Kick Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg getting the greatest prize after an already excellent day’s work by being promoted to an astonishing P5, the team’s first points since the opening round in Australia. The second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton slotted in at P6 on a day when the seven-time champ struggled mightily with rear tire grip. Impressive Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar was vaulted to P7, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P8 and Spaniard Fernando Alonso scored in front of the adoring home fans in P9, a fine result on a day when Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll did not start due to a mysterious post-qualifying injury.

Top1 10 finishes of the Spanish GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

66

1:32:57.375

25

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

66

+2.471s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

66

+10.455s

15

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

66

+11.359s

12

5

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber Ferrari

66

+13.648s

10

6

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

66

+15.508s

8

7

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

66

+16.022s

6

8

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

66

+17.882s

4

9

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

66

+21.564s

2

10

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

66

+21.826s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

McLaren and Norris begin championship hunt with impressive win at tricky, rain-affected Aussie GP; Red Bull’s Verstappen stays calm amidst carnage to salvage P2, Russell earns final podium position with solid effort; Piastri and Ferrari lose out

Round 1 of the 2025 season kicked off in chaotic fashion on Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix from the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, where persistent rain caused havoc throughout the field. In a true drive to survive, McLaren’s Lando Norris kept his cool throughout the race long carnage, including a late mistake by teammate Oscar Piastri amidst a renewed downpour, converting pole position into his first win of the year in what the young Briton hopes will be his first World Championship-winning campaign. With his car obviously slightly inferior to the McLarens coming out of the offseason, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made the best of a bad hand and put himself in position to pounce on P2 when Piastri slid off the track and into some very wet grass late in the going. The unlucky Aussie elicited cries of dismay from his countrymen in the stands but was at least able to salvage P9 after determinedly — and very slowly! — backing onto the tarmac when he looked to be stranded and en route to an embarrassing DNF. And Mercedes, who have been flying somewhat under the radar amidst all the McLaren-Red Bull-Ferrari hype leading into this opening round, made the right strategy calls when it counted most to boost their drivers, veteran George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, to P3 and P4 respectively. Both Silver Arrows pilots were impressive in the wet, with Russell bettering his P4 starting position to reach the podium after many other cars around him crashed out — there were a whopping six DNFs by the time the checkers flew — and Antonelli using a bit of luck, skill and good strategy to overcome  a clearly out of position P16 start after the young Italian damaged his car by clouting one too many curbs in Saturday qualifying. 

Williams Alexander Albon was another standout driver on the day, surviving and thriving to take an impressive fifth place. Others scoring improbably good points by dint of keeping their cars on the black stuff and staying steady during the frequently  very greasy conditions were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Kick Sauber’s wise old hand Nico Hulkenberg, who placed P6 and P7 respectively. But there was not much to cheer for Ferrari after they gambled and lost by keeping Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton out on slick tires a lap too long and then bringing the duo in for the much needed Inters after the other contenders had already made the much needed switch. The Prancing Horses went from a potential 1-2 finish to Leclerc holding on for P8 and the game but forlorn Piastri relegating Hamilton to P10 on the last lap of this eventful 57-lap contest.

What does such a rain-affected contest really tell us about who’s got the pace overall in 2025? Not much except that McLaren and Verstappen looked quick in any and all conditions. And Mercedes could be further along in their development than initially suspected, especially with new Red Bull number two Liam Lawson having a horror show weekend the ended with him crashing out and scoring zero points in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Antonelli acquitted himself admirably on his debut drive for Mercedes in highly challenging circumstances. As for Ferrari, they’ll be looking forward to the quick turnaround in China next weekend to be able to hopefully show their true pace under more predictable conditions. Hamilton, in particular, seemed to struggle to fully get to grips on the technical side with his new mount after so many years with Mercedes, and his relationship with his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami, is clearly still a work in progress after working hand in glove with Pete Bonnington over the course of the prior dozen years.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

57

1:42:06.304

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+0.895s

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

57

+8.481s

15

4

12

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

57

+10.135s

12

5

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

57

+12.773s

10

6

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

57

+17.413s

8

7

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber Ferrari

57

+18.423s

6

8

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+19.826s

4

9

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

57

+20.448s

2

10

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

57

+22.473s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as F1 hits the ground running for the Round 2 Chinese Grand Prix from the Shanghai International Circuit. It’ll also be the first Sprint weekend of the season, with all the extra angst that entails for the teams, especially with such a short turnaround. Norris will be looking to make it two in a row, Verstappen will be looking to take him down a peg, and Piastri will be seeking redemption, as will so many other drivers who had disappointing or even disastrous days in Australia. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!